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U.S. Women to begin World Cup Qualifying in Mexico

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Photo by ISIphotos.com

By TRAVIS CLARK

Thursday night marks the beginning of the U.S. Women's National Team's quest for a sixth conescutive appearance at the Women's World Cup.

The USWNT begin play in Group B of the CONCACAF Women's World Cup qualifying tournament in Cancun, Mexico. Grouped with Haiti, Guatemala and Costa Rica, the U.S. are once again favorites to advance to the semifinals, where they are likely to face either Canada or Mexico, both in Group A. The entire tournament will be broadcast in Spanish at CONCACAF.com.

They aim to achieve qualification with a somewhat inexperienced roster — at least in terms of qualifying experience. Only seven of the 20 women selected have appeared in previous World Cup qualifiers.

Coached once again by Pia Sundhage, and boasting players like Abby Wambach, Amy Rodriguez, Kristine Lilly and Megan Rapinoe, the U.S. Women will look to best their CONCACAF oppostion and secure another World Cup berth. They will be without goalie Hope Solo, out for the whole tournament with a shoulder injury.

Here's a look at the U.S. qualifying roster and schedule:

U.S. Women's National Team

Goalkeepers: Nicole Barnhart (FC Gold Pride), Jill Loyden (Chicago Red Stars)

Defenders: Rachel Buehler (FC Gold Pride), Stephanie Cox (Boston Breakers), Ali Krieger (FFC Frankfurt), Amy LePeilbet (Boston Breakers), Heather Mitts (Philadelphia Independence), Christie Rampone (Sky Blue FC), Becky Sauerbrunn (Washington Freedom)

Midfielders: Yael Averbuch (Sky Blue FC), Shannon Boxx (FC Gold Pride), Kristine Lilly (Boston Breakers), Lori Lindsey (Philadelphia Independence), Carli Lloyd (Sky Blue FC), Heather O’Reilly (Sky Blue FC), Megan Rapinoe (Chicago Red Stars)

Forwards: Lauren Cheney (Boston Breakers), Alex Morgan (California), Amy Rodriguez (Philadelphia Independence), Abby Wambach (Washington Freedom)

2010 CONCACAF Group B Qualifying Schedule

vs. Haiti, October 28, 8:30 p.m., CONCACAF.com

vs. Guatemala, October 30, 8:30 p.m. CONCACAF.com

vs. Costa Rica, November 1, 9:30 p.m. CONCACAF.com

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Think the U.S. women can win the World Cup in 2011? Will they be upset in Mexico? Will you watch the tournament?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. I suspect it is because he is a heterosexual male. Many humans frequently evaluate the attractiveness of members of the opposite sex. Despite repeated studies confirming a potential mate’s physical form is a higher priority for males and a potential mate’s status is a higher priority for females, I imagine if you were to show a photo of the USMNT to an overwhelmingly female audience of non-USMNT fans, one of the first things the audience would do is evaluate the physical attractiveness of the males on the squad.

    I thought everything above was self-evident to most adults, but I obviously give some people too much credit.

    PS- Why would you go on about what the Miss America competitors look like? By completely ignoring the talent and interview to focus on physical form (which makes up a mere 35% of the score), you reinforce the dominant patriarchy which values females entirely on physical beauty rather than the ability and intellect which is on display throughout the scholarship competition.

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  2. Lilly is included because, quite simply, she is still one of the 18 best women in the United States and amongst the 40 or so best in the world.

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  3. Why in the world would you go on about what the players look like? If this was the Men’s Team, you would be laughed and riduclued out of here. It’s soccer, not the ridiculous Miss America Pageant!

    Go USWNT!!!!!!

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  4. I still can’t believe were going there without chalupny who is probly arguably the most dynamic player on the uswnt pool.

    Not qualifying for the u-17 was a joke and doesn’t say a thing about our youth program. Canada has a very good women’s side and we lost to the in pks and only the winner of that game advanced. We tied Canada 0-0 and up to that point we outscored our opposition 25-0. Name a men’s team that has done that from the us.

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  5. I doubt they will be upset in Mexico but who knows! Stranger things have happened. I don’t know why Sundhage is taking Lilly at the age of 39 but she probably has her reasons.

    It will be very difficult for the USWNT to win the WC away in ’11 in Germany. If anyone can coach them to victory in Germany it is Sundhage though as she is a crafty and capable coach. I don’t think we’ll run into too many problems in the early stages if we qualify for the WC, as the WWC does not exactly have the depth of the men’s tourney.

    Finally, the USWNT youth development programs are in shambles. We pump in more money than any country in the world except perhaps Germany and we failed to qualify for the U17 World Cup and had an extremely poor display at the U20 WWC this past summer.

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