In a move that seemed inevitable as political unrest grew by the day in Egypt, the scheduled friendly between the United States and Egypt on Feb. 9th in Cairo has been canceled.
U.S. Soccer announced the cancellation in Monday, just ten days before the teams were to meet in a rematch of the 2009 Confederations Cup match won by the United States, 3-0.
“We were excited about the opportunity to play against Egypt, but due to the current situation all parties agreed it was best to cancel the match,” said U.S. Soccer President Sunil Gulati.
“We appreciate the efforts of the Egyptian Football Association and the U.S. State Department as we worked through this situation.”
The cancellation will hardly come as a surprise considering the political situation in Egypt. Moving the match to a venue outside Egypt was ruled out given the volatile environment in Egypt.
The timing of the political unrest in Egypt also made finding a new opponent impossible for a U.S. national team that hasn't fielded its full squad since October.
The United States will return to action in March with matches against Argentina, on March 26th in New Jersey, and Paraguay, on March 29th in Nashville, Tennessee.
Ives Galarcep is a senior writer for FoxSoccer.com covering the U.S. national team and Major League Soccer.
