Games Notes: Wambach Says Goodbye in Final Victory Tour Match in New Orleans
Games Notes: Wambach Says Goodbye in Final Victory Tour Match in New Orleans

USA vs. China PR
U.S. Women’s National Team Victory Tour
Mercedes-Benz Superdome; New Orleans, Louisiana
Dec. 16, 2015
WORLD CHAMPIONS COME TO NEW ORLEANS AS VICTORY TOUR CONCLUDES WITH ABBY’S LAST GAME: Following its historic run to the championship of the 2015 Women’s World Cup in Canada, the U.S. Women’s National Team embarked on a Victory Tour across the country that has served the dual purpose of celebrating the USA’s third Women’s World Cup title with the fans, while also preparing the team for the 2016 CONCACAF Olympic qualifying tournament which will take place from February 10-21 of next year in Houston and Dallas. After the USA’s match on Dec. 6 in Hawaii was cancelled due to an artificial turf surface at Aloha Stadium that was not suitable to hold an international soccer match, the tour was reduced to nine games of which just one remains. That will be the final match in a U.S. uniform for legend Abby Wambach.
ABBY SAYS GOODBYE: Wambach announced her retirement on Oct. 27 and will step away from the field as not only the world’s all-time leader in international goals – men or women – but also as one of the most important players in the history of women’s soccer. She will start and captain the side on Dec. 16 in her 255th and final game as players, fans and coaches from across the soccer world have the chance to say goodbye. Fans can express their thanks, their thoughts on her career and what she has meant to them via Twitter, Facebook and Instagram using the hashtags #OnlyOneAbby and #ThanksAbby as well as log onto ussoccer.com and the U.S. Soccer social media channels for Abby-related content as the tour comes to a close. The match in New Orleans kicks off at 7 p.m. CT on FOX Sports 1 and FOX Sports GO.
WHAT A YEAR: The USA has won seven matches and drawn one on the Victory Tour while running its 2015 record to 20-1-4, including a record of 10-0-2 on home soil. The U.S. team’s one loss this year came in the first game of 2015 against France in Lorient, a 2-0 setback in early February that the USA flipped one month later when the teams met in the championship game of the 2015 Algarve Cup in Portugal. Fans can follow all the action from #USAvCHN on Twitter @ussoccer_wnt and @ussoccer_esp, and follow the team along its journey on Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat (ussoccer_wnt).
2015 U.S. WNT SCHEDULE/RESULTS:
Date |
Opponent |
Time |
TV/Result |
Venue |
Feb. 8 |
France |
-- |
0-2 L |
Stade du Moustoir; Lorient, France |
Feb. 13 |
England |
-- |
1-0 W |
stadiummk; Milton Keynes, England |
March 4 |
Norway@ |
-- |
2-1 W |
Vila Real de San Antonio, Portugal |
March 6 |
Switzerland@ |
-- |
3-0 W |
Vila Real de San Antonio, Portugal |
March 9 |
Iceland@ |
-- |
0-0 T |
Lagos, Portugal |
March 11 |
France@ |
-- |
2-0 W |
Faro, Portugal |
April 4 |
New Zealand |
-- |
4-0 W |
Busch Stadium; St. Louis, Mo. |
May 10 |
Ireland |
-- |
3-0 W |
Avaya Stadium; San Jose, Calif. |
May 17 |
Mexico |
-- |
5-1 W |
StubHub Center; Carson, Calif. |
May 30 |
Korea Rep. |
-- |
0-0 T |
Red Bull Arena; Harrison, N.J. |
June 8 |
Australia* |
-- |
3-1 W |
Winnipeg Stadium; Winnipeg, Canada |
June 12 |
Sweden* |
-- |
0-0 T |
Winnipeg Stadium; Winnipeg, Canada |
June 16 |
Nigeria* |
-- |
1-0 W |
BC Place Stadium; Vancouver, Canada |
June 22 |
Colombia* |
-- |
2-0 W |
Commonwealth Stadium; Edmonton, Canada |
June 26 |
China* |
-- |
1-0 W |
Lansdowne Stadium; Ottawa, Canada |
June 30 |
Germany* |
-- |
2-0 W |
Olympic Stadium; Montreal, Canada |
July 5 |
Japan* |
-- |
5-2 W |
BC Place Stadium; Vancouver, Canada |
Aug. 16 |
Costa Rica > |
-- |
8-0 W |
Heinz Field: Pittsburgh, Pa. |
Aug. 19 |
Costa Rica > |
-- |
7-2 W |
Finley Stadium; Chattanooga, Tenn. |
Sept. 17 |
Haiti > |
-- |
5-0 W |
Ford Field; Detroit, Mich. |
Sept. 20 |
Haiti > |
-- |
8-0 W |
Legion Field; Birmingham, Ala. |
Oct. 21 |
Brazil > |
-- |
