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The United States looks set to play the Netherlands in a friendly next summer. According to Sports Illustrated, Jurgen Klinsmann will take his side to Europe to play the Dutch on June 5 ahead of a June 10 friendly against Germany.
The friendly against Germany has already been confirmed by German federation and it was always unlikely that the U.S. would go to Europe for just one match. Now they appear to have a second match on the slate, making for a really tough two-match stretch as they prepare for the Gold Cup, which begins on July 7. When the U.S. and the Netherlands last met in March 2010, the Americans came away with a 1-0 win thanks to a lead Carlos Bocanegra goal, but Nigel de Jong broke Stuart Holden's leg with a nasty tackle.
The Netherlands have struggled under new manager Guus Hiddink. He took over for Louis van Gaal, who led the Dutch to the World Cup semifinals, but they are just 2-2 in Euro 2016 qualifying under him.
Regardless, the Netherlands are a very talented team and playing them away will be tough for the U.S. Scheduling that match, with Germany five days later, certainly fulfills Klinsmann promise and desire to play top quality competition. He wants the Americans to be challenged and they will be with the Dutch and Germans. If Klinsmann wants an idea of how the U.S. matches up against the best, he'll get that. And if he wants to raise the bar so when they play weaker CONCACAF teams in the Gold Cup the following month, he'll get that too.
It will be interesting to see how Klinsmann and the U.S. handles next summer, especially with regards to the MLS players. They have two friendlies scheduled for early June now, a month before the Gold Cup starts. Are they going to have the MLS players skip the Europe friendlies and join up in late June? Are they going to have the MLS players play in the friendlies then go back to their clubs for a couple weeks? Are they going to really piss off the league and take MLS players away from their clubs for nearly two months?