US, Mexico to play friendly for World Cup warm-up

New York, Feb 16: The US and Mexico will play a friendly April 2 as a warm-up for the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil.

The match is to be played in suburban Phoenix, Arizona, and will be the host nation’s last friendly before their World Cup training camp opens, reports Xinhua.

“We are going to be watching our players very carefully before making final decisions on the roster for the World Cup, so this will be a great benchmark to see where they are at and how they compete against our biggest rivals,” US coach Jurgen Klinsmann said.

The teams will be meeting for the first time since the US beat Mexico 2-0 in Columbus, Ohio, in a CONCACAF World Cup qualifier.

The US, who will face Portugal, Ghana and Germany in Group G in Brazil, continue their preparations with a friendly against Ukraine in Kharkiv March 5.

Mexico are drawn in Group A with hosts Brazil, Croatia and Cameroon.