US to host Ghana in friendly July 1

The US men’s national team will face off with Ghana – a familiar foe – in one of their final tune-ups before the start of the 2017 CONCACAF Gold Cup.

The US Soccer Federation announced on Monday that the USMNT will host Ghana in a friendly on Saturday, July 1 at Pratt & Whitney Stadium in East Hartford, Connecticut. Set for one week before the US begins their Gold Cup against Panama on July 8 in Nashville, the match will be broadcast live on ESPN, UniMás and UDN and will kick off at 4:45 pm ET.

The US and Ghana have played in each of the last three World Cups, with the Black Stars knocking the US out of the competition in 2006 and 2010 before the US defeated the African country 2-1 in the opening group game of the 2014 tournament.

Columbus Crew SC’s Jonathan Mensah and Harrison Afful were both part of Ghana’s Africa Cup of Nations squad this season, and the Chicago Fire’s David Accam has also been a recent call-up for the Black Stars.

“Ghana is certainly a team that brings different challenges, and it’s the type of competition we need as we continue to develop our program,” US head coach Bruce Arena said in a statement released by US Soccer. “Winning the Gold Cup is one of our priorities in 2017, so this is an important opportunity. We’ve always had great support in Hartford, and look forward to more of the same this summer.”

The US is 3-1-1 all-time in East Hartford, last playing there in October 2014, when the USMNT defeated Ecuador 2-1 in Landon Donovan’s send-off game.