USMNT to play Ireland in November friendly - report

The United States will play Ireland in a November 18 friendly, according to the Irish Independent. The match would be played at Aviva Stadium in Dublin.

The U.S. and Ireland have played nine times before, but the last came way back in 2002, when the Irish won, 2-1.

Ireland qualified for Euro 2012, but were beaten badly and then failed to qualify for the 2014 World Cup, leading to Martin O'Neill taking over as manager last November. Their Euro 2016 qualifying campaign begins on September 7 and they have a chance to make the tournament, with Poland and Scotland their biggest challengers for second place after Germany presumably wins the group.

Ireland will be coming off of a qualifier four days earlier against Scotland, which means the U.S. will be facing a tired team, but also their full team. The squad will be their Euro qualifying one, so all of the team's best players will get a call.

Aviva Stadium opened in 2010 to be the new home for Ireland rugby and soccer. It seats 51,700, but attendance has been spotty for the national team. They have sold out matches against big name opponents, but have drawn fewer than 20,000 fans for matches against smaller countries, even for qualifiers. The U.S. is coming off of a knockout stage appearance at the World Cup, but they are hardly a marquee team and don't have a superstar so it will be interesting to see what kind of drawing power they have in Ireland

If the U.S. plays Ireland on November 18, that just about wraps up the November friendlies as being in Europe. The U.S. is already scheduled to play a September friendly against the Czech Republic in Prague so the September friendlies also appear set for Europe. That means the two October friendlies will likely be played in the U.S.