U.S. head coach Pia Sundhage has named the 18 players that will suit up against New Zealand tomorrow at 3 p.m. CT at FC Dallas Stadium. The game is expected to be a sell-out in the 20,500-seat venue and the U.S. players are looking forward to a fantastic Texas reception.
U.S. Roster vs. New Zealand
Feb.

Hope Solo denies an Alex Morgan blast
Can't say there is much to report from U.S. WNT training in chilly Frisco, Texas. All the players are healthy and gunning for spots on the 18-player roster for the New Zealand game, but since there's not much new, we decided to put together a top-10 What's New?

The US Women took down Costa Rica 3-0 to book their ticket for this summer's London Olympics. Tobin Heath scored in the first half, Carli Lloyd continued her current run of form with a goal in the second half, and Alex Morgan sealed the win with a late goal of her own.

Pia Sundhage made two changes from the team that faced Mexico on Tuesday, preferring Tobin Heath over Amy Rodriguez and giving converted striker Kelly O'Hara a start at right back.

The U.S. Women's National Team faced a tougher test than expected, but ultimately the Americans proved too tough for underdog Costa Rica and eventually punched their ticket to the Summer Olympics.

A first-half goal by Tobin Heath gave the U.S. women the lead and despite a courageous fight from the Costa Ricans, the United States held that one-goal lead before Carli Lloyd blasted home a long-range blast in the second half to give the Americans a 2-0 victory in the CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying semifinals in Vancouver.

If Costa Rica had any hope of qualifying for the Olympics this summer, it was extinguished in the second half of tonight's match against the USWNT. While Costa Rica played hard all match long, it wasn't enough, as the US scored two late goals to secure their fifth straight Olympic appearance. The US Women's National Team now awaits the 2012 Olympic Summer Games in London, where they will defend their 2008 gold medal from Beijing.

It was no walk in the park, but United States claimed an Olympic berth after withstanding a spirited and stubborn Costa Rica to earn a 3-0 win Friday night.

Tobin Heath put the U.S. on the board with a 16th minute goal while Carli Lloyd followed up with an insurance strike in the 74th minute.

The US and Canada are moving on to the 2012 London Olympics. Behind another strong shutout performance by the US. Heath, Lloyd and Morgan all score for the US against Costa Rica. The US carry a 34 goals for, 0 goals against into the final Sunday night in Vancouver.Video: Universal Sports
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Here is the USA's starting lineup against Venezuela:
Hamid
DeLaGarza Parkhurst Cameron Pearce
Larentowicz Jones (capt.)
Zusi Feilhaber Shea
Bunbury
1-Bill Hamid2-A.

Photo: Paul Rudderow.

I tried to tune in to watch the USWNT take on the Dominican Republic at the appointed 10:30 pm start time last night. In the 10 or so minutes it took me to update the stupid Silverlight player and get the game to load, I missed the opening 3 goals, which all happened inside the first 7 minutes of the game.

They scored, they scored again...and they scored again. In the opening game of the 2012 Olympic qualifying tournament, the United States women showed no mercy, completely showing up the Dominican Republic. The star of the night was Amy Rodriguez who despite not coming into the game until the second half, managed to score five goals, tying the tournament record.

It started as a soccer game. It ended with a football score.

Former Boston Breakers' striker Amy Rodriguez grabbed a record-tying five goals in the United States' record-setting 14-0 demolition of the Dominican Republic in the first game of Olympic Qualifying at BC Place in Vancouver.

With all the pain of the play-offs and the heartache of relegation, should you bring up your kids as Forest supporters? Neil Heath didn't think twice [...] Read the original post on Seat Pitch

USWNT almost atoned for it's group stage blemish on Saturday..

TSG's Maura Gladys brings us home on the USWNT in 2011. Thanks for hard work, Maura.

If she didn't prove it with her two goals and one in the 2011 World Cup, Alex Morgan proved last night that she deserves a spot in USWNT the starting lineup.

After a first chilly day in Phoenix/Scottsdale for the U.S. WNT, the weather has been perfect for the "hit-the-ground-running" training camp as the team prepares for Olympic Qualifying being held in Vancouver, B.C. in January.
Despite the long layoff, the players have looked fit and sharp and there will be plenty of competition for the 18 rosters spots for the Sweden game on Nov.

