Category: Opposition Research

Posts on the USWNT’s upcoming opponents, its key rivals (Brazil, Germany, Japan, and Sweden), its neighbors (Canada and Mexico). For posts about youth WNT opponents, please see the Under-xx category.

Neighbor Watch: Canada’s Roster For CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying 2020

And, the award for the most consistent team roster goes to… Canada.

All twenty players on Canada’s roster for the upcoming CONCACAF Women’s Olympic Qualifying Championship were members of their 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup squad, including every player who featured on-field for Canada in France.

Canada, who earned Bronze Medals in 2012 and 2016, will be hoping to qualify for its fourth-straight Summer Olympics.  Veteran forward Christine Sinclair is also hoping to make her fourth Olympics, while eyeing the career international goals record that is currently held by USWNT legend Abby Wambach. Continue reading “Neighbor Watch: Canada’s Roster For CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying 2020”

Opponent Watch: Panama’s Roster For CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying 2020 – Where Are The Goal-Scorers?

Panama, who was a penalty shoot-out away from qualifying for the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup, will be without five of their top six five goal-scorers over the past two calendar years for the upcoming CONCACAF Women’s Olympic Qualifying Championship, where they are grouped with the United States Women’s National Team in Group A.  Panama will also be without the head coach who guided them to the cusp of WWC qualification, Victor Suarez, who was sacked by Panama’s FA after last summer’s Pan-American Games, where Panama only managed to score a single goal in open play.

Continue reading “Opponent Watch: Panama’s Roster For CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying 2020 – Where Are The Goal-Scorers?”

Opponent Watch: Costa Rica’s Roster for 2020 Olympic Qualifying

When the United States Women’s National Team finishes the group stage of this year’s CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying tournament against Costa Rica, they will likely face a line-up quite similar to the one that they faced last November, in the two sides’ most recent match-up.  Of the 20 players on Costa Rica’s published roster for that friendly, head coach Amelia Valverde has retained 17 for the qualifying roster, including all 13 players who featured in that match (U.S. Soccer match report). Continue reading “Opponent Watch: Costa Rica’s Roster for 2020 Olympic Qualifying”

Neighbor Watch: Mexico’s Roster for 2020 Olympic Qualifying Announced

After failing to qualify for the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup, Mexico faces a steep uphill challenge as it tries to qualify for the women’s soccer tournament at this year’s Summer Olympic in Tokyo. With just two slots available at the upcoming CONCACAF Women’s Olympic Qualification Championship, Mexico must first finish in the top half of Group B, which also includes two WWC squads, Canada and Jamaica, along with debutante minnow Saint Kitts & Nevis.  Should Mexico get out of the group, most likely in the runner-up spot, behind a solid Canada team, Mexico’s opponent in the all-or-nothing semifinal will be the reigning world champions, the United States Women’s National Team (absent a shock result in Group A). Continue reading “Neighbor Watch: Mexico’s Roster for 2020 Olympic Qualifying Announced”

Finally! U.S. Soccer Officially Announces 2020 SheBelieves Cup Teams and Schedule

Today, U.S. Soccer finally confirmed the teams and venues for the 2020 edition of the SheBelieves Cup, which will be hosted by the United States Women’s National Team.  The other three teams will be England, Japan, and first-time participant Spain.

The Cup’s matches will be played on Thursday, March 5th; Sunday, March 8th; and Wednesday, March 11th.  All USWNT matches will be televised live via ESPN channels (English language) and TUDN (Spanish language).  Tickets officially go on sale on Friday, January 17th, although there will be a Visa cardholder “pre-sale” on Thursday, January 16th. Continue reading “Finally! U.S. Soccer Officially Announces 2020 SheBelieves Cup Teams and Schedule”

2020 SheBelieves Cup: England Confirmed, But Germany, France, and Brazil Have Other Plans

Update (13-Jan-2020):  U.S. Soccer has finally published the schedule for this year’s SheBelieves Cup.  The fourth team will be Spain.  Full details, here.

Update (05-Jan-2020):  On December 20th, the JFA published preliminary calendars for their national teams, confirming Japan‘s participation in this year’s tournament.  The identity of the final team has yet-to-be officially confirmed.

