USMNT confirms seven friendlies for first half of 2015

The United States is going to play seven friendlies in the first half of 2015, and against some very good competition. U.S. Soccer confirmed the Americans' schedule through June 10, which will see them play four matches in Europe, one in South America and one at home.

The quality of teams that the U.S. has linked up is off the charts. Defending World Cup winners Germany are on the slate, as are the Netherlands, who finished third. The Americans will also play Mexico, who are flying high under Miguel Herrera, Switzerland, Denmark, Chile and Panama.

As is the norm, the U.S. will conduct a training camp in January and February. Players whose clubs are out of season, which is mainly just MLS, participate in it and then play a friendly or two. In 2015, it will be two, with the first coming on January 28 in Chile. They will then return to the U.S. and play Panama on February 8 at the StubHub Center in Carson. Neither match is on a FIFA international date, so the Americans and their opponents will not have full strength teams.

There is a FIFA date in March, and the U.S. will use it to play Denmark and Switzerland away. The first match will be against the Danes on March 25, then they will head to Zurich for a March 31 contest.

On April 15, the U.S. will meet Mexico on American soil for a renewal of the heated rivalry between the two teams. Like the first two matches of the season, this is not on a FIFA date, but Liga MX clubs figure to release players for the match so the Americans should have players from MLS and Liga MX available. A site for that match has not yet been confirmed.

The final two matches the U.S. has confirmed will come in June. They are after the European season is over and on a FIFA date, so Jurgen Klinsmann will be able to pick the best team possible for those two matches as he begins to prepare them for the Gold Cup in July.

Klinsmann has said repeatedly that he wants to challenge his team against the best teams in the world, who play different styles, and in hostile environments. This is about as good of a job as he can possibly do, with a lot of great teams all over the world and a variety of styles.

This is Klinsmann's first full cycle in charge of the U.S. so he has a chance to build something from scratch in 2015 to the Gold Cup, then to get ready for the 2016 Copa America, World Cup qualifying and then the 2018 World Cup. Klinsmann said he thinks the U.S. should be aiming to compete for the title in all of those competitions, and he's going to throw them into the fire to prepare them from Day 1.