USA,Argentina at Meadowlands

The match contract is not complete, but sources at The Associated Press announced Friday that the big clash between the U. S. men’s national team and the Lionel Messi-led Argentina national squad will be played at the New Meadowlands Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey on Saturday, March 26.

The international friendly, originally scheduled for Quest Field in Seattle, will be held in the New York metropolitan area, where in 2008, the teams drew 78,682 fans to the same venue in a scoreless game.

The U. S. will begin its 2014 World Cup preparations with an exhibition against Chile on Saturday, Jan. 22 at the Home Depot Center Carson (CA), then travel to Cairo for a showdown with the Egyptian national team on Wednesday, Feb. 9. The Americans first tournament begins with the CONCACAF Gold Cup throughout the month of June; the Gold Cup is the championship of the Confederation of North and Central America and the Caribbean (CONCACAF) – the keen contest between the national teams of the region.

Argentina, which will also include Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano, will be preparing to host this summer’s Copa America, the South American championship, and will also play Portugal on Feb. 9, in Geneva and at Costa Rica on March 29.

New League Ends On High Note

The New York City Cup of Nations, a new, six-team league which started last December at Brooklyn Technical High School field located at 510 Claremont Ave. near Atlantic Avenue in Downtown, Brooklyn, concludes its first season on Saturday, Jan. 29 at 11:45 a.m. with the big final and two exhibition games.

The final kicks off at 2:45 p.m. when two Brooklyn-based clubs square off: Haitian club Zenith FC will take on Chatex FC for the first league championship. This game will be preceded at 1:00 p.m. by an exhibition game between New York’s newest professional team – FC New York, based in Uniondale (L.I.) with its home field at Hofstra University – versus the league all stars.

The league team will feature several Caribbean international players such as Kyle Jack (Jamaica), Jason James (Grenada), Millon Prescott (St. Vincent and the Grenadines), Linsworth Francis (St. Kitts and Nevis) and Kordell Samuel (Trinidad and Tobago). The first game at 11:45 a.m. will feature Albania versus Grenada, New York-based teams with local players from their respective countries.

The New York City Cup of Nations league was organized by Tournament Director Roy Charles and League President, President Dennis Toussaint. The league have a spring season beginning in April.

FC New York wants you

FC New York, the state’s latest professional team, is holding tryouts for its inaugural season in the USL, the second tier of soccer’s professional structure in the U.S. The team, based in Uniondale (L.I.), will use Hofstra University’s soccer stadium on the North Campus as its home field as well as for the tryouts on Saturday and Sunday, Jan. 15 – 16, 9:00 a.m.through 1:00 p.m.

The new club held tryouts earlier this month in Southern Virginia and in New York last November in an effort to unearth new field its strongest team. The tryouts are a good opportunity for any local players to expose their talents to give themselves a chance to become professionals with FC New York.

“After a very competitive and high caliber November tryout in New York, the search is well and truly underway to assemble the roster for FC New York’s inaugural season in USL Pro’’ said Matt Weston, FC New York’s technical director. Our tryouts (Jan 15 & 16 at Hofstra University) are brimming with excellent resumes, with players flying in from around the world as well as all four corners of the U.S. We hope to discover some real talent and have high hopes that the weekend will produce the talent we want to wear the FCNY shirt in 2011.’’

Lilly Retires

U.S. international Kristine Lilly retired from international soccer last Wednesday at age 39 and after playing for the women’s national team 352 times and scoring 130 goals and 105 assists. She is both the youngest and oldest player to score for the U. S.

“I’m just at the point in my life with my family and career where it was the right time,” said Lilly, who returned to national team duty last year after giving birth to daughter Sidney in 2008. “I never knew what the right time was going to feel like, but I finally got there.”

Lilly made her international debut at age 16 against China on Aug. 3, 1987, and went on to be a part of a dominant American national team that won the first Women’s World Cup in 1991, the inaugural Olympic gold medal in ‘96 and the 1999 World Cup title. Lilly is the only player to play in all five Women’s World Cups.