1-1 T |
CenturyLink Field; Seattle, Wash. |
Oct. 25 |
Brazil > |
-- |
3-1 W |
Citrus Bowl; Orlando; Fla. |
Dec. 10 |
T&T> |
|
6-0 W |
Alamodome; San Antonio, Texas |
Dec. 13 |
China > |
-- |
2-0 W |
Univ. of Phoenix Stadium; Glendale, Ariz. |
Dec. 16 |
China > |
7 p.m. CT |
FS1 |
Mercedes-Benz Superdome; New Orleans, La. |
@ Algarve Cup * Women’s World Cup > Victory Tour
OLYMPIC QUALIFYING SCHEDULE SET: The schedule for the 2016 CONCACAF Women's Olympic Qualifying Championship has been set and the U.S. Women's National Team will open its Group A play against Costa Rica on Wednesday, Feb. 10 at 7:30 p.m. CT. The USA will then face Mexico on Saturday, Feb. 13 (3 p.m. CT) and finish group play against Puerto Rico on Monday, Feb. 15 (7:30 p.m. CT). The two venues for the competition are BBVA Compass Stadium, home to the Houston Dash of the NWSL and the Houston Dynamo of MLS, and Toyota Stadium, located in the Dallas suburb of Frisco and home to FC Dallas of MLS. The round-robin stage of the tournament will be conducted with three doubleheaders in each group. Group A will play doubleheaders at Toyota Stadium on Feb. 10, 13 and 15 and Group B - which features Canada, Guatemala, Trinidad & Tobago and Guyana - will play doubleheaders at BBVA Compass Stadium on Feb. 11, 14 and 16. The all-important semifinal matches will be on Feb. 19 in Houston, with the winners qualifying for the 2016 Olympics in Brazil. The championship game on Feb. 21 will also be in Houston. TV information will be released at a later date and ticket info is available here. The U.S. will be attempting to qualify for a sixth consecutive Olympic Games and win the CONCACAF Women's Olympic Qualifying event for the fourth consecutive time.
NOMINEES SET FOR U.S. SOCCER FEMALE PLAYER OF THE YEAR: U.S. Soccer has announced the five nominees for the 2015 U.S. Soccer Female Player of the Year. This year's field features midfielders Lauren Holiday, Carli Lloyd, Megan Rapinoe, defender Becky Sauerbrunn, and goalkeeper Hope Solo. All five played major roles in the USA winning the 2015 Women's World Cup with Carli Lloyd winning the Golden Ball as the best player in the tournament while Solo won the Golden Glove as the top goalkeeper. Lloyd, Solo and Sauerbrunn played every minute of the tournament. The winner will be announced on Wednesday, Dec. 16, during the pre-game coverage of the USA vs. China PR match from New Orleans on FOX Sports 1. Three of the nominees have won the award once before. Holiday, who played her final game for the USA on Oct. 25 in Orlando, Fla., was the U.S. Soccer Female Player of the Year in 2014, while Solo won in 2009 and Lloyd in 2008. Abby Wambach holds the record for most Female Player of the Year awards with six honors (2003, 2004, 2007, 2010, 2011 and 2013). Her win in 2013 broke the previous record of five held by Mia Hamm. The U.S. Soccer Female Player of the Year has been awarded since 1985, when midfielder Sharon Remer (known then as Sharon McMurtry) earned the inaugural honor.
MEGAN RAPINOE OUT WITH TORN ACL: Midfielder Megan Rapinoe tore the anterior cruciate ligament in her right knee during training in Honolulu, Hawaii on Dec. 4. It was a non-contact injury. An MRI scan confirmed the injury and Rapinoe has returned home to Seattle where she underwent successful surgery last Friday. She was one of the stars for the USA at the 2015 Women’s World Cup and was named to the FIFA All-Star Team. She was also one of 10 finalists for the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Player of the Year. Her two goals in the opening match of the Women’s World Cup against Australia kick-started the USA’s run to the championship.
RAMPONE SIDELINED: U.S. captain Christie Rampone is available for the final Victory Tour match due to ongoing issues resulting from a bone bruise in her left knee. Rampone returned home for the middle two matches, but has rejoined the U.S. team for the final game of the Victory Tour in New Orleans to help honor her long-time teammate Abby Wambach.
