SheBelieves Cup – Women's Soccer Express

2020 SheBelieves Cup: Updated Rosters, USA TV Schedule, and News Updates

The 2020 edition of the SheBelieves Cup, which is hosted by the United States Women’s National Team, officially gets underway on Thursday, March 5th. Rosters for the four participating teams – the USWNT, England, Japan, and first-timer Spain – have all been announced.

In the United States, all USWNT matches will be shown live on ESPN channels, while the non-USA matches will be available via ESPN’s streaming platforms. Continue reading “2020 SheBelieves Cup: Updated Rosters, USA TV Schedule, and News Updates”

Opponent Watch: Spain’s Roster for the 2020 SheBelieves Cup

With inaugural SheBelieves Cup participants France and Germany once again not returning and last year’s debutante Brazil preferring the allure of France, the Netherlands, and Canada, the United States Women’s National Team needed to find a new participant for its four-team friendly tournament. Eventually, the USA settled on #13-ranked Spain, who you might remember from that nail-biting Round of 16 match in last year’s FIFA Women’s World Cup (official highlights).

While Spain’s players may have revenge on their mind, head coach Jorge Vilda is focused on preparing for the back half of qualifying for the 2021 UEFA Women’s Euro, which will be hosted by fellow SheBelieves Cup team England. Although Spain easily won its first two qualifying matches last autumn, the Iberian team hit a slight road bump in the form of a nil-nil away draw with Poland. Continue reading “Opponent Watch: Spain’s Roster for the 2020 SheBelieves Cup”

Opponent Watch: England’s Roster for the 2020 SheBelieves Cup

Update (01-Mar-2020): Lucy Bronze is out due to a calf injury and has been replaced by Alessia Russo. (TheFA.com)

First to announce their official roster for this year’s SheBelieves Cup is the United States Women’s National Team’s first opponent: England.

The rematch of 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup semifinal opponents will be played on Thursday, March 5th at 7:00 p.m Eastern (TV: ESPN2) . (Full SheBelieves Cup TV/streaming schedule)

Phil Neville’s list has eight players born in 1997 or later, including two uncapped players who recently played collegiately in the United States: Center back Grace Fisk of South Carolina (profile) and goalkeeper Sandy MacIver of Clemson (profile). Both graduated after the fall 2019 season and are now playing professionally in the FA WSL. Continue reading “Opponent Watch: England’s Roster for the 2020 SheBelieves Cup”

USWNT: 26 Players Called In Ahead of the 2020 SheBelieves Cup

With Olympic qualification successfully out of the way, the United States Women’s National Team will hold their first post-qualifying camp later this month as Vlatko Andonovski’s squad prepares for the upcoming SheBelieves Cup, and more importantly, the Summer Olympics in Tokyo.

Andonovski has called back all twenty players from the USA’s CONCACAF Women’s Olympic Qualifying Championship roster, plus six additional players, including uncapped Washington Spirit midfielder Jordan DiBiasi.

The five other additions are goalkeeper Jane Campbell, defender Tierna Davidson (who missed qualifying primarily due to a minor injury), outside back candidate Margaret Purce, outside back Casey Short, and forward Mallory Pugh. Continue reading “USWNT: 26 Players Called In Ahead of the 2020 SheBelieves Cup”

USWNT Notes: SheBelieves Cup TV/Streaming Schedule, April Friendlies with Australia and Brazil

In this update:

U.S. Soccer Formally Announces TV and Streaming Schedule for the SheBelieves Cup
USWNT to Play Australia and Brazil in April
Lynn Williams Departs Western Sydney Wanderers to Focus on USWNT Duties

Continue reading “USWNT Notes: SheBelieves Cup TV/Streaming Schedule, April Friendlies with Australia and Brazil”

Opponent Watch: Japan Calls In 25 Players Ahead of the SheBelieves Cup

Update (15-Feb-2020): Midfielder Hasegawa Yui (age 23, 42 caps) and Hayashi Honoka (age 21, 1 cap) were withdrawn before the camp started due to unspecified injuries. No replacement players will be called in. (jfa.jp)

Update (25-Feb-2020): Hasegawa’s injury was quite minor, as she has been named to Japan’s SheBelieves Cup squad. All but three players, defender Seike Kiko, midfielder Hayashi Honoka, and forward Ueki Riko, from this original camp roster have been named to Japan’s SheBelieves Cup squad. As expected, Kumagai Saki, who plays for Olympique Lyonnais in France has also been named to Japan’s roster for the tournament. (jfa.jp)

Update (01-Mar-2020): Forward Kobayashi Rikako has been withdrawn due to injury. Ueki Riko has been recalled as Kobayashi’s replacement. (jfa.jp)

(This article follows Japanese name customs: Family names are listed first, followed by the given name.)

