USA vs. Austria on the horizon?

The United States is going to play Austria in a November friendly if possible, according to people that Doug McIntyre of ESPN has spoken to.

Hearing that the #usmnt will play a November friendly at Austria, assuming U.S. has already qualified for the World Cup.

— Doug McIntyre (@DougMacESPN) July 8, 2013

At the moment, it looks like the United States will finish in the top three in the Hex, knock on wood. However, Austria's November availability is much less certain. They're currently tied with Sweden and Ireland in second place of their World Cup qualifying group on 11 points, and they're ahead of both on goal differential. Austria does have to go away to Germany still, but they play at home against Ireland and away to Sweden. They could very well play their way in to a playoff spot.

The United States probably already has a few backup plans stashed away if Austria isn't available, though we haven't heard about them yet. If this friendly does go through, it's a small step down from the teams the U.S. played in November of 2009 to prepare for the World Cup. During that cycle, they took on Denmark and Slovakia in November.

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