BOXX RETIRES IN SEATTLE; HOLIDAY AND CHALUPNY BID ADIEU IN ORLANDO: Three members of the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup Team have officially retired from the National Team and played their final games during the October matches against Brazil. Shannon Boxx played her 195th and final match for the USA against Brazil on Oct. 21 in Seattle. She played 40 minutes before exiting to a standing ovation. Holiday and Chalupny played their final matches in Orlando against Brazil on Oct. 25. Holiday, who left the game in the 56th minute to a rousing ovation and was replaced by Carli Lloyd, ended her career with 133 caps and 24 goals. Chalupny, who left the game in the 21st minute to a rousing ovation and was replaced by Meghan Klingenberg, ended her career with 106 caps and 10 goals. Boxx is 38, Holiday is 29 and Chalupny is 31. All three played crucial roles in some major achievements in U.S. WNT history and all three retire as Olympic and Women’s World Cup champions. Holiday really went out on top after winning the Women’s World Cup and her second consecutive NWSL title with FC Kansas City.
EIGHT PLAYERS ADDED TO ROSTER: For the final matches of the Victory Tour, U.S. head coach Jill Ellis added eight players to the roster who were not on the USA’s 2015 Women’s World Cup Team. One of those eight is NWSL Golden Boot winner and league MVP Crystal Dunn, who started both games against Haiti in September and both games against Brazil in October, scoring three goals with three assists over those four matches. She also started and played 90 minutes against T&T on Dec. 10 in San Antonio and then started, and scored, against China PR on Dec. 13 in her sixth consecutive start since re-joining the team after the World Cup. For Dunn, who was among the final 25 players vying for Women’s World Cup spots before the roster was trimmed to the 23 players that represented the USA in Canada, these were her first six starts of the year. She took advantage of the increased opportunities with her club to lead the league in scoring with 15 goals (along with three assists) while starting in 19 of the Washington Spirit’s 20 games. She doubled the number of shots of her next closest teammate, firing 84, which led the league. She also led the NWSL in shots on goal with 48. The two games in September marked Dunn’s first WNT action of the year since a 12-minute stint against England last February.
ONE FOOT IN THE DOOR: Three of the players called up for these games who were not members of the 2015 Women’s World Cup Team had earned caps with the senior side prior to this year: forward Lindsey Horan, who has been playing professionally in France with Paris Saint-Germain since July of 2012 after she graduated from high school; Samantha Mewis, a NWSL Rookie of the Year finalist with the Western NY Flash who started 20 games while scoring four goals with four assists; and Crystal Dunn, who is up to 19 caps to go with her four scores. Horan played two games off the bench for the USA at the 2013 Algarve Cup and then earned her third cap while making her first start against Brazil on Oct. 25 in Orlando, where she played 80 minutes and assisted on Crystal Dunn’s game-winning goal when her header was saved by the Brazilian goalkeeper before Dunn finished the rebound.. Against T&T on Dec. 10, she earned her fourth cap while scoring her first goal (the capper in the 6-0 rout) and also set up two other scores with brilliant assists and earned Budweiser Player of the Match honors. She got the start against on Dec. 13 against China PR. Mewis played in three matches in 2014, two at the Algarve Cup in Portugal and one in Brazil at the end of the year before getting her fourth cap against Brazil on Oct. 21 in Seattle as a 72nd minute sub.
ONE-CAPPERS: Two players on this roster were called to their first WNT camp in October in 22-year-old defender Jaelene Hinkle, who played every minute of all 20 matches last season with the Western NY Flash and 22-year-old defender Emily Sonnett, who recently finished her senior season at the University of Virginia. Hinkle earned her first cap on Oct. 21 against Brazil, coming on at left back and playing well in the last 20 minutes. Sonnett earned her first cap on Oct. 25 against Brazil, playing on 90 minutes in the center of the defense. Both players came on as subs against T&T in San Antonio and China PR in Glendale, Ariz. to earn their second and third caps. Twenty-two-year-old forward Stephanie McCaffrey, who started 17 of the 19 matches she played this past season with the Boston Breakers while scoring three goals with three assists, previously trained with the U.S. team during an extended training camp last January, but made her first game roster for the USA’s Oct. 25 match against Brazil. She had an excellent debut, coming on at halftime and creating danger down the right flank. She then became the 18th U.S. player to score in their first cap, volleying home a perfect far post cross from Megan Rapinoe in the fourth and final minute of stoppage time. McCaffrey earned her second cap against T&T on Dec. 10 and picked up her first assist for the WNT, setting up Lindsey Horan’s goal in stoppage time of the second half. She came on at the end of the match against China PR and almost scored, hitting the inside of the left post before the ball was cleared away.