Ahead of next month’s SheBelieves Cup, Japan has called in 25 domestic-based players for a six-day training camp that runs from Friday, February 14th to Wednesday, February 19th. As this camp is outside of a FIFA window, team captain Kumagai Saki, who plays for Olympique Lyonnais in France, has not been included, but is expected to be on the roster for the SheBelieves Cup.

Continue reading “Opponent Watch: Japan Calls In 25 Players Ahead of the SheBelieves Cup”

Youth USWNTs: 2020 Calendar Update – Camps, Trips, and Tournaments

Updates:

05-Feb-2020: U-17 USWNT – Added details for CONCACAF Women’s Under-17 Championship
11-Feb-2020: U-23 USWNT – Added details for Portland Thorns Spring Invitational
17-Feb-2020: Minor updates/clarifications
02-Mar-2020: Added March U-15 USGNT camp entry
13-MAR-2020: U.S. SOCCER HAS CANCELLED MOST YNT CAMPS THROUGH THE END OF APRIL, DUE TO COVID-19 CONCERNS. (U.S. SOCCER)
- NO NEWS ABOUT THE CONCACAF WOMEN’S UNDER-17 CHAMPIONSHIP, WHICH IS SCHEDULED TO START ON APRIL 18TH IN MEXICO.

While U.S. Soccer’s dysfunctional website* does not often include much information about future youth team camps and/or matches, that is not the case with a number of other associations’ websites. In addition, youth USWNTs regular participate in annual friendly tournaments at the La Manga Club in Spain, which regularly publishes online its upcoming schedule of hosted matches.

*A subject for a future post. Or three…

So, after much browsing and searching…

…Here are some things that were news to me:

Confirmation that a USA team is scheduled to participate in the April U-23 WNT friendly tournament at La Manga Club in Spain.
News that the USA will be sending a GNT to the annual soccer tournament in Montaigu, France. The USA will be in a four-team U-16 GNT mini-tournament with France, Japan, and Norway.
A June U-15 USGNT camp or trip involving the U-15 GNTs of Germany and the Netherlands.
The host and dates of this year’s U-23 WNT Nordic Tournament: Norway, September 14th to the 22nd. (USA participation not confirmed.)
Also, the CONCACAF Women’s Under-20 Championship, which was originally scheduled to start on Saturday, February 15th, was quietly pushed back to February 22nd.

(Update 02-Feb-2020): Clarified the descriptions of the U-14 events.

In addition, a U-14 Girls identification regional mini-camp roster with dates for two more regional mini-camps plus a ~~normal~~ national U-14 USGNT identification camp was published on Thursday, which gives a good picture of what that age group is doing up through late May.

Continue reading “Youth USWNTs: 2020 Calendar Update – Camps, Trips, and Tournaments”

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”

Post-Holiday Round-Up: Two More U.S. Soccer Coaches Step Down; NWSL News; Japan Confirms SheBelieves Cup Participation

A quick round-up of notable news since mid-December:

U-20 USWNT head coach Mark Carr hired by the University of Oklahoma
USWNT goalkeeping coach Graeme Abel hired by the University of Oregon
2023 FIFA WWC bid books published
NWSL News: OL Groupe buys Reign FC; 2020 Draft list of eligible players released; No expansion
2020 SheBelieves Cup: Japan confirmed, one to go
2020 FIFA U-20 WWC: Will be jointly hosted by Costa Rica and Panama

Continue reading “Post-Holiday Round-Up: Two More U.S. Soccer Coaches Step Down; NWSL News; Japan Confirms SheBelieves Cup Participation”

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”