USMNT to play Costa Rica in February

On the same day as the US Men’s National Team played Italy in what is widely assumed to be Dave Sarachan’s last game as the USA’s interim head coach, US Soccer announced the first scheduled match of what is expected to be Gregg Berhalter’s tenure at the helm of the senior men’s national team.

USMNT will play Costa Rica on February 2 at Avaya Stadium in San Jose. Kick-off time is yet to be confirmed, but the match is scheduled to be broadcast on FS1 and Univision Networks.

US Soccer’s official announcement describes the Costa Rica match as the second of two games USMNT will play as part of its January 2019 camp. The first game has not yet been announced.

There is no official FIFA window for international matches in January, so USMNT January camp traditionally features players whose clubs are willing, rather than obligated, to release them to their national team. That typically a means a lot of out-of-season MLS players using the camp as part of their preseason.

The New York Red Bulls’ Tyler Adams is expected to be a RB Leipzig player before the end of January, which might be good reason for him to be excused national team duty at the beginning of the year. He has been a near-constant call-up for USMNT since last November, and will be on the next head coach’s radar with or without a prolonged training session in January.

MLS Defender of the Year Aaron Long picked up his second USMNT cap - against Italy - on the same day as team’s February game against Costa Rica was announced. He would seem a pretty good bet for a January call-up. RBNY’s Tim Parker would also be an unsurprising name to hear called when the next USMNT roster is announced. The Red Bulls put together the best regular season in MLS history in 2018, so a number of other American players on the current roster might get a look from the USA’s new head coach in January, including captain Luis Robles,