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The U.S. WNT will face Chinese Taipei in Marquee Match on Oct. 1 live on ESPN2
© John Todd / isiphotos.com
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CHICAGO (August 17, 2006) – The U.S. Women’s National Team will face Chinese Taipei at 1 p.m. PT on Oct. 1 in Carson, Calif., to close out a first-of-its-kind weekend of women’s soccer at The Home Depot Center as U.S. Soccer hosts the first Women’s Nike Friendlies, a youth event featuring 30 premier club teams.
Tickets for the U.S. WNT match starting at $15 go on sale Monday, August 21, at 10 a.m. PT at ussoccer.com, all Southern California Ticketmaster outlets (including Robinson’s-May, Wherehouse Music and Tower Records), The Home Depot Center ticket office (stadium ticket office is open Monday-Friday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.), and by phone at 213- 480-3232. Groups of 15 or more can purchase tickets by calling U.S. Soccer at 312-528-1290 or obtaining a group order form at ussoccer.com
The Women’s Nike Friendlies will be the first event of its kind for youth women’s players, and is modeled after the annual Nike Friendlies tournament for youth men staged in Bradenton, Fla. The U.S. Under-15, Under-16 and Under-17 Women’s National Teams will join more than 30 of the top Nike club teams from across the nation in a four-day event that runs from Thursday, Sept. 28, through Sunday, Oct. 1. Each team will play three games in an environment which stresses quality soccer and player development over wins and losses. Tournament standings are not kept during the competition.
The final day of the Friendlies will feature the full U.S. Women’s National Team taking on Chinese Taipei as the United States continues its domestic preparation for the 2006 CONCACAF Women’s Gold Cup, which will serve as the qualifying tournament for the 2007 FIFA Women’s World Cup in China. To this point in 2006, the U.S. WNT has a 9-0-3 record, including three consecutive victories on domestic soil against Sweden, Ireland and Canada by a combined 10-2 margin.
Forward Abby Wambach leads the U.S. team with eight goals this year, upping her strike rate to 57 goals in 75 appearances for the U.S. Timeless captain Kristine Lilly, the world record holder with 309 international appearances, is second on the team with six goals in 2006, running her career total to 110 – trailing only Mia Hamm on the all-time scoring chart for women.
The match will be the fifth for the U.S. WNT at The Home Depot Center, coming almost three years to the day that the team debuted in the venue with a 5-0 victory vs. Costa Rica before the 2003 FIFA Women’s World Cup. The U.S. has a perfect 4-0-0 record in Carson, where the team is currently in Residency Training Camp.
Chinese Taipei is ranked 25th in the world, and is the only team from Asia other than China to have a victory against the U.S. – a 2-1 victory in Taipei City in 1987. Since then the teams have met three times resulting in three U.S. victories, with the most notable result a 7-0 victory for the U.S. at the first FIFA Women’s World Cup in 1991.
The next match for the U.S. will be vs. China (tickets) in Bridgeview, Ill., on Sunday, August 27, at 1 p.m. ET live on ESPN2. The U.S. will then face Mexico (tickets) on Sept. 13 in Rochester, N.Y. with an 8 p.m. ET kickoff time live on ESPN2 and tape delayed on Telemundo. A final domestic match before World Cup qualifying will be played on Oct. 8 at a site that will be announced shortly.
Like its counterpart for men, the 2006 Women’s Nike Friendlies will include a three-day U.S. Soccer Coaching Symposium as well as a Premier Referee Academy that will bring some of the nations best referees in The Home Depot Center to officiate games and receive immediate feedback from the U.S. Soccer instruction staff. More information on the inaugural Women’s Nike Friendlies, including a complete list of teams and schedules, will be available in the near future at ussoccer.com.
U.S. WNT Upcoming Games Schedule
| Date |
Opponent |
Venue |
City |
Kickoff |
TV |
| Aug. 27 |
China |
Toyota Park |
Bridgeview, Ill. |
12 p.m. CT |
ESPN2 |
Sept. 13
|
Mexico
|
PAETEC Park
|
Rochester, N.Y.
|
8 p.m. ET
|
ESPN2
Tele (delay) |
| Oct. 1 |
Chinese Taipei |
Home Depot Center |
Carson, Calif. |
1 p.m. PT |
ESPN2 |
| Oct. 8 |
TBD |
TBD |
TBD |
2 p.m. ET |
ESPN2 |
| Oct. 29 |
Denmark |
(Peace Cup) |
Kimhae, South Korea |
TBA |
-- |
| Oct. 31 |
Australia |
(Peace Cup) |
Cheonan, South Korea |
TBA |
-- |
| Nov. 2 |
North Korea |
(Peace Cup) |
Suwon, South Korea |
TBA |
-- |
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| ussoccer.com is the official website of U.S. Soccer, the governing body of soccer in the United States |
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