Sports

Klinsmann: U.S. match against Ukraine good tuneup for Cup

With Ukraine in turmoil, the United States’ on-again, off-again friendly soccer match is on again Wednesday (2 p.m., ESPN2).

The exhibition match was canceled, then moved from Kharkiv in Ukraine to Larnaca in Cyprus for security reasons, with the Ukrainians indicating the game would go on because of the U.S.’ support in their conflict with Russia.

Football Federation of Ukraine President Anatoliy Konkov initially planned to scrap the match because of political unrest in his country, with Russia threatening full-scale attack and the U.S. warning the region was headed for dangerous escalation. But after meeting with coach Mykhaylo Fomenko and Minister of Youth and Sport Dmytro Bulatov, Konkov opted to play.

“As a result we arrived on a common idea we should play the scheduled friendly with the U.S. soccer team as they represent the country that stood up to defend our national interests and territorial integrity of Ukraine,” Konkov said.

The game will be the first time the U.S. is wearing its new Nike home uniforms, and the first of five pre-World Cup tuneups. It also will be against the highest-ranked nation that didn’t qualify for Brazil, and gives coach Jurgen Klinsmann a chance to use a roster filled with European-based players, before testing his MLS-based players against Mexico on April 2 in Glendale, Ariz.

“Having this Ukraine game is a huge opportunity, mainly for our European-based players,” Klinsmann said. “You want to give them a chance to show where they are at and what’s going on in their specific situation.

“It’s a huge opportunity for all those guys to prove to us that they are eager and hungry to jump on the train to the World Cup. We will get a good picture of them over those couple of days.’’

Players such as Oguchi Onyewu, first-timer Will Packwood, Reading’s Danny Williams and New Jersey product Juan Agudelo will get their chances. With Michael Bradley, Mix Diskerud and Tim Ream withdrawing for different reasons, Klinsmann gave Jonathan Spector a call-up as well.

“I expect a very difficult game,’’ Klinsmann said. “If you look at [Ukraine], it’s a very high-quality team that they have. Obviously, they are highly disappointed in not going to Brazil, so when they get the opportunity to play against teams that are going to Brazil they want to beat them.

“We need to be prepared for that, and to prove again away from home that we can play with the good teams of the world. It’s going to be a great benchmark for us and a difficult game, but those are the environments that we need to go to in order to mature and improve.”