U.S. to host friendlies against Iceland and Canada

Published 12/16/2015, 9:25 AM EST

NEW YORK (Reuters) – United States will begin the New Year with two friendlies in Carson, California against Euro 2016 finalists Iceland and neighbours Canada.

Following the team’s annual training camp, the Americans are to play Iceland on Jan. 31 and Canada on Feb. 5, the U.S. Soccer Federation said on Tuesday.

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Iceland qualified for the finals of a major tournament for the first time in September when they secured a spot at Euro 2016 in France.

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It will be the first clash between the U.S. and Iceland in more than 20 years, the teams having split their history of meetings with a 2-2-2 record dating back to 1955.

The U.S. are unbeaten against Canada for 35 years, a run that includes eight wins and 13 clean sheets.

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The friendlies will help the Americans prepare for two World Cup qualifiers against Guatemala in March.

(Reporting by Frank Pingue; Editing by Tony Jimenez)

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Dhruv George is a senior Formula One and NASCAR analyst for EssentiallySports, having authored nearly 12000 articles spanning different sports like F1, NASCAR, Tennis, NFL, and eSports. He graduated with a PG Diploma in Journalism from the Xavier Institute of Communications. Dhruv has also conducted interviews with F1 driver Pierre Gasly and Moto2 rider Tony Arbolino.