Photo by ISIPhotos.com
By DAN KARELL
The U.S. Women’s National Team are heading to San Antonio, Texas for the first time in 17 years.
U.S. Soccer announced on Monday afternoon that the Alamodome will play host to a friendly match on October 20 between the USWNT and Australia, as the hosts look to continue their unbeaten calendar year. It’s the first game for the USA since their 7-0 victory against Mexico on September 3.
“I’ve been delighted with how our team has played over the year as a whole,” Sermanni said in a statement. “The players have embraced how we’ve tried to play and we’ve gone about our performances in a really professional manner, which can be difficult to maintain at times when you go into games with everyone expecting you to win. We’re certainly looking forward to facing an Australian team that will be a great challenge tactically and physically.”
The match marks the first time that U.S. head coach Tom Sermanni faces his former side, after coaching the Matildas from 1994-1996 and 2005-2012.
While the U.S. continue to hold onto their No. 1 FIFA ranking, Australia is no slouch, ranked by FIFA No. 8 and are gearing up to start 2015 World Cup qualifying in May 2014. The most recent squad featured four players who played in the NWSL, including Sky Blue FC striker Lisa De Vanna.
It’s unknown whether U.S. captain Christie Rampone will be available to play, after undergoing minor knee surgery on September 4. She’s expected to be out for four to six weeks. The Americans hold a 9-0 record in indoor venues
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What do you think of this news? Do you see this being a good test for the USWNT?
Share your thoughts below.
The Alamodome is ugly. They should play at Mike Meyers stadium in Austin. It has a seating capacity of 20,000, a pretty setting, and Austin is a hip town.
1994 called. They want their word “hip” back.
SA native here, living in Ohio. Super jealous. I’ve always liked the Alamodome bc of its proximity to downtown, the Riverwalk, etc. Those traveling to this game will have a good time.
Are the USWNT still crusading against artificial turf? Perhaps they should play somewhere with natural grass to bolster their case.
The USWNT may be crusading against turf, US Soccer not so much–except when the men are playing, of course. No sex discrimination here!
Then maybe they should raise a stink about it. The time to do it is now when nothing really matters. Unless they are expecting a gate that is large enough to require the Alamodome their are plenty of stadiums in Texas with grass fields.
Oh, they should sooo play Mexico in the Alamodome!
You do realize the Texans lost to the Mexicans at the Alamo, right?
I’d like to make the trip. It would be nice if they published the event times and whatever else I might need to know to see if I could work a drive to SA into my schedule. That way I could go ahead and by tickets right now while I’m still crazy enamorado with Sydney Leroux. She’s P-R-E-T-T-Y
I would love to see the USWNT play at our new Toyota Field (Scorpions Stadium); an actual and beautiful soccer stadium. The Toyota Bernabeu can only hold 8000 however, so the Alanodome makes sense. Should make for an interesting atmosphere. When the Dome gets rocking it gets pretty intense!
The Alamodome is still a thing?
Says a guy who doesn’t know much about American sports, apparently.
San Antonio will come out in force to try to prove a point to MLS