The US men’s national soccer team will play in Cincinnati on Sunday. Facing Venezuela in a tune-up match before this summer’s CONCACAF Gold Cup. There are several unique and interesting storylines going into this match.

A turf dispute is one major storyline playing into the pre-match headlines. Sunday’s match will take place at the University of Cincinnati’s Nippert Stadium. Home to FC Cincinnati since their debut season in 2016. The historic stadium has an artifical turf playing surface. Prompting the USMNT’s players union to raise concerns roughly two months ago.

Players contended that having the match played on grass laid on top of artificial turf could endanger player safety. World Cup defending US women’s national soccer team players have expressed similar concerns. As a result, Nippert Stadium is swapping out their artificial turf. Sunday’s match will unfold on a temporary natural grass pitch. Instead of having the grass laid on top of the funny stuff.

Another storyline is one that isn’t being discussed much in pre-match headlines. In all honesty though, this can be reasonably considered a good thing. Political tensions likely will stay off of the pitch on Sunday. Relations between Venezuela and the United States have been in tatters throughout the 21st century. While those tensions will be in the backdrop; it likely won’t effect the match in a significant way.

After all, it’s a friendly match that won’t have any bearing on World Cup qualifying. Both teams have met a few times before without any memorable controversies. Frankly, it would be ridiculous to have tensions boil at a match with fairly low stakes. This also highlights one of the best things about international sporting events. That countries, including ones that have their share of disputes, can meet often peacefully for a game.

The last major storyline going into this match surrounds Cincinnati itself. Sunday’s match will be the first time that the USMNT plays in Cincinnati. The US Women’s team played in a friendly at Nippert Stadium in 2017. That match against New Zealand drew 30,596 fans. A record crowd for a USWNT match in played in Ohio.

Sunday’s match could be more than just a tune-up for the Gold Cup. This will be a test for Cincinnati’s future soccer aspirations. Cincinnati is vying to be among 16 host cities for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Which will feature matches in the US, Canada and Mexico. Cincinnati is currently one of 23 cities across the three countries that are being considered.

Kick off between the USMNT and Venezuela is set for Sunday at 2:00 PM Eastern time. The friendly match will be broadcast nationally in the US on FOX.