Why the U.S. soccer team is playing in ‘Nooga’

Finley Stadium (Steven Goff/The Washington Post)CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — Columbus, Washington, Carson … Chattanooga?

The U.S. Soccer Federation broke from standard scheduling practices by placing Friday’s men’s friendly against Jamaica in a city off the sport’s beaten path. The women have played at 20,000-seat Finley Stadium. The men have visited Tennessee in recent years, two hours up the road in Nashville, but never in the southeastern corner of the Volunteer State.

So why did the USSF do it? To introduce the team to a different city.

The winter training camp typically features friendlies at the site of the month-long workouts, StubHub Center in Carson, Calif. Last year’s matches, however, drew…