Four days until the biggest and longest Women's World Cup kicks off in Edmonton between host nation and China. When the U.S. Women's National Team opens up play on June 8 against Australia, the two-time champions begin the pursuit of becoming the only team to win three titles.
The U.S. also happens to be the only team to reach the semifinal of all six Women's World Cup editions - three finals (two titles and one runner-up) and three third places finishes. The Red, White and Blue are poised as favorites, if they can overcome injury. USA's match Group D Schedule United States will need to play seven matches to get to the championship - that includes the three group (Australia, Sweden and Nigeria), the Round of 16, quarterfinal, semifinal and final. But it will be no easy task. If it finishes second in Group D, it will travel across the country to Moncton, where it will likely take on Brazil and potentially meet Japan in the quarterfinal. The only time the team did not finish first in the group was at WWC 2011 behind fellow Group D member Sweden. Head Coach Jill Ellis' Chosen 23 Jill Ellis has a deep and well-experienced team, as it averages 103 caps per player. Fifteen have already made at least one other World Cup squad. Keep an eye on these World Cup rookies - check out the 2015 #USWNT Roster Card videos: Sydney Leroux - powerful and tenacious forward, averaging the most goals in fewest minutes of any player in USWNT history. Morgan Brian - youngest player on the team, at 22, controls the central midfield with such composure and sophistication. Julie Johnston - tough defender with a dominating presence in the air and on the ground and has a sixth sense in positioning, scoring three consecutive goals while holding down the back line. Christen Press - effective as a midfielder and forward, the fast and versatile striker has the ability to finish anywhere on the field. Key notes - United States creates opportunities but needs to finish more accurately and consistently, and put their chances away earlier. - Starting goalkeeper Hope Solo made 23 saves and only let in two goals in the last eight matches. - The team is one of the strongest defensively but needs to improve upon set-plays, as it has been known to get caught off guard in its own box. - USA's success heavily rides on the appearance and minutes of Alex Morgan, who has not played in 59 days due to injury. If she comes back in full-health, the team will be a serious force to reckon with. - Despite Morgan being a question mark, the team has many strong options up top - with Abby Wambach, Press, Leroux and Amy Rodriguez ready and able to have immediate impact. Social Media Easter Egg For the tournament, Twitter Sports reintroduced #hashflags after making their debut at last year's World Cup. Hashflags are flag emoticons related to a country's hashtag. Just type in a three letter hashtag and it will show the country's flag in the iconic Canadian maple leaf, for instance #CAN and #USA. USWNT's #SheBelieves campaign got a customized one too. Dwyer and Leroux (at 25:33) Dom Dwyer played the Newlyweds Game on ExtraTime with Sydney Leroux by his side. Let's see if Dwyer follows through on the bet that if the United States win the World Cup, he will change his last name to Leroux. What Makes Us espnW filmed What Makes Us original shorts featuring American standouts Sydney Leroux and Megan Rapinoe. They provided insight into their upbringing and how that shaped their personalities and personal growth in "Syd" and "Pinoe." USWNT players on Garbage Talk The United States can kick it on the soccer field but they could not make it sting like a bee. Host of Garbage Talk Katie Nolan asked Leroux, Alex Morgan and Kelley O'Hara to trash talk Australia before the team's first match. Amp Up for World Cup To help them get hyped up for the big games, midfielder Morgan Brian and defender Megan Klingenberg elicit help from fans to create a #WCPlaylist. Suggest songs on social media or take a listen on Spotify. ICYMI: USWNT on Simpsons You know you made it when you get Simsonized. Fox teamed up with the Simpsons to create Alex Morgan, Abby Wambach and Christen Press characters that made their debut in May. What is the Women's World Cup? Get the lowdown of 2015 event in Canada Special to MLSSoccer.com It takes seven games to win it all. At this summer's edition of the Women's World Cup in Canada there are several changes from years past, namely expanded field and roster sizes. And for the first time, Hawk-Eye goal-line technology will be utilized and controversially, the matches will be played on artificial turf. Hawk-Eye technology makes its debut at Women's World Cup As women's soccer developed around the world creating dark horse contenders, the biggest international soccer tournament had to adapt. For 2015, eight more teams