NEWBIES: Two players are getting their first call-ups during this camp: midfielder Danielle Colaprico, the NWSL Rookie of the Year from the Chicago Red Stars, and Rose Lavelle, a junior midfielder at Wisconsin, who was one of the top players for the USA at the 2014 Under-20 Women’s World Cup where she started all four games. Colaprico is 22 years old and Lavelle is 20. Colaprico has also been a part of the USA’s Youth National Teams and was the only Red Star to start in every NWSL game. Lavelle’s college season ended with a loss at the Big 10 Tournament as the Badgers did not make the NCAA Playoffs during a season in which she started 19 games while scoring seven goals with three assists. Lavelle was the MVP of the USA’s qualifying tournament (played in the Cayman Islands) for the U-20 Women’s World Cup.
U.S. Women’s National Team Roster by Position:
GOALKEEPERS (3): 18-Ashlyn Harris (Orlando Pride), 21-Alyssa Naeher (Chicago Red Stars), 1-Hope Solo (Seattle Reign FC)
DEFENDERS (9): 25-Crystal Dunn (Washington Spirit), 6-Whitney Engen (Boston Breakers), 26-Jaelene Hinkle (Western NY Flash), 19-Julie Johnston (Chicago Red Stars), 22-Meghan Klingenberg (Portland Thorns FC), 11-Ali Krieger (Washington Spirit), 5-Kelley O’Hara (Sky Blue FC), 3-Christie Rampone (Sky Blue FC), 4-Becky Sauerbrunn (FC Kansas City), 27-Emily Sonnett (Univ. of Virginia)
MIDFIELDERS (7): 14-Morgan Brian (Houston Dash), 32-Danielle Colaprico (Chicago Red Stars), 17-Tobin Heath (Portland Thorns FC), 30-Rose Lavelle (Univ. of Wisconsin), 10-Carli Lloyd (Houston Dash), 29-Samantha Mewis (Western NY Flash), 9-Heather O’Reilly (FC Kansas City)
FORWARDS (7): 31-Lindsey Horan (Paris Saint-Germain), 2-Sydney Leroux (Western NY Flash), 28-Stephanie McCaffrey (Boston Breakers), 13-Alex Morgan (Orlando Pride), 23-Christen Press (Chicago Red Stars), 8-Amy Rodriguez (FC Kansas City), 20-Abby Wambach (unattached)
WNT EXTENDS HOME UNBEATEN STREAK TO 104 GAMES: With a win against Trinidad & Tobago on Dec. 10, the USA extended its current home unbeaten streak to 104 games (92-0-12) which is a team record. The last loss at home came to Denmark on Nov. 6, 2004, in Philadelphia, during the team’s post-Olympic tour to celebrate winning the gold medal in Athens, Greece. The 3-1 loss was one of just two games the USA has lost in which Abby Wambach scored a goal. The next-highest streak is 50 games (48-0-2) from Feb. 10, 1996, through April 22, 1999. The USA tied the record on May 14, 2011 (2-0 win against Japan at Columbus Crew Stadium) and broke the record with the 51st game on May 18, 2011 (another 2-0 win against Japan at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, North Carolina). The USA’s current streak started on Dec. 8, 2004, in a 5-0 win against Mexico at The Home Depot Center in Carson, California, which was also the final match for Mia Hamm, Julie Foudy, Joy Fawcett and Brandi Chastain. The U.S. women are 234-16-25 all-time on home soil. Nine of those 16 losses came from 1985 (the program’s inception) through 1993, meaning the USA has lost just seven games at home over the past 22 years. The most home wins in a calendar year came in 1999 when the USA went 23-1-1 in domestic games. The U.S. WNT went 18-1-1 at home in 1996. Not coincidentally, those were two years when the USA hosted world championships. The USA has gone unbeaten at home in 19 years of its 31-year existence.
THE WORLD’S BEST: U.S. Women’s National Team players Carli Lloyd, Hope Solo and Megan Rapinoe were among the 10 players included on the shortlist for the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Player of the Year. Lloyd was named a finalist on Dec. 1 along with Aya Miyama of Japan and Célia Šašić of Germany. WNT head coach Jill Ellis was also included on the 10-person list of finalists for the 2015 World Coach of the Year for Women’s Soccer and also was named one of three finalists along with Mark Sampson, head coach of the England Women’s National Team that finished third in the 2015 Women’s World Cup, and Japan head coach Norio Sasaki, who led his team to its third consecutive major final. The final decision on the winners will be made by the captains and head coaches of the world’s women’s national teams as well as international media representatives selected by FIFA. Lloyd and Ellis will travel to Switzerland where they will hopefully be announced as the winners on Jan. 11, 2016, at the annual FIFA Ballon d’Or Gala in Zurich. Solo will also travel to Zurich as the winner of the Golden Glove as the Best Goalkeeper in the Women’s World Cup, an award she has won twice in a row.
