On the Pitch

USWNT Kicks Off Victory Tour at Historic Rose Bowl vs. Republic of Ireland

Match Preview
After capturing the hearts and minds of a nation, and fans around the world, the U.S. Women’s National Team returns to the USA to play its five-game Victory Tour, presented by Allstate, and celebrate capturing the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup title. The USA is the only nation to have won the World Cup four times: 1991, 1999, 2015 and 2019. The Victory Tour will feature the 23 players who won the World Cup.


The USA’s 2-0 victory against the Netherlands on Sunday, July 7 at Stade de Lyon marked the USA’s record fifth appearance in a FIFA Women’s World Cup Final and added a fourth star to the USA’s jersey. The USA earned its way into the 2019 Final by blazing through its group in record fashion beating Thailand (13-0), Chile (3-0) and semifinalists Sweden (2-0) before combining tremendous skill, savvy and will to meet increasingly tough challenges from rising power Spain (2-1 win) in the Round of 16, World Cup host France (2-1 win) in the Quarterfinal and No. 3 ranked England (2-1 win) in an epic Semifinal showdown. Goals from Megan Rapinoe – the tournament’s Golden Ball winner as Best Player and Golden Boot Winner as top scorer – and Rose Lavelle, the Bronze Ball winner, propelled the USA to victory in a championship game that could have easily seen the USA double its goal output. The U.S. goals in the championship game were the 50th career goal for Rapinoe and the 10th for Lavelle.

U.S. WOMEN’S NATIONAL TEAM VICTORY TOUR, PRESENTED BY ALLSTATE

Date

Kickoff

Opponent

Venue; City

TV

Aug. 3

7 p.m. PT

Republic of Ireland

Rose Bowl; Pasadena, Calif.

ESPN2, Galavision

Aug. 29

7 p.m. ET

Portugal

Lincoln Financial Field; Philadelphia, Pa.

FS1

Sept. 3

7 p.m. CT

Portugal

Allianz Field; St. Paul, Minn.

ESPN2

Oct. 3

8 p.m. ET

Korea Republic

Bank of America Stadium; Charlotte, N.C.

FS1, Univision Networks

Oct. 6

1 p.m. CT

Korea Republic

Soldier Field, Chicago, Ill.

ESPN

USA VS. REPUBLIC OF IRELAND

  • The WNT is 12-0-0 all-time vs. Ireland, with the most recent meetings being a January 23, 2016 meeting in San Diego. The USA won 5-0 in a match that saw Carli Lloyd tally a hat trick, Alex Morgan score in her 100th cap and Mallory Pugh tally in her WNT debut.

  • Of the 12 meetings, seven have seen the USA score five goals.

  • The team also met in 2015 in a pre-World Cup tussle in San Jose, Calif., a 3-0 U.S. win. Before the match in San Jose, the two most recent meetings were two matches at the end of 2012 during the Americans’ victory tour to celebrate the Olympic gold medal in London. The USA won 5-0 in Portland, Oregon, and 2-0 in Glendale, Arizona Alex Morgan scored four of the seven goals over the two games.


BACK AT THE ROSE BOWL, SITE OF CULTURAL-SHIFTING MATCH 20 YEAR AGO: This will be the fifth U.S. Women’s match at the Rose Bowl and first in 17 years. It will be the third match at the Rose Bowl since the USA won the groundbreaking 1999 FIFA Women’s World Cup at the historic venue two decades ago, a game which featured the dramatic penalty kick shootout win for the USA and Brandi Chastain’s iconic celebration, and sparked a cultural shift in the USA and around the world in regard to women’s sports and female athletes. The 90,185 spectators on hand at the Rose Bowl that day for the USA’s victory against China PR in the 1999 FIFA Women’s World Cup represent the largest attendance in the tournament’s history. It’s a record that likely will never be broken.

A SWAN SONG FOR THE EXCELLENT ELLIS: On July 30, Jill Ellis announced she was stepping down from her post after five-plus years at the helm of the world’s #1 ranked team. She is the third U.S. coach – and first female American coach – to win a Women’s World Cup (2015) at the senior level, following Anson Dorrance (1991) and the late Tony DiCicco (1999), and the first to win two after the 2019 triumph in France. Ellis was named the 2015 FIFA World Coach of the Year for Women’s Soccer on Jan. 11, 2016 and will be the favorite again this year. She was also named the Concacaf Female Coach of the Year that year.

Ellis, who served two stints as interim head coach of the U.S. WNT before taking over officially, is the eighth official head coach in USWNT history. She amassed a 6-0-3 record before she was formally named the head coach in May of 2014. She has gone 96-7-15 since then for an overall record of 102-7-18. With the victory against Belgium on April 7, 2019 in Los Angeles, she moved ahead of Pia Sundhage (91) in all-time wins, and now trails only Tony DiCicco (105), a record she may break during the Victory Tour. The match against Australia on July 29, 2018, marked her 100th game on the bench for the USA, making her the fourth coach in U.S. history to coach in 100 or more games. With the match against France on June 28, her 125th on the bench for the USA, she earned the record for most U.S. WNT games coached and that win was the 100th in her WNT career. In her time as head coach of the WNT, Ellis has won eight tournaments: the 2015 Algarve Cup, the 2015 Women’s World Cup, the 2016 CONCACAF Women’s Olympic Qualifying Championship, the 2016 SheBelieves Cup, the 2018 SheBelieves Cup, the 2018 Tournament of Nations, the 2018 Concacaf Women’s Championship and the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup.

