The U.S. Men’s soccer team was schedule to scrimmage Belgium on Thursday at the U.S. base in the Barra Funda district of Sao Paulo. This game has been cancelled because of traffic.
The Belgium team opted to stay at the Paradise Golf & Lake Resort in Mogi das Cruzes, 40 miles east of Sao Paulo, because they did not want to sit in traffic according to Yahoo. Belgium coach, Marc Wilmots, said “I don’t want to sit in a bus for five hours.” When a mere 40 miles is a five hour trip that is a lot of traffic.
It is unfortunate because this friendly would have been a big help for the U.S. heading into the 2014 World Cup. Instead the team will prepare with normal training sessions leading up to their opening game against Ghana in Natal on Monday.
Juergen Klinsmann was hoping to get a real game scenario in before their opening game because he felt it is a much better way to prepare for the World Cup. “We want to give every player 45 minutes. We have a very good relationship with Belgium. They are just around the corner here.” said Klinsmann via WashingtonPost.
Regardless the U.S. team has a game on Monday and will be doing everything in their power to get ready for it.