SECOND TIME IN NOLA: The U.S. Women have played in New Orleans just once before, that match taking place in 2003 at Tad Gormley Stadium, which was badly flooded during Hurricane Katrina in 2005. This will be the first match for the U.S. Women at the famed Superdome, home to the NFL’s New Orleans Saints.
CROWDS ARE FAN-TASTIC: During its run in Canada, the USWNT played in front of what felt like seven straight home crowds, averaging 37,732 fans per game, all of which it seemed were wearing red, white and blue. The knock-out round matches were the most impressive, with electric atmospheres at each game including crowds of more than 50,000 for the semifinal in Montreal and championship game in Vancouver.
The USA opened the Victory Tour on Aug. 16 against fellow Women’s World Cup participant Costa Rica at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh and rolled to an 8-0 victory in front of 44,028 fans, which set a record for a stand-alone domestic friendly for the U.S. WNT. The teams played again on Aug. 19 in Chattanooga, Tennessee, in front of a crowd of 20,535 that was, at the time, largest ever to watch the U.S. Women in a stand-alone friendly match in the southeastern United States. The Victory Tour continued against another CONCACAF opponent when Australia pulled out of two September matches due to a dispute with its players. Haiti agreed to be a replacement and the USA won 5-0 on Sept. 17 in front of 34,538, the largest ever to watch a soccer game in Detroit, and 8-0 on Sept. 20 in Birmingham, Alabama, in front of 35,753 that set a new record for a stand-alone WNT friendly match in the southeastern United States. The crowd of 23,603 for the mid-week 1-1 draw with Brazil at CenturyLink Field on Oct. 21 was the largest to ever watch the U.S. WNT in the state of Washington and the crowd of 32,869 fans that came out to see the USA in Orlando on Oct. 25 was the largest stand-alone crowd to watch the USA friendly in the state of Florida. The mid-week crowd of just under 11,000 in San Antonio was the smallest so far on the Victory Tour, but the team set another record on Dec. 13 as 19,066 watched the USA defeat China, which was the largest crowd ever to watch the WNT in the state of Arizona. The average for the eight matches so far is still almost 28,000 fans per game.
HUGE TV RATINGS FOR WOMEN’S WORLD CUP: The 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup was record setting for TV ratings and increased for every U.S. match. FOX scored a new high for its soccer coverage when an average audience of 5.7 million tuned in to watch the United States beat China in the quarterfinal match on June 26. The match was also the third most-watched women’s soccer match on record in the United States, after the 1999 and 2011 FIFA Women’s World Cup Finals. Four days later, that record was broken as the USA vs. Germany semifinal on June 30 hit an average of 8.4 million viewers, establishing yet another soccer record as the most viewed semifinal ever in the U.S. (men or women) and third-most watched women’s soccer match of all time. The first six USA matches on FOX and FOX Sports 1 averaged 5.3 million viewers, 121% better than the 2011 tournament averaged through the semifinals (2.4 million).
The Final
The USA’s 5-2 victory over Japan in the World Cup Final averaged 25.4 million viewers, making it the most-watched soccer match in U.S. history, according to Nielsen and an increase of 88% from the 2011 WWC Final (13.5 million) and up 41% from the USA-China on ABC in 1999 (18 million). The match posted a 12.9 household rating/share with 25.4 million viewers and peaked at 30.9 million in the second half between 8:30-8:45 p.m. ET. The previous U.S. viewing record was 18,220,000 for the USA-Portugal game on ESPN at the 2014 World Cup. The average audience exceeded every game of the NBA Finals and pushed the 2015 tournament average to 1.824 million viewers per each of the tournament’s 52 matches across all networks (FOX, FOX Sports 1 and FOX Sports 2), up 21 percent over 1,511,000 averaged on ESPN and ESPN2 for the 32 matches played in 2011. The match earned the second-largest soccer audience ever in the U.S. — trailing only last year’s Germany/Argentina World Cup Final on ABC and Univision (26.5M).
