On the Pitch

USWNT Wraps Up Historic Year vs. Costa Rica in Jacksonville

Match Preview

U.S. Women’s National Team will play its final match of an historic year when it faces Costa Rica on Nov. 10 at TIAA Bank Field in Jacksonville, Fla. (8 p.m. ET on ESPN2 & TUDN). On Nov. 7, the USA defeated Sweden, 3-2, on a chilly night in Columbus, Ohio in what was the first match for newly-appointed U.S. head coach Vlatko Andonovski. Now, the team sets its sights on preparing for the Olympic qualifying tournament that will be held from Jan. 28-Feb. 9 in Houston and Edinburg, Texas and Carson, Calif. The USA is 19-1-3 in 2019 and riding a 22-match unbeaten streak. The USA dropped the first game of the year, a 3-1 setback to France in Le Havre, a result that was avenged in Paris in the quarterfinal of the World Cup.

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

GOALKEEPERS (4): Aubrey Beldsoe (Washington Spirit; 0/0), Adrianna Franch (Portland Thorns FC; 2/0), Ashlyn Harris (Orlando Pride; 23/0), Alyssa Naeher (Chicago Red Stars; 57/0)

DEFENDERS (6): Alana Cook (Paris Saint-Germain; 0/0), Abby Dahlkemper (NC Courage; 53/0), Imani Dorsey (Sky Blue FC; 0/0), Becky Sauerbrunn (Utah Royals FC; 170/0), Casey Short (Chicago Red Stars; 31/0), Emily Sonnett (Portland Thorns FC; 39/0)

MIDFIELDERS (7): Morgan Brian (Chicago Red Stars; 86/7), Julie Ertz (Chicago Red Stars; 94/19), Lindsey Horan (Portland Thorns FC; 78/12), Rose Lavelle (Washington Spirit; 37/10), Allie Long (Reign FC; 50/8), Samantha Mewis (NC Courage; 60/14), Andi Sullivan (Washington Spirit; 14/0)

FORWARDS (7): Tobin Heath (Portland Thorns FC; 161/32); Carli Lloyd (Sky Blue FC; 287/120), Jessica McDonald (NC Courage; 13/2), Christen Press (Utah Royals FC; 129/50), Mallory Pugh (Washington Spirit; 61/18), Margaret Purce (Portland Thorns FC; 0/0), Lynn Williams (NC Courage; 20/4)


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WELCOME TO THE ANDONOVSKI ERA: On Oct. 28 at a press event in New York City, Vlatko Andonovski became the ninth official head coach in U.S. WNT history. Andonovski (Ann-DON-ahv-skee), 43, comes to U.S. Soccer after serving as a head coach during all seven seasons of the National Women’s Soccer League, a stint which included two championships with FC Kansas City (2014 and 2015). He spent five seasons with FC Kansas City (2013-2017) and the last two with Reign FC (2018-2019). He was twice named NWSL Coach of the Year, in 2013 and again after the just completed 2019 season. He named his first roster on Oct. 31 and coached the team in his first training camp during this week in Columbus. Andonovski is the third-youngest coach to take over the U.S. WNT program in its history.

USA VS. COSTA RICA

  • This match in Jacksonville will be a prelude to a much more important game on February 3, 2020, when the teams meet in Houston in the final Group A game in Olympic qualifying.

  • The USA has faced Costa Rica more times than any other CONCACAF foe besides Canada and Mexico.

  • The WNT is 14-0-0 all-time vs. Costa Rica and most recently played Las Ticas in the final match before the 2016 Olympics, a 4-0 win in Kansas City, Mo.

  • The match before that saw the teams meet to open the Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Frisco, Texas. The USA scored seconds into the match through Alex Morgan, had a 3-0 lead inside of 16 minutes, and went on to win 5-0 on goals from Morgan (2), Carli Lloyd, Crystal Dunn and Christen Press.

  • The previous two matches before that came at the beginning of the 2015 Women’s World Cup Victory Tour, with the USA winning 8-0 in Pittsburg, Pa. and 7-2 in Chattanooga, Tenn.

  • Of the 14 meetings between the teams only one has come in Costa Rica. That was during qualifying for the 2004 Olympics when the USA won 4-0 in San Jose to earn its Olympic berth. Nine meetings have come in the USA, three in Mexico and one in Vancouver during qualifying for the 2012 Olympics.

  • Eight of the 14 meetings have come during CONCACAF qualifying tournaments with the teams meeting twice in 2010 in qualifying for the 2011 FIFA Women’s World Cup.


