Match Preview: USA and England Play for 2018 SheBelieves Cup Title | March 7 at 7 p.m. ET on ESPNEWS
A Champion Will Be Crowned in Orlando. England needs just a tie to win its first SheBelieves Cup title while the Americans will need a victory.
The USA will head into the final match of the 2018 SheBelieves Cup needing a victory against England to win the tournament. The match marks the first visit for the U.S. Women to Orlando City Stadium and the tournament finale kicks off at 7 p.m. ET on ESPNews, ESPN3 and the ESPN App.
Follow all the #USWNT action on Twitter using #SheBelievesCup, #SheBelieves and #USAvENG on @ussoccer_wnt and @ussoccer_esp, and also on Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat (ussoccer_wnt).
U.S. Women’s National Team 2018 SheBelieves Cup Roster by Position (Caps/Goals):
GOALKEEPERS (3): 18-Jane Campbell (Houston Dash; 2/0), 24-Ashlyn Harris (Orlando Pride; 14/0), 1-Alyssa Naeher (Chicago Red Stars; 26/0)
DEFENDERS (7): 7-Abby Dahlkemper (NC Courage; 16/0), 17-Tierna Davidson (Stanford; 3/0), 14-Sofia Huerta (Chicago Red Stars; 3/0), 5-Kelley O'Hara (Utah Royals FC; 107/2), 2-Casey Short (Chicago Red Stars; 21/0), 22-Taylor Smith (NC Courage; 10/0), 16-Emily Sonnett (Portland Thorns FC; 14/0),
MIDFIELDERS (6): 6-Morgan Brian (Olympique Lyon, FRA; 71/6), 8-Julie Ertz (Chicago Red Stars; 59/15), 9-Lindsey Horan (Portland Thorns FC; 46/4), 10-Carli Lloyd (Houston Dash; 249/98); 20-Allie Long (Portland Thorns FC; 34/6), 3-Andi Sullivan (Stanford; 9/0)
FORWARDS (7): 19-Crystal Dunn (Chelsea FC, ENG; 59/23), 21-Savannah McCaskill (Sky Blue FC; 3/0), 13-Alex Morgan (Orlando Pride; 137/81); 23-Christen Press (Chicago Red Stars; 98/44), 11-Mallory Pugh (Washington Spirit; 32/9), 15-Megan Rapinoe (Seattle Reign; 132/35), 12-Lynn Williams (NC Courage; 18/4)
2018 SheBelieves Cup Schedule
|
Date |
Matches |
Stadium |
City |
Kickoff / ET |
Broadcast |
|
Mar. 7 |
Germany vs. France |
Orlando City Stadium |
Orlando, Fla. |
4 pm |
ESPN3 |
|
Mar. 7 |
USA vs. England |
Orlando City Stadium |
Orlando, Fla. |
7 pm |
ESPNews |
2018 SheBelieves Cup Standings
|
Team |
GP |
W |
L |
T |
GF |
GA |
GD |
Pts. |
|
England |
2 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
6 |
3 |
+3 |
4 |
|
USA |
2 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
+1 |
4 |
|
Germany |
2 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
-1 |
1 |
|
France |
2 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
5 |
-3 |
1 |
STORYLINES
A Champion Will Be Crowned in Orlando: England needs just a tie to win its first SheBelieves Cup title while the Americans will need a victory. The USA and England are tied on points with four each (the USA beat Germany and tied France and England beat France and tied Germany), but England is ahead on the first tie-breaker, goal difference, based on its 4-1 victory against France its opener, meaning a tie is good enough to lift the trophy. The USA came into its final match of the inaugural SheBelieves Cup in 2016 in the same situation, needing a victory against Germany to take the title. The USA went down 1-0 early in the game before rallying to win 2-1 take the inaugural tournament championship.
Lionesses Are Roaring: England got off to a great start in this year’s SheBelieves Cup, trouncing France 4-1 behind three first half scores. New head coach Phil Neville had a dream debut as Toni Duggan scored in the seventh minute, Jill Scott tallied in the 29th and Jodie Taylor of the Seattle Reign scored in the 39th to make it 3-0 at the break. Fran Kirby added a fourth goal about a minute into the second half and France's lone score from Gaetene Thiney had no impact on the result. The win against France marked just the second-time England had beaten Les Bleus since 1974, with the first win coming at last summer's UEFA Women's Euros that knocked France out of the tournament.
The match set a SheBelieves Cup record for most goals in a half and most goals in a game. France scored three against the USA last year. England played Germany to a 2-2 tie in its second match. The Germans outshot England 19-11, but a brace from Ellen White earned England a vital point. England has three players with two goals+assists during the tournament so far: Ellen White (2G, 0A), Fran Kirby (1G,1A), and Jill Scott (1G,1A). No other player has registered more than one goal+assist.
Smells Like Teen Spirit: Against Germany on March 1 and France on March 4, there were two teenagers in the USA’s starting XI in 19-year-olds Mallory Pugh and Tierna Davidson, both of whom are age-eligible for the 2018 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup. The pair also started together in the USA’s first game of the year on Jan. 21 in San Diego, where they combined for two goals and two assists. Before that match in San Diego, the last time two teenagers were in the U.S. WNT starting lineup was June 30, 2001 against Canada in Toronto. Aleisha Cramer (18) and Cat Whitehill (19) both played the entire game. Pugh currently leads the WNT in goal scoring with three so far in 2018.
Closing in on 100: Carli Lloyd is currently sitting at 98 goals and with two more would become the sixth player in WNT history to reach 100 for her country.
Women in Charge: Three of the four coaches in the tournament are women: the USA’s Jill Ellis, Corinne Diacre of France and Steffi Jones from Germany. These are the first matches in charge for England’s new head coach Phil Neville, a former Manchester United and Everton star and England National Team defender. Watch: Ellis Blazes Trail for Female Coaches
Long History in Orlando: While the SheBelieves Cup will mark the first visit for the U.S. WNT to Orlando City Stadium, the venue has already hosted top flight women's soccer - and featured more than a few goals from Alex Morgan - as the home stadium for the Orlando Pride of the NWSL. Still, the U.S. WNT is no stranger to Orlando, a city that has played a major role in the team's history. Orlando was the site of several Residency Training Camps in the 1990s, including before the historic 1999 Women's World Cup victory, and the USA played its first Olympic match in Orlando at the Citrus Bowl, defeating Denmark 3-0 on July 21, 1996. The USA has played 10 full international matches in Orlando (winning them all), six of them at the Citrus Bowl, which was the site of one of the greatest moments in U.S. history when Mia Hamm broke Elisabetta Vignotto's world goal scoring record on May 22, 1999, in a 3-0 win over Brazil that marked the U.S. legend's 108th career goal. She would go on to score 50 more.