US team swap 5-star hotel for Ramstein Air Base

HAMBURG - Maybe a touch of home will help the US team for their World Cup clash with Italy, even if it means trading a five- star hotel for a military base.

The US were heading Thursday from their base in Hamburg to sprawling Ramstein Air Base, which is close to Saturday's match venue in Kaiserslautern, another big US military town.

FIFA's designated team hotel is in Mannheim, but the Americans chose Ramstein - the biggest US military base overseas - in part because it is closer.

"But I think our primary concern is security," coach Bruce Arena told reporters. He didn't elaborate on the choice of pre-match camp, saying only, "I don't make those decisions."
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http://www.expatica.com/source/site_article.asp?subchannel_id=26&story_id=30842&name=US+team+swap+5%2Dstar+hotel+for+Ramstein+Air+Base


:wtf:

Military bases have lots of recreational areas nearby - they can scrimmage regularly whereas they would have to be transported to a secure location and waste a lot of time if they stayed at a 5 star hotel.