BACK TO JAX: The U.S. Women also have a long history in Jacksonville, dating back to 1996, but this will be just the fourth match played at what is now TIAA Bank Stadium. The USA last visited Jacksonville in April of 2018 for a 4-0 victory against Mexico. The match in Jacksonville will conclude the 35th year of international competition for the four-time Women’s World Cup and four-time Olympic champion U.S. Women’s National Team.

U.S. ROSTER NOTES

  • Andonovski named 17 players from the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup roster to the training camp in Columbus along with seven other players that include three first-time call-ups. Goalkeeper Aubrey Bledsoe, who had a fine season with the Washington Spirit and was named to the NWSL Best XI and NWSL Goalkeeper of the Year, defender Alana Cook, a former Stanford star who is playing in France with Paris Saint-Germain, and defender Imani Dorsey, who was the NWSL Rookie of the Year in 2018 for Sky Blue FC while playing mostly in attacking positions, have all played with the U.S. U-23 WNT but will see their first training camp action with the senior side.

  • In addition, defender Casey Short and midfielder Andi Sullivan returned to the roster. Short and Sullivan – two players who were in the mix for the World Cup Team – were called into the USA’s Victory Tour matches due to injuries to World Cup Team players.

  • Forwards Lynn Williams and Margaret Purce also returned to a camp roster. Williams has 20 caps and four international goals but before her substitute appearance against Sweden on Nov. 7, had not played for the USA since the 2018 SheBelieves Cup. The uncapped Purce had not been in with the USA since the summer of 2018.

  • In addition, Kelley O’Hara, Ali Krieger, Tierna Davidson, Crystal Dunn and Megan Rapinoe were not available for selection as they continue to recover from injuries but attended the training camp for a few days at the start.

  • On Oct. 23, U.S. forward Alex Morgan announced that she and husband Servando Carrasco, a midfielder for the Los Angeles Galaxy, were expecting their first child, a girl. Morgan is due in April of 2020.

  • Twelve different players have scored the USA’s 71 goals this year. Carli Lloyd leads the team with 15 and Morgan and Rapinoe have nine each. Tobin Heath has eight goals, Samantha Mewis and Mallory Pugh have six and Lindsey Horan have five each. Rose Lavelle and Christen Press have four each. Allie Long has two, and Jessica McDonald, Julie Ertz, Morgan Brian and 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 USWNT has compiled a record of 520 wins, 66 losses and 77 ties. Over the history of the program, the USA has gone 293-20-31 (90% winning percentage) at home, 53-18-13 away (71%) and 174-28-33 (81%) on neutral ground. Of the USA’s 66 losses, 12 (18%) came at the Algarve Cup in Portugal.

  • The USA has scored in 50 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 93 matches and has a 78-5-10 record.

  • Lloyd has 56 WNT goals since the start of 2015. Morgan (57) is the only other player with more than 30 goals over the four years.

  • The USA’s 1-1 draw with Korea Republic on Oct. 6 ended a streak of scoring multiple goals in 16 consecutive matches. The USA had not scored multiple goals in 14 straight games since March 19-June 13, 1995.

  • That draw also ended the USA’s winning streak at 17 consecutive matches, the third longest winning streak in team history and one short of a team record. The U.S. Women had not won 15 games in a row since Feb. 10-July 23, 1996. This current streak is the longest since July 25, 1990 – May 25, 1991, which included 18 wins.

  • The U.S. Women are unbeaten on home soil over its last 39 matches, 34 wins and five draws. The last loss at home was July 27, 2017 vs. Australia, a 1-0 setback in Seattle.

  • The USA is now unbeaten in 22 consecutive games after losing its first game of the year to France in Le Havre. That streak includes 19 wins and three ties.

  • Seven of the USA’s 16 goals in its last six games have been headers, two more than the total from their previous 10 matches combined. The USA scored five headers in the game prior to that 10-game stretch (April 7, 2019 vs. Belgium). The U.S. has scored 21 goals from set pieces in 2019, including nine at the Women’s World Cup – three more than any other team.

