The U.S. Soccer Federation will elect its first new president since 2006 on Saturday. Exactly four months after the USMNT’s disastrous loss to Trinidad and Tobago, soccer’s governing body in America will finally be able to move forward with new perspectives, new ideas and, most importantly, a new U.S. Soccer president.
The USWNT is currently gearing up for the SheBelieves Cup slated for March 1-7, but the American women will be facing a different kind of rival a month later. A USWNT vs. Mexico friendly will be played on April 8 at BBVA Compass Stadium in Houston, U.S. Soccer announced on Wednesday.
Amy Rodriguez, one of the most decorated players for the USWNT in the past decade, is on the move. The forward with 30 goals in 130 caps is joining NWSL expansion team Utah Royals FC, the club announced Tuesday.
For those of you who only care about sports in which one is not allowed to use one's hands, the Super Bowl was played Sunday. The Philadelphia Eagles won, which is noteworthy only because the Eagles' starting tight end, Zach Ertz, is the husband of USWNT and Chicago Red Stars midfielder Julie Ertz.
You can see how hyped Julie Ertz was for the game here, as she's shown doing the "fly, Eagles, fly" motion.
The U.S. women keep accomplishing what the U.S. men cannot. On Friday in Ato Bodon Stadium, the exact same location of the USMNT’s capitulation to Trinidad and Tobago to miss out on the 2018 World Cup three months ago, the U-20 USWNT booked its trip to the 2018 U-20 Women’s World Cup with a win over Haiti.
In August 1985, a little late to the party, the U.S. debuted its first full women’s national team in international competition. The first USWNT played in a tournament in Italy, losing three of four matches, drawing once.
Among the players on the inaugural squad was Michelle Akers, who would go on to become a two-time World Cup winner and be named FIFA Female Player of the Century in 2002, a couple years after her retirement.
The USWNT’s latest January training camp had players aged 19 through 35 in attendance, and that blend of youth and experience will hold true at the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup in France (qualification secured, God willing). It only follows that these footballers were at very different stages in their respective careers back in the heady days of 2008.
Here’s 18 USWNT players as they were 10 years ago in 2008 versus now. It’s been a wild ride for some, and a measurement of resolute consistency for others.
On Sunday night, sporting power couple Zach and Julie Ertz were both in action — Zach with the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC Championship game and Julie with the USWNT in a friendly against Denmark. With the NFL game kicking off at 6:40 p.m. ET and the women’s match beginning at 7:30, the two went about their business without knowing what was transpiring across the country.
Crystal Dunn is one of America’s brightest stars. The 2015 NWSL MVP scored 15 goals in 21 matches that season and is an entrenched member of Jill Ellis’ national team. So why did Washington trade away her rights to North Carolina when she decided to return from a year abroad in England? The Crystal Dunn trade explains a lot about how the Spirit are planning to rebuild.