Viewing parties will be held at five locations in Los Angeles County and in Tustin in Orange County for Saturday’s telecasts of the U.S. men’s soccer team’s exhibition game against Bolivia.
The game from Kansas City, Kansas will begin at 5 p.m. and be televised in English by cable’s FS1 and in Spanish by Univision.
The watch parties will be held at:
— The Auld Dubliner, 2497 E Ave., Tustin;
— The Brew & Meatball Co., 325 N. Citrus Ave., Covina;
— 1739 Public House, 1739 N. Vermont Ave., Los Feliz;
— Shannon’s On Pine, 209 Pine Ave., Long Beach;
— Underground Pub & Grill, 1332 Hermosa Ave., Hermosa Beach; and
— Q’s Billiard Club, 11835 Wilshire Blvd., Brentwood.
The viewing parties are organized by various chapters of American Outlaws, a nationwide support group for the U.S. men’s and women’s national soccer teams.
The game is the last for the U.S. before it begins play in the 2016 Copa America Centenario Friday against Colombia. The roster for today’s game includes 21 of the 23 players on the roster for the 2016 Copa America Centenario.
The U.S. is 29th in the rankings compiled by FIFA, soccer’s international governing body. The team has won five of its past six games following a five-game stretch when it was 1-3-1. Of the teams it has defeated during the current stretch, only 12th-ranked Ecuador and 35th-ranked Iceland are ranked higher than 88th.
Bolivia is ranked 79th.
The today’s U.S. roster includes four players who played on the high school or club level in Los Angeles or Orange counties — Los Angeles Galaxy forward Gyasi Zardes (Leuzinger High School); Hamburg SV forward Bobby Wood (Irvine Strikers); Club Tijuana defender Michael Orozco (Irvine Strikers); and D.C. United defender Steve Birnbaum (Northwood High).
Wood assisted on Darlington Nagbe’s 90th-minute goal in Wednesday’s 1-0 victory over Ecuador after replacing Zardes at the start of the second half. Birnbaum played all 90 minutes while Orozco played the final four.
This is the first meeting between the U.S. and Bolivia since 1999 when they played to a 0-0 tie. Bolivia leads the series 2-0-4.
—City News Service