IN FOCUS: COSTA RICA

FIFA World Ranking: 38

CONCACAF Ranking: 4
Olympic Appearances: 0

Record vs. USA: 0-14-0
Head Coach: Amelia Valverde

Costa Women’s National Team Roster by Position:

GOALKEEPERS (3): 1-Noelia Bermudez (Saprissa), 13-Dinnia Diaz (Liberia), 18-Priscilla Tapia (Moravia)


DEFENDERS (7): 3-Maria Paula Elizondo (Saprissa), 4-Mariana Benavides (Coronado), 6-Carol Sanchez (Moravia), 8-Daniela Cruz (RCD Espanyol, ESP), 12-Lixy Rodriguez (Codea-IDA), 15-Stephannie Blanco (Coronado), 19-Valery Sandoval (Codea-IDA)          

MIDFIELDERS (7): 2-Gabriela Guillen (Saprissa), 5-Maria jose Morales (Moravia), 9-Gloriana Villalobos (Florida State, USA), 10-Shirley Cruz (Codea-IDA), 11-Raquel Rodriguez (Sky Blue FC, USA), 16-Katherine Alvarado (RCD Espanyol, ESP), 20-Viviana Chinchilla (Codea-IDA)      

FORWARDS (3): 7-Melissa Herrera (Stade Reims, FRA), 14-Priscilla Chinchilla (Codea-IDA), 17-Maria Paula Salas (Saprissa)

COSTA RICA NOTES:

  • After participating in the FIFA Women’s World Cup for the first time in 2015, and despite not qualifying for the 2019 WWC, Costa Rica has been making excellent progress in the women’s game. At its first World Cup appearance in 2015, Las Ticas distinguished themselves, tying two games in group play (1-1 with Spain and 2-2 with South Korea) while losing one (0-1 to Brazil). Melissa Herrera and Karla Villalobos, as well as Raquel Rodriguez netted once each at the World Cup.

  • In the 2014 CONCACAF Women’s Championship semifinals, Costa Rica prevailed over Trinidad & Tobago, 3-0 on penalty kicks, after a 1-1 draw, to earn a place at Canada 2015. Goalkeeper Dinnia Diaz was a hero in that match, making three saves in the penalty kick shootout while her teammates converted the first three. That tournament also mark the first time Costa Rica had beaten Mexico, registering a 1-0 win.

  • Costa Rica’s all-time greatest player is midfielder Shirley Cruz, who played a remarkable 14 years in France with Lyon and then with Paris Saint-Germain before playing a year in China and now has returned to Costa Rica.

  • Representative of the improving level of CONCACAF women’s soccer, five players on this roster play outside of Costa Rica, including two in the United States and one, forward Raquel Rodriguez, who plays for Sky Blue FC in the NWSL. She has played 76 games in the NWSL over four seasons and has eight career goals, including three in 2019.

  • Rodriguez won the MAC Hermann Trophy as college soccer’s top player for Penn State in 2015.

  • Costa Rica has brought an experienced squad with half of the 20-players roster having earned 47 or more caps and on this roster 12 players participated in the 2015 Women’s World Cup.

  • Veteran midfielder Katherine Alvarado, who plays in Spain with RCD Espanyol, leads the squad with 93 caps to go along with 15 goals.

  • Rodriguez is far and away her country’s leading scorer with 40 international goals in 69 caps.

  • Cruz has 85 caps and 28 career goals, numbers that would no doubt be much higher had she not spent so many years abroad.

  • Herrera, who plays in France with Stade Reims, where the USA opened this summer’s World Cup, is another attacking threat and has 64 caps with 11 goals.

  • Villalobos is currently playing college soccer at Florida State where she is one of Mark Krikorian’s key players for the Seminoles and a member of last year’s NCAA title team.

  • Costa Rica qualified for the Concacaf 2020 Olympic Women’s Qualifying Tournament by winning a three-team group, which it hosted, at the CONCACAF Women’s Central American 2020 Olympic Qualifiers in that also included El Salvador and Nicaragua.

  • Costa Rica opened the group with a 2-0 win over Nicaragua thanks to goals from Priscilla Chinchilla and Maria Paula Salas.

  • Costa Rica then polished off the group in style, earning a 5-0 win against El Salvador courtesy of a brace from Raquel Rodriguez and goals from Chinchilla, Salas and Sofia Varela.

  • It marked the fifth time that Costa Rica have qualified for the Concacaf WOQC.

  • At the 2016 Concacaf Olympic Women’s Qualifying Tournament four years ago, Costa Rica finished second in Group A behind the USA and then lost to Canada, 3-1, in the all-important semifinal that determined the Olympic berth. Rodriguez scored her side’s lone goal in that match.

  • In World Cup qualifying for 2019, Costa Rica finished third in Group B, losing 1-0 to Jamaica and 3-1 to Canada and did not make the semifinals. Gloriana Villalobos scored against Canada.

Go Deeper

WNTUSWNT vs. Costa Rica - 11/10/2019