U.S. Soccer announced on Wednesday that Universal Sports Network will televise both of the United States Women’s National Team matches in the Volvo Winners Cup. And, more importantly, as most American cable subscribers do not get that channel, both matches will streamed live and for free on UniversalSports.com. Continue reading “USWNT: Volvo Winners Cup Matches Will Be Streamed Live”
Category: USWNT
The USWNT’s First Doubleheader with the USMNT
The media guide for the United States Women’s National Team only notes one doubleheader* with the Men’s National Team: a pair of matches held at RFK Stadium in Washington, D.C., on May 30, 1998, in which the women played New Zealand and the men played Scotland. Contemporary news reports in 1998 state that this doubleheader was the “first-ever” (SoccerAmerica) and the “[f]irst time both the U.S. men’s and women’s national teams have played a doubleheader (Baltimore Sun).**
But, that would not be the first time the men’s and women’s national teams had played at the same stadium on the same day. Continue reading “The USWNT’s First Doubleheader with the USMNT”
Olympics: Notes on the Latest FIFA Women’s World Rankings
On June 1st, the latest FIFA Women’s World Rankings were released. While there were no major shake-ups, the most notable rankings movement was by Brazil, whose series of losses to Canada, the USA, and Japan, caused them to drop 33 points and fall from fourth place to fifth place, behind Sweden. Meanwhile, the United States remains in the number one spot and was able to extend its points lead over Germany and the other top teams. Continue reading “Olympics: Notes on the Latest FIFA Women’s World Rankings”
US Soccer To Make U-17 and U-20 WNT Head Coach Positions Full-Time
Somewhat out of the blue, US Soccer announced last weekend that the head coach positions for the two main youth women’s national teams, the Under-17s and the Under-20s will be full-time, starting after the two youth Women’s World Cups later this year.
Also, a “development coach” will be hired to focus “on enhancing the player development environment for young players” across the USA and to oversee the Under-15 Girls’ National Team program. In other words, this sounds as if the U-15 GNT head coach position will also be made a full-time job, but with broader duties.
Continue reading “US Soccer To Make U-17 and U-20 WNT Head Coach Positions Full-Time”
USWNT: Notes From Memorial Day Weekend
On Sunday, May 27th, the USWNT defeated China 4:1, with Alex Morgan scoring two goals and getting an assist via a throw-in. Earlier in the day, the Olympic roster was released.
Also, on Wednesday (May 23rd), the USWNT defeated China 3:0 in a closed-door scrimmage.
USWNT: May Camp Roster – Christen Press Unable to Attend, Two New Faces
US Soccer released the roster of players called into the USWNT’s next camp, which will be held in New Jersey, from May 10th to the 25th, prior to the team’s friendly versus China, which is on May 27th. Twenty-eight players were called up, including first-timers Adrianna Franch (goalkeeper) and Gina Lewandowski (centerback). Not included in the roster is Christen Press who was invited (per her interview in this video), but was presumably not released by her club, K/Göteborg FC. Continue reading “USWNT: May Camp Roster – Christen Press Unable to Attend, Two New Faces”
USWNT: The Forwards Situation for the 2012 Olympics
The deadline for Olympic rosters is two months away and Pia Sundhage has some challenging decisions to make regarding which players are included in the final roster for the United States Women’s National Team (USWNT) and which players are left out.
In this first post of a potential series, the situation regarding forwards is examined. Continue reading “USWNT: The Forwards Situation for the 2012 Olympics”
USWNT: Thoughts on the Optimal Player Pool Size and Structure
This week in obscure USWNT topics: A discussion of the optimal size of the United States Women’s National Team player pool.
The main prompt for this discussion was the inclusion of Christen Press in the last camp roster, which highlighted a problem in the management of the team’s main player pool: The number of experienced true forwards was dwindling due to the use of Lauren Cheney and Amy Rodriguez as midfielders, while the need for true forwards was increasing due to the switch back to the 4-4-2 formation, from the 4-2-3-1 formation.
This is also relevant since the USWNT players’ collective bargaining agreement expires at the end of the year (USSoccer.com article announcing the current agreement back in 2006).
Continue reading “USWNT: Thoughts on the Optimal Player Pool Size and Structure”
Olympics: Women’s Soccer Tournament Groups, With Schedule
The draw for the soccer tournaments at the 2012 London Olympics was held earlier today. The groups are as follows:
Group E: Great Britain (E1), New Zealand (E2), Cameroon (E3), Brazil (E4)
Group F: Japan (F1), Canada (F2), Sweden (F3), South Africa (F4)
Group G: USA (G1), France (G2), Colombia (G3), North Korea (G4)
For the USA, this means that they will play France first, then Colombia, and finally North Korea.
Continue reading “Olympics: Women’s Soccer Tournament Groups, With Schedule”
Women’s Olympic Soccer: Tournament Draw Procedure Announced
Earlier today, FIFA posted the draw procedure for the soccer tournaments at the 2012 Olympics. On the women’s side, there are no real surprises, as the draw procedure echoes the structure of the 2008 draw procedures. Continue reading “Women’s Olympic Soccer: Tournament Draw Procedure Announced”
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