were added for a total of 24 nations from six confederations. (This has steadily increased from 12 in 1991 and 16 in 1999.) As a result of more games, the roster size increased by two, to 23. Final rosters for every competing nation in 2015 Women's World Cup Competition kicks off between the host nation and China on Saturday, June 6 in Edmonton. With 52 matches to be played in six venues from Moncton to Vancouver, the tournament will be the largest and longest. It also allows for many solid favorites to take home the title and trophy. The final will be played on Sunday, July 5 at BC Place. For the first time in U.S. history, the team is not entering the tournament with the #1 FIFA World rank, that honor goes to Germany. But also France, reigning champion Japan, Brazil, Sweden and Canada will not make it easy to reach the final. What was once considered a small group of potentials has now increased, and the tournament can be anyone's any day. Complete match schedule on FIFA Adding to the intensity, 2015 will be the first time a World Cup - male or female - has been played on artificial turf. Back in fall 2014, the players filed a suit accusing FIFA and Canada Soccer Association of gender discrimination, as the men do not compete on turf at the World Cup level. The surface has been known to cause injury, overheat up to 10-degrees from atmospheric temperature and impact the speed and quality of play. However, the organizations were not budging and thus the players dropped the lawsuit to focus on preparing for the games. Players drop gender discrimination suit against FIFA, CSA The inaugural Women's World Cup in 1991, held in China, was called the World Championship for Women's Football for the M&M's Cup - as FIFA did not want to make it a "World Cup" just yet. Back then, the women played 80 minute games. FIFA bestowed the World Cup brand upon the 1995 tournament and increased matches to 90 minutes. In the past six Women's World Cups, there have been four victors - U.S. in '91 and '99, Norway in '95, Germany in '03 and '07, Japan in '11. Just like in men's soccer, stars above the jersey shield signify World Cup titles, and in the case of the United States women, they have earned two. It has been 16 years since the team hoisted up the highly coveted trophy. World Cup: USWNT draws South Korea in final send-off match at sold-out Red Bull Arena Special to MLSsoccer.com American fans stole the show at Red Bull Arena Saturday afternoon. With a Women's National Team record setting crowd of 26,467 at the arena (and its third consecutive sellout this year), the supporters showed up in full force, outfitting the already Red, White & Blue stadium with an overwhelming presence. During the national anthem, Sammers S.C., The American Outlaws, New York Red Bull's Southward and Sky Blue's Cloud 9 rose a custom tifo with a resounding demand - "Bring It Home" - in reference to the 2015 Women's World Cup title and trophy. The fans then began to chant "We Love Ya" and "I Believe" giving the stadium an undeniable energy. BRING IT HOME tifo The U.S. carried that electric vibe, as it donned volt socks for the first time. The neon also outlined the black lettering on the back of the jersey, making it appear green. (This is the second time the U.S. has had difficulty with name and number visibility - back in 2012, Nike had to reissue the adhesive because the silver did not show well on TV.) USWNT white kit unveiled Despite the Unites States storied dominance in the women's game, one may be shocked that it did not put the game away early. Korea Republic proved a formidable competitor, in what was believed to be a handed win. The international friendly ended in a 0-0 draw. The most riveting part of the game was a final attempt from Korea Republic's as the seconds wound down - a blast from outside the box forced Hope Solo to make an impressive dive to the upper right 90. Had the ball gone through her finger tips, the U.S. would have ended its home winning streak. Hope Solo's last minute save to preserve tie Midfielder Megan Rapinoe suffered a quad injury in training on Friday so she sat out as a precaution. She plans to be back in action for the team's Women's World Cup debut against Australia on June 8. Meanwhile, New Jersey native and USWNT veteran Christie Rampone made only her second appearance of the year, this time in front of her hometown crowd, after battling a nagging back injury since January. Despite these alterations to the roster, the team anticipates all 23 members of the squad will be healthy for the tournament. U.S. hopes that Saturday was the last time on American soil that it would wear two stars above the crest, aiming for its third Cup - the previous two were in 1991 and 1999. I will be reporting on the 2015 Women's World Cup for Major League Soccer this summer.
