The U.S. Men’s National team takes on Jamaica in a “friendly” this Friday

20,000 screaming fans will fill Finley Stadium this Friday at 7 p.m. as the United States Men’s National Team (USMNT) takes on Jamaica in an International Friendly.

This will be the first time Chattanooga fans get to see the USMNT in person, and to add to the excitement, fans will get to see new and former USMNT manager Bruce Arena at the helm.

This is a moment many soccer fanatics have been waiting for. After getting to see the USWNT in 2015, fans throughout Chattanooga will get to witness a manager and team, trying to build some continuity and momentum, that could help spur this squad toward the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

Although we won’t get to see wonderkid Christian Pulisic, and many others playing overseas, the USMNT coming to Chattanooga is filled with many roster mainstays, including Jozy Altidore, Michael Bradley, and Alejandro Bedoya, among others. With the January camp coming to a close in Chattanooga, it will be interesting to see if the USMNT can close out camp with a big win against Jamaica.

As an avid soccer fan and a die-hard patriot, this is an opportunity to see an immensely talented group of guys represent our country. It’s an opportunity that doesn’t come around often, and for a city that has shown a lot of soccer support and knowledge; this is something to get excited about.

After Sunday’s disappointing 0-0 draw against Serbia, we can anticipate Arena and company putting together an intense 90 minutes in hopes of getting a win. Arena has taken over the USMNT after the departure of Jürgen Klinsmann, due to his mixed bag of results.

This is Arena’s second time in charge of the USMNT, and he will be anxious to get a positive result in Chattanooga. Will we see Arena line up in the same 4-2-3-1 formation as he did against Serbia, or will something new be in the cards? We know Arena wants to be more offensive than previous USMNT’s, so I wouldn’t expect a formation change.

But with the recent news that midfielders Jermaine Jones and Sacha Kljestan won’t be making the trip to Chattanooga, one thing is for sure, the lineup will not be the same against Jamaica as it was against Serbia.

Arena has claimed that his second time as coach “hasn’t been that different,” and he knows dealing with controversy is always part of a manager’s job description. So it’s not to surprising that Arena hasn’t addressed the team in regards to the recent words circulating through the media about foreign raised Americans by Tim Howard and Jermaine Jones.

During an ESPN interview with Taylor Twellman, Arena said, “The games in November were not good defensively,” so its clear he was happy not conceding a goal to Serbia, but Arena also said that part of what he wants from these friendlies is to win.

So the question is, will the USMNT qualify for the World Cup? “Yep, that’s why I am here, we are going to qualify, I’m working on my Russian,” said Arena.

USA’s qualification for the World Cup is still some time away, but one thing is for certain, winning Friday against Jamaica would be a step in the right direction.