Colombia confirm friendly against the United States in January

Néstor Lorenzo’s Colombia will start 2023 with a friendly against Gregg Berhalter’s United States. The game won’t take place on an official FIFA date - the first official international break will be from 18-26 March. That means that Lorenzo will only be able to call on players based domestically, in MLS or any other clubs who agree to loan their players, whether they are involved in competition or not. The Colombia coach has worked with over 40 different players since he took the post in June.

The friendly is scheduled for Saturday 28 January and will be played at the Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California. “The Colombian national team announce a new friendly against the United States in January. Néstor Lorenzo and his coaching staff will start 2023 early, thinking about the competitions coming up in the New Year,” the FCF informed.

Lorenzo had already stated that micro call-ups would be key for these kinds of friendlies where it is not known which players will be available. “We can accept friendlies without knowing which players we can count on. There is the possibility of a match at the end of January against the USA, another game that will not be on a FIFA date. If players are called, there will already be a mutual arrangement with their competition. We will carefully evaluate which players are in a position to play these types of games,” he explained.

Prior to the USMNT friendly, Colombia will bring this year to a close a match against Paraguay on Saturday 19 November - one day before the start of the World Cup in Qatar. The game will take place in Fort Lauderdale, United States with kick-off at 8 p.m. local time.