The U.S. National Team's match with Ukraine is going forward, but will take place in the Mediterranean nation of Cyprus, U.S. Soccer announced on Tuesday.
Recent political upheaval in Ukrainian capital of Kiev led to major doubts about the status of the U.S. match with the Ukranian national team in Kharkiv on March 5
“After discussions with the Ukrainian Football Federation, we have decided not to play in Ukraine on March 5 and are planning to move the match to a city in Cyprus," U.S. Soccer said in statement. "We are in the final stages of discussions with Ukraine and the Cyprus Football Association to determine the location and kickoff time. We hope to have confirmation on all the match details by Wednesday.”
Last Saturday, Galaxy attacker Landon Donovan -- who may be called up for the match -- told reporters that the match had little importance due to the scale of the human tragedy.
“Forget about a soccer match,” Donovan said. “I come from more of a human-rights perspective, so I'm not worried about a soccer game when that stuff's going on. ... Hopefully, it all gets sorted out and people don't continue to lose lives. That's sad.”
The match against the Ukraine will be the Americans final friendly in Europe before this summer's World Cup in Brazil.