The U.S. WNT players did a lot of different and fun stuff on their six-week breaks before the team opens camp this Monday in Arizona, but only one of them traveled to a different country to support their favorite club.
That would be Tobin Heath, the U.S. WNT resident soccer junky, who traveled with best buddy and Sky Blue FC teammate Casey Nogueira to London to take in an Arsenal match at The Emirates.

Hall Road Rangers manager Martin Thacker is facing a real problem following goalkeeper Adam Nicklin's decision to return to his former club North Ferriby United.
Nicklin has teamed up again with former boss Billy Heath, who himself departed Rangers to take over at Ferriby.
So, Rangers have no recognised goalkeeper on their 1st team books and will be bringing someone new in for the fixture at Queensgate tomorrow.

One of the more interesting pieces of Aston Villa news to emerge during the international break was the club's intention to include a clause in future contracts that would oblige players to live within 30 miles of Bodymoor Heath. Or at least have a base to use during what constitutes a "working week" for a Premier League footballer.

We've started a new feature on our Blogs and, for now, we're calling it Rewind. This is where we pull an old video from our archives that we think was really good, historic, just plain fun or all of the above.
We'll start with this little gem from 2008 in which we feature current U.S. WNT regulars Amy Rodriguez, Lauren Cheney and Tobin Heath when they were all just breaking into the team.

Friday night's game for the United States men's national team provides a perfect test for Jurgen Klinsmann to see what several US players who typically don't get much playing time can do against a strong Costa Rica side (11pm ET, ESPN2).

The game, which will be played at Home Depot Center, will give Klinsmann a chance to see what players can do on the international stage such as Jeff Larentowicz, Chris Pontius and Tommy Chandler.

Shambolic, catastrophic, embarrassing, shocking, unprecedented, entertaining, humorous all accurate descriptions of Brazil's role in the penalty shootout with Paraguay last night. In becoming the first team in history to miss every spot kick in a Copa America shootout, Brazil exited unceremoniously from a tournament in which they never looked the threatening force everyone expected.

By FRANCO PANIZO

The feel-good story that was the U.S. women's national team at the World Cup has come to a close, and it does so without the fairy-tale ending.

The U.S. team lost in the World Cup final on Sunday, falling to Japan 3-1 on penalty kicks after playing to a 2-2 draw.

The U.S. players trained in the stadium today, going through the customary short training session the day before the game. It was a short bus ride to the Frankfurt stadium, which looks to be an awesome venue for a World Cup Final.
Off the field the team shifted its focus completely to Japan and the game on Sunday.

Stewart Downing talked the talk of loyalty – then walked | Stuart James

By joining Liverpool Downing will have made few friends at Aston Villa, who have lost four England midfielders in two years It was April Fool's Day, which, in hindsight, was a clue that it would be dangerous for the reporters gathered at Bodymoor Heath to take everything that Stewart Downing was saying at face value.

Official WWC Team Photo (Courtesy: US Soccer)USSoccer.com has been putting together these mini-profiles of each of the USWNT players that will complete in Germany for the 2011 Women's World Cup.
Here are the rest of the profiles of each player on the roster. See the first set of profiles here.

Lauren Cheney and Megan Rapinoe celebrate Rapinoe's 50th minute goal
There was a tremendous atmosphere inside Rhein-Neckar-Arena tonight, the likes of which have probably never been seen before for the U.S. WNT match on foreign soil. The sold-out crowd of more than 25,000 was decidely pro-American, bolstered by a large presence from the U.

Lauren Cheney scored a huge goal for the USA in the opening game of the 2011 WWC against North Korea, but before that, she and Tobin Heath stood for yet another of our WNT Player Profiles.

Lauren Cheney wants the ball...and she wants it now.
Yesterday, the U.S. WNT held what was the last training in an excellent pre-tournament camp in Austria. The players got the chance to adjust to the time zone, train in a serene enviroment and sharpen up many areas before heading to Dresden, Germany tomorrow morning.

Here is a look at the USA's official team photo that the squad took a few days ago here in Austria (as you can see by the scenic background). This might make a cool wallpaper on someone's lap top. There will be a video of team photo day up on ussoccer.com shortly, so please look for it.
Back Row (L to R): O'Hara, Rapinoe, Heath, LePeilbet, Sauerbrunn, Morgan, Krieger, Lindsey
Middle Row (L to R): Cheney, Wambach, Barnhart, Solo, Loyden, Boxx, Mitts
Front Row (L to R): Cox, Rodriguez, Rampone, Buehler, O'Reilly, Lloyd

The U.S. WNT has been training in (what they tell us) are unseasonably warm weather in New Jersey (80s and 90s), but that should be good preparation in Germany where it could be quite hot during the Women's World Cup. The squad has been taking some long drives to training, which means the players have had to find things to occupy their time.