At the end of the Women’s World Cup, the USA-Japan match ranked as the fifth-most watched sporting event outside of the NFL. Only the three-game College Football Playoff and the Duke/Wisconsin NCAA Basketball Tournament title game (28.2M) scored larger numbers. The match had a larger audience than every NBA game since Spurs-Heat Game 7 in 2013 (26.6M on ABC and ESPN Deportes), every Major League Baseball game since Rangers-Cardinals Game 7 in 2011 (25.4M on FOX), and every hockey game since the Canada-United States final at the 2010 Olympics (27.6M on NBC).
En Español
Telemundo’s broadcast of the Final reached 1.27 million viewers, making it the highest viewed Spanish-language game in Women’s World Cup history. During this broadcast, Argentine announcer Andrés Cantor’s famed “Goooooool” call for Carli Lloyd’s fantastic hat-trick goal from midfield went on for just under forty seconds.
ONE NATION. ONE TEAM. 23 STORIES: Prior to the Women’s World Cup in Canada, U.S. Soccer produced its "One Nation. One Team. 23 Stories." series so fans could get to know the U.S. Women’s World Cup Team. Fans certainly know them now, but the videos are still piling up the views. Sprinkled with humor, fun and heartfelt stories, the videos give fans insight into the players’ personalities, families, motivations, and some of the challenges they’ve experienced on the different roads they’ve traveled to earn the right to represent the United States in the ultimate competition for a soccer player.
CARLI LLOYD AND HOPE SOLO WIN FIFA GOLDEN BALL, SILVER BOOT AND GOLDEN GLOVE: Two U.S. players picked up post-tournament hardware in Canada as Carli Lloyd won the Golden Ball as the best player in the tournament. She becomes just the third American to win the award and second at a senior level tournament, following Carin Gabarra at the 1991 Women’s World Cup. Lloyd also won the Silver Boot as the second leading scorer in the tournament. Lloyd and Germany’s Celia Sasic both scored six goals with one assist, but Sasic (who scored three goals in a 10-0 pasting of Ivory Coast in the opening match of the tournament) was awarded the Golden Boot based on less minutes played during the tournament. Lloyd did not get credit for an assist from FIFA for playing the short pass to Megan Rapinoe that she took on an almost half-field run and scored to clinch the USA’s opening match against Australia. The awards and her World Cup performance, which included the historic hat trick in the Final, make Lloyd one of the front-runners for the FIFA Women’s World Player of the Year. U.S. goalkeeper Hope Solo, who played every minute of the tournament and registered five shutouts, received the Golden Glove as the best net-minder in the tournament, an honor she also won at the 2011 FIFA Women’s World Cup. Defender Julie Johnston and Rapinoe were also on the short list for the Golden Ball.
FIVE AMERICANS NAMED TO FIFA ALL-STAR TEAM: On Aug. 17, FIFA announced its Women’s World Cup All-Star Squad as chosen by the FIFA Technical Study Group. Five U.S. players were among the 23 selected: Golden Glove winner Hope Solo, defenders Julie Johnston and Meghan Klingenberg, and midfielders Megan Rapinoe and Golden Ball winner Carli Lloyd. All but Rapinoe played every minute of the tournament.
U.S. ROSTER NOTES:
IN THE RECORD BOOKS:
BY THE NUMBERS:
0.44 Goals per game the USA has allowed in 2015
1 USA’s FIFA ranking
2.96 Goals per game the USA scored in 2015
3 Goals allowed by the USA in the 2015 WWC, least of any of the four semifinalists
8 Number of different players to score a goal in the 2015 WWC
14 Goals scored by the USA in the 2015 WWC, second most in the tournament
19 Number of different U.S. players to score a goal in 2015
79 Goals by Lloyd, most ever for a WNT player who has played exclusively as a midfielder
89 Minutes on the field per goal averaged by Sydney Leroux in her career
90 Shutouts by Hope Solo, an all-time U.S. WNT record
USA IN NWSL: Following are the 2015 NWSL regular season statistics of the U.S. players on this roster. The members of the Women’s World Cup Team missed quite a few games due to National Team commitments and several players also missed some games due to injury. Christen Press was the top scorer in the league of the WWC players, tallying 10 times in 10 games. Amy Rodriguez added two goals to her tally in the NWSL semifinal playoff match as FC Kansas City defeated the Chicago Red Stars, 2-0, and then scored the game-winner in the NWSL Championship off an assist from Heather O’Reilly as FCKC defeated the Seattle Reign, 1-0.