Although the teams for the 2020 edition of the SheBelieves Cup have yet to be officially announced, we do have a very good idea of which teams will not be competing against the host, the United States Women’s National Team.

That is because the fields for two other friendly tournaments which will be held during the same international window, the Algarve Cup, as well as a new four-team tournament hosted by France, were both officially confirmed last week.

Also, earlier in November, the FA confirmed that England (#5T) will once again be participating in the SheBelieves Cup.  That nugget was buried in the FA’s press release about their hiring of former USWNT high performance coach Dawn Scott.

Continue reading “2020 SheBelieves Cup: England Confirmed, But Germany, France, and Brazil Have Other Plans”

USWNT: High Performance Coach Dawn Scott Returns to England FA

On Wednesday, U.S. Soccer and the Football Association (FA) confirmed that Dawn Scott, who was the United States Women’s National Team’s High Performance Coach, is leaving U.S. Soccer for a similar position with the FA as the Physical Performance Manager for England’s senior women’s national team.  Scott’s sudden departure was surprising as newly installed USWNT head coach Vlatko Andonovski had said that he was “retaining” Scott (SI.com).  The news was broken over the previous weekend by Simon Austin at Training Ground Guru and confirmed by Jeff Kassouf of Equalizer Soccer.

Details about the circumstances of Scott’s departure and hiring are limited, although her departure was described as “amicable.” (The Athletic article, subscription required) Continue reading “USWNT: High Performance Coach Dawn Scott Returns to England FA”

Women’s Euro 2021 Qualifying: November 2019 Group Stage Window Recap and Highlights

UEFA Women's Euro logo

The year’s final qualifying matches for the UEFA Women’s Euro 2021 ended in disappointment for the Republic of Ireland and Portugal, who both saw late equalizers dash their hopes of full points, as well as Spain and Wales, who were each held to scoreless draws.  Top contenders, the Netherlands, France, Norway, Denmark, Italy, Switzerland, Belgium and Austria all finish the year on full points, as all are yet to concede a draw or lost.

Qualifying for the 2021 Women’s Euro, which will be hosted by England, resumes in March 2020, although most of the top contenders do not restart their qualifying campaigns until April 2020.

England, was also in action this window, playing two friendlies:  First, hosting Germany at Wembley in front of a home attendance record of 77,768 on Saturday, and then an away friendly at the Czech Republic on Tuesday.

Continue reading “Women’s Euro 2021 Qualifying: November 2019 Group Stage Window Recap and Highlights”

Roster Round-Up: November 2019 International Window

A (belated) round-up of rosters for top national teams who will be playing (or have played) during the November international window, whether in friendlies or Women’s Euro qualifiers.

Roster covered in this article:

  • CONCACAF:  Canada
  • CONMEBOL:  Brazil
  • AFC: Australia, Japan
  • UEFA:  England, Germany, Netherlands, France, Spain, Norway

The rosters for the United States and Sweden are analyzed in separate articles:

For Costa Rica roster analysis, see Opponent Watch: Costa Rica’s Roster and Depth Chart for November 2019 Friendly

Continue reading “Roster Round-Up: November 2019 International Window”

Opponent Watch: Costa Rica’s Roster and Depth Chart for November 2019 Friendly

For Sunday’s friendly against the United States Women’s National Team (8:00 p.m. ET, ESPN2), Costa Rica’s head coach, Amelia Valverde has called up 20 players, including 15 who recently won the Bronze Medal at this year’s Pan-American Games in Lima, Peru.  Among those medal-winners is US-based player. Raquel “Rocky” Rodriguez of Sky Blue FC.  (Correction:  As of mid-September 2019 Gloriana Villalobos is no long on Florida State’s squad due to personal reasons. – Tallahassee Democrat article)

Update (10-Nov-2019):  Here is U.S. Soccer’s preview for the friendly, which includes notes on Costa Rica’s roster, apparently with updated cap and goal details for some of their veteran players.

Costa Rica has been very active since the international break for the Women’s World Cup, playing in the Pan-American Games in late July and early August, a two-match friendly tournament hosted by Brazil during the August/September international window, and two official matches during the October international window for CONCACAF Olympic Pre-Qualifying.  Continue reading “Opponent Watch: Costa Rica’s Roster and Depth Chart for November 2019 Friendly”