What a day for U.S. soccer. On the heels of the U.S. men's date with Brazil being officially announced this afternoon, I just found out that the U.S. women will face not only Japan but also Brazil in a three day span in April.
For Pia Sundhage's team, it's all part of the Women's Kirin Challenge Cup which will take place in Japan. The U.S. will get tasty rematches from the 2011 World Cup against the team they lost to in the final (Japan) in penalty kicks and the team they beat in the quarterfinals (Brazil) that featured one of the best endings I've ever seen in a soccer game.
The U.S. women will play Japan on April 1 at Yurtec Stadium in Sendai and Brazil on April 3 at Fukuda Denshi Arena in Chiba.
For the U.S. soccer press release:
In the newly created three-nation tournament, named the Women’s Kirin Challenge Cup, Japan will also face Brazil April 5 at Homes Stadium in Kobe. The three-team competition features three of the top four teams in the current FIFA Women’s World Rankings.
“This trip is fantastic,” said U.S. head coach Pia Sundhage. “Playing two of the world’s best teams almost back-to-back will be a tremendous challenge for our entire roster. Obviously, we are very familiar with both Japan and Brazil, and we have the ultimate respect for their coaches, their players and the technical and tactical abilities of both teams. There are no better games to prepare you for Olympic competition than facing this caliber of teams away from home.”
The match in Sendai will be the second meeting between the two Women’s World Cup finalists since that tournament, as the teams will also meet on March 5 during group play at the Algarve Cup in Portugal.
Sendai, located on the east coast of northern Japan, suffered catastrophic damage from the magnitude 9.0 offshore earthquake on March 11, 2011 (just nine days after the USA had played Japan in the 2011 Algarve Cup), which triggered a massive, destructive tsunami. Yurtec Stadium, which was built in 1997 and seats 20,000, was damaged in the earthquake and tsunami.
Chiba, which is a large suburb of Tokyo, is located near the east coast of central Japan. Fukuda Denshi Arena, which was completed in 2005, seats 18,500.
Of course, the USA’s most recent meeting with Brazil was one for the ages. The USA weathered a controversial ejection and played more than an hour of the 2011 FIFA Women’s World Cup quarterfinal with 10 players before dramatically tying the score in the 122nd minute on Abby Wambach’s now famous header goal, the latest ever scored in a World Cup.
The U.S. women will play New Zealand next Saturday (Feb. 11) at FC Dallas Stadium in Frisco, Texas. That game will be streamed live on ussoccer.com at 4 EST. That's the start of a busy couple weeks for Sundhage and Co. as they'll head to Portugal for the annual Algrave Cup. The U.S. will play Denmark (Feb. 29), Norway (March 2) and Japan (March 5) in Group B play.
So yeah, get ready to see plenty of the U.S. men and women's national teams as the weather starts to get better and spring is in the air which means one thing to me: time for some high level soccer for both of our squads.
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