2015 NWSL Regular Season Statistics Field Players
Player GP GS M G A GWG SH SOG OFF FC FS YC
Brian 10 10 810 0 3 0 7 5 0 8 5 0
Colaprico 20 20 1776 1 0 1 10 5 1 18 15 3
Dunn 20 19 1711 15 3 6 84 48 35 20 26 0
Engen 12 12 1080 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0
Heath 5 5 401 0 0 0 13 7 1 8 6 1
Hinkle 20 20 1800 1 1 0 11 3 0 8 8 0
Johnston 11 11 990 0 2 0 4 1 0 7 10 1
Klingenberg 12 12 1046 0 2 0 7 1 1 3 3 0
Krieger 8 8 655 0 0 0 3 0 2 1 6 0
Leroux 3 3 269 1 0 0 6 1 0 3 1 0
Lloyd 12 12 1080 4 0 3 56 15 6 15 12 0
McCaffrey 19 17 1418 3 3 0 32 16 17 5 13 1
S. Mewis 20 20 1685 4 4 1 55 27 0 22 10 2
Morgan 4 3 285 1 2 0 15 7 5 0 4 1
O’Hara 11 11 989 3 5 1 26 14 2 8 13 1
O’Reilly 11 11 928 2 3 0 17 12 7 6 2 0
Press 11 10 931 10 2 3 50 27 17 7 2 0
Rampone 11 11 962 1 0 0 3 2 0 2 4 0
Rodriguez 11 11 956 6 4 3 46 16 24 3 8 0
Sauerbrunn 11 11 990 0 0 0 3 0 1 3 6 1
2015 NWSL Regular Season Statistics Goalkeepers
Player GP GS Min GA GAA Sh SOG Sv W L T SO
Harris 9 9 810 12 1.33 126 60 47 3 2 4 1
Naeher 12 12 1080 30 2.50 209 95 65 2 9 1 0
Solo 8 8 720 9 1.12 66 28 19 5 2 1 1
WELCOME PRIDE: The National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) announced on Oct. 20 the founding of its 10th club and second expansion team, the Orlando Pride. The Pride is owned and operated by Orlando City SC of Major League Soccer (MLS) and will begin play with the start of the 2016 NWSL season. Two U.S. Women’s National Team players will represent the Pride in goalkeeper Ashlyn Harris and forward Alex Morgan, both of whom were acquired via trades. The NWSL is preparing for its fourth season in 2016, a milestone that the two previous women’s professional leagues did not achieve.
AND THE WINNER IS: Current U.S. WNT players that won NWSL post-season awards are Crystal Dunn (Golden Boot and MVP), Defender of the Year Becky Sauerbrunn, and NWSL Best XI members Julie Johnston, Sauerbrunn, Dunn and Christen Press. U.S. WNT players that made the NWSL Second XI are Lauren Holiday, Carli Lloyd and Megan Rapinoe.
2015 FIFA WOMEN’S WORLD CUP FACTS:
Videos and Photo Galleries:
Releases:
Features:
JILL ELLIS FACT FILE: After leading the USA to the Women’s World Cup title, U.S. head coach Jill Ellis was rewarded with a multi-year contract extension on Aug. 5, 2015. She is the third U.S. coach – and first female coach -- to win a Women’s World Cup at the senior level, following Anson Dorrance (1991) and Tony DiCicco (1999). Ellis was named one of three finalists for the 2015 FIFA World Coach of the Year for Women’s Soccer with the winner being announced on Jan. 11 in Zurich, Switzerland. Ellis, who previously served two stints as interim head coach of the U.S. WNT, is the eighth official head coach in U.S. history. She coached seven games as interim coach in 2012 (5-0-2) and two games (1-0-1) as interim in 2014 before she officially came on board, which gave her a 6-0-3 record before she ever was formally named the head coach in May of 2014. She has gone 30-2-7 since then for an overall record of 36-2-10. When named head coach in 2014, Ellis stepped away from her job as Development Director for the U.S. Women’s National Teams, a job she was appointed to in January of 2011, but still consults with U.S. Women’s National Team Technical Director April Heinrichs who oversees the USA’s youth teams.