The U.S. WNT is back together for its final domestic game and game before leaving for the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup. Yes, the tournament is so close, you can feel it. The team is training in New Jersey in preparation for meeting Mexico this Sunday at Red Bull Arena (2 p.m. ET on ESPN2) and had its first session yesterday afternoon in the sticky heat of the impending NJ summer.

Via All White Kit, the United States Women's National Team 2011 World Cup Roster:

Goalkeepers (3): Nicole Barnhart, Jillian Loyden, Hope Solo
Defenders (7): Rachel Buehler, Stephanie Cox, Ali Krieger, Amy LePeilbet, Heather Mitts, Christie Rampone, Becky Sauerbrunn
Midfielders (7): Shannon Boxx, Tobin Heath, Lori Lindsey, Carli Lloyd, Heather O'Reilly, Megan Rapinoe, Lindsay Tarpley
Forwards (4): Lauren Cheney, Alex Morgan, Amy Rodriguez, Abby Wambach

Jenna called it all but Loyden before it happened.

Alternate title: "Meet the cast of Galaxy Quest 2!!!"See the photo on the USsoccer.com front page to see why. Then read about the team here.G: Nicole Barnhart, Jillian Loyden, Hope SoloD: Rachel Buehler, Stephanie Cox, Ali Krieger, Amy LePeilbet, Heather Mitts, Christie Rampone, Becky SauerbrunnM: Shannon Boxx, Tobin Heath, Lori Lindsey, Carli Lloyd, Heather O'Reilly, Megan Rapinoe, Lindsay

Heath Melugin, Missouri State Bears (2012)

The men's programs at Missouri State and Drury have gotten together to host a series of Spring matches the next two weekends at their respective pitches.

This Saturday, April 2nd, the Missouri State Bears play host at Plaster Stadium.

Game Schedule:
1:00 pm Missouri State vs Mid-America Nazerene
2:45 pm – Drury vs NEO A&M
4:30 pm – Drury vs Mid-America Nazarene
6:15 pm – Missouri State vs NEO A&M

Next weekend, Drury will play host and Crowder College and Benedictine (KS) will be on hand at Harrison Stadium to each play against Missouri State and Drury.

Today's training was a light one. The squad did the beep test on a turf field and then walked down a hill to the grass field for a warm-up and some 9 v 9 from end-line to half field. Lots of nice goals, but a few particularly spicy ones from Lindsay Tarpley. You know the players below, but since not much went on today in the Algarve, we thought we'd give them their close-ups.

We know you never get tired of pictures from training, right? Here are a few from today.
Tobin Heath makes a diagonal run to the ball

The USA's four GKs train with Ashlyn Harris between the poles

Epic Battle: Rodriguez vs.

Beeeeeeeeeep!

A day of fitness testing is in the books for the U.S. WNT and the rest of the camp will be focused on, as Pia Sundhage said in the first team meeting, "play, play, play." But after a morning of VO2 Mac testing on the treadmill, the U.S. team hit the field in the afternoon for its usual quartet of timed 20 and 40-yard dash, agility test, jump test and Beep Test.

After a loss to Sweden in the Four Nations Tournament, the USA came back strong against Canada winning 2-1, and then finished it off with a win against China by a score of 2-0. The USA and Canada were tied for first place in the end, but the first tie-breaker was the head-to-head result, and since the USA defeated Canada, they took the title.

Just seconds into the first of the 4 v 4 games during today's training, Tobin Heath pulled off a move that really only Tobin (and your top Brazilians) can do. Squared up on Heather O'Reilly, she put her foot on the ball, pulled it behind her leg and in one motion, swept it through the legs of O'Reilly, illiciting whoops and hollers from her teammates.

Tobin Heath and Yael Averbuch do some ground juggling. They are pretty good at it.
Almost all the players attended the training today, although a few stayed behind to rest and do treatments. The day between games training is always a bit tricky as some players played a lot of minutes and others played none, so a few players had lighter sessions than others.

If you are an avid WNT Blog reader, you may recall that Tobin Heath and Kelley O'Hara decided to refine their knitting skills at the beginning of this trip. Well, the hats are done and that's a good thing as they are certainly coming in handy (or heady?) in China where the temps haven't gotten out of the 40s.