"Tony Meola has had an outstanding career for the national team with three World Cups to his credit, as well as 11 years in MLS,” national team head coach Bruce Arena said. “It's an honor for me and U.S. Soccer to recognize Tony's achievements in our sport by watching him earn his 100th cap for his country. We look forward to a special evening and recognizing Tony for an illustrious career."

Since earning his first cap in 1988, Meola has had a storied career with the Red, White and Blue. He is the USA’s all-time leader in appearances for goalkeepers and is second to Kasey Keller in both wins (37) and shutouts (32).

Meola played every minute of the USA’s matches in Italia ‘90 and USA ’94, including the 2-1 victory against Colombia that helped put the U.S. into the second round. The five-time MLS All-Star presided over the USA’s 2-0 victory against England in U.S. Cup ’93, and served as one of three goalkeepers for the USA’s historic quarterfinal run in the 2002 FIFA World Cup.

His last international appearance came during the 2002 Nike ‘Road to Korea’, entering in the second half in the 5-0 win against Jamaica on May 16, 2002, at Giants Stadium.

While much of the hype for the game has been on Meola, the real focus for Arena is to get one final look at MLS players who are ‘on the bubble’ to make the national team roster for the World Cup.

"It's a very important game. Is the result important? No," Arena was quoted as saying in USA Today. "What's important is to see where some of these guys are at and to try to confirm what I'm thinking and to give me more information to make a decision. We have very little margin for error in this World Cup, and every bit of information we get is going to be helpful."

The U.S will have history on their side, however, as they have never lost to the Reggae Boyz in 16 all-time meetings, holding a 9-0-7 record.

Once the final whistle has blown the try-out period for players will be over as Arena has indicated that he will announce a preliminary 35-man player pool for the 2006 FIFA World Cup following the USA’s match against Jamaica on April 11 in Cary. From that pool, Arena will select the 23 players to represent the United States this summer in Germany. He is expected to announce the final roster in the first week in May. The roster will be submitted to FIFA on May 15, the official deadline for all 32 teams.

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