IN FOCUS: CHINA PR
China Football Association
Founded: 1924 (Joined FIFA in 1931)
Current FIFA World Ranking: 15
AFC Ranking: 4
Olympic Finals Appearances: 4 (1996, 2000, 2004, 2008)
Head Coach: Bruno Bini
CHINA WOMEN’S NATIONAL TEAM ROSTER BY POSITION
GOALKEEPERS (2): 12-Bi Xiaolin (Dalian), 22-Zhao Lina (Shanghai)
DEFENDERS (5): 2-Liu Shanshan (Hebei), 5-Wu Haiyan (Shandong), 6-Li Dongna (Tianjin), 14-Zhao Rong (Beijing), 24-Xue Jiao (Dalian)
MIDFIELDERS (11): 7-Xu Yanlu (Jiangsu), 15-Lei Jiahui (Henan), 17-Gu Yasha (Beijing), 18-Han Peng (Tianjin), 19-Tan Ruyin (Guangdong), 20-Zhang Rui (Army), 21-Wang Lisi (Jiangsu), 23-Ren Guixin (Changchun), 28-Jiang Meizi (Guangdong), 32-Miao Siwen (Shanghai), 35-Yang Man (Shandong)
FORWARDS (5): 9-Wang Shanshan (Tianjin), 10-Li Ying (Shandong), 11-Wang Shuang (Wuhan), 16-Lou Jiahui (Henan), 31-Ma Xiaoxu (Dalian)
CHINA ROSTER NOTES
USA VS. CHINA:
LAST TIME…
On the field for the USA:
Dec. 13, 2015 – University of Phoenix Stadium; Glendale, Ariz.
2015 U.S. Women’s National Team Victory Tour
USA 2 Dunn 39; Press 81
CHN 0
Lineups:
USA: 21-Alyssa Naeher; 11-Ali Krieger (26-Jaelene Hinkle, 46), 4-Becky Sauerbrunn, 19-Julie Johnston, 22-Meghan Klingenberg; 25-Crystal Dunn (9-Heather O'Reilly, 46), 31-Lindsey Horan (27-Emily Sonnett, 79), 14-Morgan Brian, 17-Tobin Heath (28-Stephanie McCaffrey, 79); 10-Carli Lloyd (capt.) (20-Abby Wambach, 79), 13-Alex Morgan (23-Christen Press, 79)
Subs Not Used: 1-Hope Solo, 2-Sydney Leroux, 5-Kelley O'Hara, 6-Whitney Engen, 8-Amy Rodriguez, 18-Ashlyn Harris, 29-Samantha Mewis, 30-Rose Lavelle, 32-Danielle Colaprico
Head coach: Jill Ellis
CHN: 22-Zhao Lina; 2-Liu Shanshan, 14-Zhao Rong, 6-Li Dongna, 24-Xue Jiao; 9-Wang Shanshan, 11-Wang Shuang (10-Li Ying, 71), 15-Lei Jiahui (18-Han Peng, 46), 17-Gu Yasha (7-Xu Yanlu, 79), 35-Yang Man (23-Ren Guixin, 71); 19-Tan Ruyin
Subs Not Used: 5-Wu Haiyan, 12-Bi Xiaolin, 16-Lou Jiahui, 20-Zhang Rui, 21-Wang Lisi, 28-Jiang Meizi, 31-Ma Xiaoxu, 32-Miao Siwen
Head coach: Bruno Bini
On the field for the USA vs. CHN at the World Cup:
June 26, 2015 – Lansdowne Stadium; Ottawa, Canada
2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup - Quarterfinal
USA 1 Lloyd 51
CHN 0
Lineups:
USA: 1-Hope Solo; 11-Ali Krieger, 19-Julie Johnston, 4-Becky Sauerbrunn, 22-Meghan Klingenberg; 5-Kelley O'Hara (23-Christen Press, 61), 14-Morgan Brian, 10-Carli Lloyd (capt.), 17-Tobin Heath; 8-Amy Rodriguez (20-Abby Wambach, 86), 13-Alex Morgan (9-Heather O'Reilly,81)
Subs Not Used: 2-Sydney Leroux, 3-Christie Rampone, 6-Whitney Engen, 7-Shannon Boxx, 8-Amy Rodriguez, 16-Lori Chalupny, 18-Ashlyn Harris, 21-Alyssa Naeher,
Not Available: 12-Lauren Holiday, 15-Megan Rapinoe
Head coach: Jill Ellis
CHN: 12-Wang Fei; 5-Wu Haiyan (capt.), 14-Zhao Rong, 6-Li Dongna, 2-Liu Shanshan; 21-Wang Lisi, 19-Tan Ruyin (3-Pang Fengyue, 58), 16-Lou Jiahui (11-Wang Shuang, 35), 23-Ren Guixin, 18-Han Peng (13-Tang Jiali, 18); 9-Wang Shanshan
Subs not used: 1- Zhang Yue, 4- Li Jiayue, 7- Xu Yanlu, 8- Ma Jun, 10- Li Ying, 15- Lei Jiahui, 17- Gu Yasha, 20- Zhang Rui, 22- Zhao Lina
Head coach: Hao Wei
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