2019 U.S. WOMEN’S NATIONAL TEAM VICTORY TOUR ROSTER (CAPS/GOALS)

GOALKEEPERS (3): Adrianna Franch (Portland Thorns FC; 1/0), Ashlyn Harris (Orlando Pride; 21/0), Alyssa Naeher (Chicago Red Stars; 53/0)

DEFENDERS (7): Abby Dahlkemper (NC Courage; 47/0), Tierna Davidson (Chicago Red Stars; 21/1); Crystal Dunn (NC Courage; 91/24), Ali Krieger (Orlando Pride; 103/1), Kelley O’Hara (Utah Royals FC; 124/2), Becky Sauerbrunn (Utah Royals FC; 164/0), Emily Sonnett (Portland Thorns FC; 34/0)

MIDFIELDERS (6): Morgan Brian (Chicago Red Stars; 83/6), Julie Ertz (Chicago Red Stars; 88/19), Lindsey Horan (Portland Thorns FC; 74/10), Rose Lavelle (Washington Spirit; 33/10), Allie Long (Reign FC; 46/6), Samantha Mewis (NC Courage; 56/14)

FORWARDS (7): Tobin Heath (Portland Thorns FC; 156/30); Carli Lloyd (Sky Blue FC; 281/113), Jessica McDonald (NC Courage; 8/2), Alex Morgan (Orlando Pride; 168/107), Christen Press (Utah Royals FC; 123/49), Mallory Pugh (Washington Spirit; 56/17), Megan Rapinoe (Seattle Reign FC; 158/50)


USWNT FACTS

  • Ten different players have scored the USA’s 55 goals this year. Alex Morgan and Megan Rapinoe lead the team with nine each. Carli Lloyd has eight goals. Samantha Mewis and Tobin Heath have six goals each and Mallory Pugh has five. Rose Lavelle has four and Christen Press has three. Lindsey Horan has two, and Jessica McDonald and Julie Ertz have one each. The USA has benefited from one own goal.

  • The U.S. Women’s National Team reached an impressive milestone on Nov. 8, 2018 with its 1-0 victory against Portugal; that was the 500th win in program history. Since its inception in 1985, the U.S. WNT has compiled a record of 514 wins, 66 losses and 76 ties. Over the history of the program, the USA has gone 288-28-22 (88% winning percentage) at home, 52-14-17 away (73%) and 174-33-28 (81%) on neutral ground. Of the USA’s 66 losses, 12 (18%) came at the Algarve Cup in Portugal.

  • The USA has scored in 44 consecutive matches and has averaged more than three goals per game in that time. Since the end of the 2015 World Cup, the USA has played 87 matches and complied a 73-5-9 record.

  • Lloyd has 49 WNT goals since the start of 2015. Morgan (57) is the only other player with more than 30 goals over the four years. 

IN FOCUS: REPUBLIC OF IRELAND

FIFA World Ranking: 33
UEFA Ranking: 22
World Cup Appearances: None 
Best Women’s World Cup finish: n/a
Record vs. USA: 0-12-0
Head Coach: Tom O’Connor

Netherlands Women’s World Cup Roster by Position:

GOALKEEPERS (2): 1-Marie Hourihan (Braga, POR), 16-Grace Moloney (Reading, ENG) 

DEFENDERS (8): 3-Harriet Scott (Birmingham City, ENG), 4-Louise Quinn (Arsenal, ENG), 5-Niamh Fahey (Liverpool, ENG), 7-Diane Caldwell (SC Sand, GER), 8-Megan Connolly  (Brighton & Hove Albion, ENG), 14-Lauren Dwyer (Wexford Youths), 15-Claire O'Riordan (MSV Duisburg, GER), 20-Eabha O'Mahony (Cork City)

MIDFIELDERS (5): 6-Alex Kavanagh (Shelbourne FC), 10-Eleanor Ryan-Doyle (Peamount United), 13-Jess Gargan (Shelbourne FC), 17-Niamh Farrelly (Peamount United), 18-Claire Walsh (Peamount United)

FORWARDS (5): 2-Heather Payne (Florida State, USA), 9-Amber Barrett (FC Köln, GER), 11-Katie McCabe (Arsenal, ENG), 12-Rianna Jarrett (Wexford Youths), 19-Emily Whelan (Shelbourne FC)
 


IRELAND ROSTER NOTES

  • Ireland is preparing for qualifying for the 2021 UEFA Women’s Euros. Ireland starts qualifiers against Montenegro in September and is in UEFA Qualifying Group I with Germany, Greece, Montenegro and Ukraine.

  • Ireland is a relatively experienced side with 14 players having less than 20 caps.

  • The most experience players are in the back, with SC Sand (GER) defender Diane Caldwell (70 caps), six-foot Arsenal defender Louise Quinn (73 caps) and Liverpool defender Niamh Fahey (84 caps).

  • Quinn is the top scorer on the roster with 11 international goals.

  • Forward Katie McCabe, who also plays for Arsenal, has six career goals. No other player has more than one.

  • Forward Heather Payne plays college soccer for reigning NCAA Champion Florida State.

  • Ireland has moved on from long-time goalkeeper old Emma Byrne, who also has manned the goal for Arsenal for many years. The six-footer amassed more than 140 caps for her country.

  • Marie Hourihan is the most experienced of the two ‘keepers with 18 caps under her belt.

  • Eleven of Ireland’s 20 players play their club soccer outside the country, six in England, two in Germany and one in the USA and Portugal.

  • Ireland is playing under interim head coach and former assistant coach Tom O’Connor after former coach Colin Bell was appointed assistant at Huddersfield Town.

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