PREVIEW: USWNT Wraps Up Send Off Series Presented by Volpi Foods vs Mexico on Sunday

The 23-player U.S. Women’s World Cup squad is coming off a 3-0 victory against South Africa on May 12 and a 5-0 win against New Zealand on May 16 in the first two matches of the three-game Send-Off Series Presented by Volpi Foods. The Americans will now play their final game before leaving for Europe and the 2019 FIFA Women’s World when Mexico comes to Red Bull Arena in Harrison, New Jersey on May 26 (11:30 a.m. ET on ESPN and UDN). The crowd is expected to be near capacity at the 26,500-seat venue. The USA has posted a 6-1-2 record so far in 2019 with all but one of those games coming against World Cup-bound teams.

 

U.S. WOMEN’S WORLD CUP ROSTER (CAPS/GOALS)

GOALKEEPERS (3): Adrianna Franch (Portland Thorns FC; 1/0), Ashlyn Harris (Orlando Pride; 21/0), Alyssa Naeher (Chicago Red Stars; 45/0)

DEFENDERS (7): Abby Dahlkemper (NC Courage; 39/0), Tierna Davidson (Chicago Red Stars; 20/1); Crystal Dunn (NC Courage; 84/24), Ali Krieger (Orlando Pride; 100/1), Kelley O’Hara (Utah Royals FC; 117/2); Becky Sauerbrunn (Utah Royals FC; 157/0), Emily Sonnett (Portland Thorns FC; 32/0)

MIDFIELDERS (6): Morgan Brian (Chicago Red Stars; 82/6), Julie Ertz (Chicago Red Stars; 81/18), Lindsey Horan (Portland Thorns FC; 67/8), Rose Lavelle (Washington Spirit; 26/7), Allie Long (Reign FC; 44/6), Samantha Mewis (NC Courage; 49/12)

FORWARDS (7): Tobin Heath (Portland Thorns FC; 149/29); Carli Lloyd (Sky Blue FC; 273/110), Jessica McDonald (NC Courage; 7/2), Alex Morgan (Orlando Pride; 162/101), Christen Press (Utah Royals FC; 115/47), Mallory Pugh (Washington Spirit; 52/15), Megan Rapinoe (Seattle Reign FC; 152/44)

SEND-OFF SERIES, PRESENTED BY VOLPI FOODS
Date	Opponent	Kickoff	Venue; City
May 26	Mexico	12 p.m. ET	Red Bull Arena; Harrison, N.J.
2019 FIFA WOMEN’S WORLD CUP
June 11	Thailand	3 p.m. ET	Auguste Delaune Stadium; Reims, France
June 16	Chile	12 p.m. ET	Parc des Princes; Paris, France
June 20	Sweden	3 p.m. ET	Stade Océane; Le Havre, France

 

STORYLINES

 

USA vs. Mexico: The USA has faced Mexico 37 times, but before the three meetings in 2018, 4-1 and 6-2 U.S. victories in friendlies and a 5-0 victory in World Cup qualifying -- the teams had met just once in the past two and half years.

The win in qualifying came in the first game and the USA scored in the third minute through Megan Rapinoe but went into half with only a 1-0 lead. The USA then erupted with five goals in the second, starting in the 47th minute from Julie Ertz, followed by goals from Alex Morgan (57), Tobin Heath (61), Rapinoe (70) and Morgan (80). In the 6-2 victory on April 8, 2018, the USA was down 2-1 in the 24th minute, but equalized one minute later through a Lindsey Horan header and then stormed back to bag four unanswered goals. Across 37 all-time meetings, Mexico has defeated the USA once and drawn once. The win came in the semifinal of Concacaf Qualifying for the 2011 Women’s World Cup, a 2-1 victory in Cancun, Mexico. The setback forced the USA to win the third-place match and then a two-leg playoff vs. Italy to qualify for the World Cup in Germany.

