One of the more interesting friendly matches during the October international break will see the USA welcome Germany to Rentschler Field in East Hartford, Connecticut, as the pair meet for the first time since June 2015. On that occasion, it was the USMNT who ran out 2-1 winners, and although they’re the underdogs with the bookmakers this time around, there are plenty of reasons for the hosts to think that another positive result is possible here.
That’s because since their Round of 16 appearance at the 2022 World Cup, the USA have lost just two of their 14 internationals (W9, D3). A penalty shoot-out loss to Panama in the Gold Cup semi-finals during that run will have likely dented their confidence, but two wins ‘to nil’ from two outings since the Gold Cup should have their morale high heading into this latest friendly clash. They’ll hope to keep the mood in camp high too, with the 2023-24 CONCACAF Nations League quarter-finals just one month away.
It’s been a season of change for Euro 2024 hosts Germany who sacked manager Hansi Flick in September due to a poor run of form before seeing caretaker coach Rudi Völler come in and lead his side to an impressive 2-1 victory over France. Völler has since returned to his role as Sporting Director, with former Bayern Munich manager Julian Nagelsmann becoming the new manager and taking charge for the first time in this friendly.
His main aim is to get his side into winning form for their home European Championships next summer after a disappointing group stage exit at the 2022 World Cup. Since then, the visitors have won just two of their seven internationals (D1, L4) and have conceded 14 goals in the process, a problem area that Nagelsmann needs to fix quickly if his side are to have any chase of glory on home turf at Euro 2024.
Players to watch: Jesús Ferreira is in fine form for USA in 2023, netting eight goals in seven internationals, including two hat-tricks. For the visitors, Thomas Müller scored in his last international outing, several years after he delivered the winning goal when these sides met during the 2014 World Cup.
Hot stat: The four friendly H2Hs played this century saw the winning team score exactly four goals on three separate occasions.