Abby Wambach leads USWNT against Korea in final Women's World Cup tuneup at Red Bull Arena Special to MLSSoccer.com The last time the U.S. Women's National Team played at Red Bull Arena, Abby Wambach broke the all-time record for most goals scored by any male or female player in the world. Not only did she surpass FIFA World Champion Mia Hamm's 158, she shattered it with four goals against Korea Republic on June 20, 2013. Entering Saturday's final send-off match before the Women's World Cup in Canada, also against Korea Republic (4:30 pm ET, ESPN), she now has 182 goals to her name. Wambach is on the fast-track to 30 goals in under two years, having scored a brace in the previous two send-off matches -- wins vs. Mexico (5-1) and the Republic of Ireland (3-0). Today will be the team's third appearance at RBA and its second against Korea there, with an overall 7-0-1 record. It also will be the team's final match before the Women's World Cup, having already bested Mexico and Republic of Ireland in the first two legs of the series. One of the team's biggest names will not be stepping onto the pitch today -- Alex Morgan is still nursing a bone bruise in her left knee that has put her out of commission for the U.S. over the last two months. She plans to be healthy for the USA's first World Cup group stage match against Australia on June 8 in Winnipeg. Good news for the team is that veteran and captain Christie Rampone has the all-clear to play since a nagging back injury dating has kept her on the sidelines since January. With 304 appearances for the Red, White & Blue, Rampone will join only four others who have competed in five WWC tournaments. As the remaining player from the storied 1999 Championship squad, she has the most caps of any active player in the world and second most in soccer history. We arrived in Jerusalem on Shabbat. After services and dinner, everyone else made plans to stay near the hotel for the evening. But I had my own agenda. I quickly changed into my gear and jumped in a taxi, arriving at 11pm. I was told there would be a pickup game at that time but the park was completely deserted. I wandered around, hoping to find someone to ask where to find it. Far off in the distance, I saw bright lights. So I gravitated towards the only signs of life and was greeted by a dozen young boys, all of whom spoke Arabic.
I realized then that I would not be spotting any Israeli Jews on the court because of what day it was - the day of rest. Despite my U.S. Soccer shorts and tee, my American accent, my Jewish star necklace and my gender, they let me join. The wonderful thing about The Beautiful Game is that you can find it anywhere around the globe, especially in the form of pickup. My friend Gwendolyn Oxenham documented the phenomenon in her film "Pelada" where she traveled the world with her husband and two close friends in search of the stripped down game. One of the locations shot was in Jerusalem, where I currently stood. Her documentary confirmed that soccer is a universal language unto itself. Through hand gestures and all sorts of body language, you can communicate your intentions. It does not matter if you are tall or short, young or old, skinny or overweight, male or female, gay or straight, white or black, American or Israeli, Jewish or Muslim, you can still play the game as long as you can play the game. Despite me being everything they were not, I played with the young boys until grown men showed up just after midnight. I then continued to play with the new group. No problems there either. I slotted some promising through balls, scored a few integral goals and defended against some feisty forwards. Despite my successes, they would not give me high-fives or defend me properly because I was a woman, and according to their religion, men do not touch the opposite sex. The most profound moment came when I took a hard shot at goal, missed and screamed, "Oh my G-d!" What was meant to be an exasperated frustration turned into a revelation when a teammate asked, "To which G-d do you refer?" It was then that I really acknowledged I was in the birthplace of three prominent religions and the home to devout religious followers. Surprisingly, my answer did not bother him, and we continued to play. My team won by two, and we all said our goodnights. No harm, no foul, just an appreciation for the global sport that brought us together against many odds. If we all could co-exist without judgement or blame on the soccer field then the only thing that really mattered was the game. Sport has the potential to be a microcosm of society. It is the first to break barriers and encourage empowerment, diversity, inclusion and social justice. It is the universal language that allows anyone from anywhere in the world to communicate with one another. When you get into that huddle at a local pickup game, your race, gender, religion, socio-economic status all disappear because you cannot win unless you all pull together. Sport has the power for social change at the macro-level, if we only enable it to reach its potential. After years of contemplation, I finally caved. Yes, I'm launching a blog! I was worried about continual upkeep since it can be time-consuming and I don't have much time. Then I thought, what would I write that others would want to read? But I realized, most blogs are just about the author anyways so why not keep a log of my conversations, insights and opinions? Maybe someone else will find them valuable.
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