“They’re two friendly games, but we’re approaching them as if the World Cup starts here. … Traveling to the United States, facing this historic national team, experiencing soccer there. … Before, we looked at them from several steps below and wanted to be like them — in terms of the game, drawing crowds and conditions. Now we can go toe-to-toe with them.”

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Soccer America Executive Editor Mike Woitalla has written freelance articles about soccer for more than 30 media outlets in nine nations. The winner of eight United Soccer Coaches Writing Contest awards,...