Near Sellout Expected at Red Bull Arena: After having more than 35,000 fans at the most recent game in St. Louis, the USA will play in front of another large crowd at Red Bull Arena. The USA mostly recently played at RBA in front of 25,706 that saw the USA draw France, 1-1, during the 2018 SheBelieves Cup. The two matches at RBA before that game, against Korea Republic in 2015 that was the final Send-Off Series match to the 2015 Women’s World Cup (a 0-0 Draw) and a 1-0 loss to England at the 2017 SheBelieves Cups, were both 26,000+ sell outs. In June of 2013, Abby Wambach scored four goals against Korea Republic at RBA on a day in which she tied, then broke, Mia Hamm’s all-time scoring record in a 5-0 win that was played in front of more than 18,000 fans.

 

Carli Surpasses Michelle Akers: Forward Carli Lloyd has set many records throughout her career and her latest is especially impressive. After scoring a brace vs. New Zealand on May 16, Lloyd now has 110 goals for in her international career, moving her to fourth-place all-time on the WNT scoring list, three goal above the legendary Michelle Akers. She is also the team’s leading goal scorer this year with five in 2019. Eleven of Carli Lloyd’s 110 goals have come against Mexico, while nine of Alex Morgan’s 101 goals have come against Mexico. Morgan has scored six goals in her last four appearances against Mexico.

 

 

Breaking Down the USA’s World Cup Roster: On May 2, U.S. Women’s National Team head coach Jill Ellis made public the 23-player roster that will represent the USA in France this summer, a roster that was a product of more than two-and-a-half years of evaluation in trainings and games since the end of the 2016 Olympics. Ellis selected 12 players who were part of the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup championship squad, while the roster averages 80 international caps per player and has a combined total of 94 previous Women’s World Cup appearances. Of the 23 players named to the roster, Carli Lloyd has the most World Cup experience having played in 18 matches while scoring seven goals, six at the 2015 tournament. Lloyd is also the oldest player on the roster at 36, while Tierna Davidson is the youngest at 20.

 

2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup is Around the Corner: The 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup kicks off June 7 as host France faces South Korea in Paris and will run through July 7 when the championship game is staged in Lyon. The tournament will mark the eighth consecutive World Cup appearance for three-time World Cup champion USA (1991, 1999, 2015), one of six countries to qualify for all eight Women’s World Cups along with Brazil, Germany, Japan, Norway, Sweden and Nigeria. This will be the second Women’s World Cup to include 24 nations. Sixteen teams participated in the four World Cups held from 1999-2011. The 1991 and 1995 WWC featured 12 teams. The field for this tournament includes host France along with Spain, Italy, England, Scotland, Norway, Germany, Sweden and the Netherlands from Europe; China PR, Thailand, Australia, South Korea and Japan from Asia; Brazil, Chile and Argentina from South America; the United States, Canada and Jamaica from Concacaf; Nigeria, South Africa and Cameroon from Africa; and New Zealand from Oceania.

 

New Rules Get Test Run: In preparation for the 2019 Women’s World Cup in France, U.S. Soccer requested and received approval from the International Football Association Board (IFAB) to implement three changes to the Laws of the Game during the tournament. These changes, although not officially instituted until June, will be used for the USA’s April friendly matches. At the 133rd AGM of The IFAB held in Aberdeen, Scotland on March 2, 2019 these changes (as well as additional changes) were approved to the Laws of the Game for 2019/20:

 

• A player being substituted must leave the field of play at the nearest point on the boundary line.
• Yellow and red cards for misconduct can be issued to team officials.
• On a goal kick and a free kick for the defending team in their own penalty area, the ball is in play as soon as the kick is taken so a player – or opponent as long as they started outside the penalty or were not given the proper time to exit the penalty – can play the ball before it leaves the penalty area.

 

Follow all the #USWNT action on Twitter using @uswnt and on Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat (ussoccer_wnt).

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