USWNT to open 2016 schedule with friendly vs. Republic of Ireland

CHICAGO (Via U.S. Soccer) – The U.S. Women’s National Team will face the Republic of Ireland on January 23 at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego to open the 2016 schedule. Kickoff will be at 5 p.m. ET. Information on where to watch the match on TV will be announced soon.

The match will come at the end of a long training camp in Los Angeles to prepare for the CONCACAF Women’s Olympic Qualifying Tournament, to be held Feb. 10-21 at Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas and BBVA Compass Stadium in Houston.

The training camp and match against Ireland will be an important evaluation period for U.S. head coach Jill Ellis to select her 20-player Olympic qualifying roster.

“It will be a great to finish our preparation camp in January with an international match,” said U.S. head coach Jill Ellis.  “The roster for qualifying will be named after the conclusion of this event and the game against Ireland will give us an opportunity to fine tune before we begin our quest in February to earn a berth to Rio.

Additional Notes:

• This will be the USA’s sixth match in San Diego and second at Qualcomm, home to the NFL’s San Diego Chargers. The first four were played at Torero Stadium on the campus of the University of San Diego.
• The U.S. Women have never lost in San Diego, but did tie its first match there, 0-0, against Japan on Jan. 12, 2003.
• Ireland has played three matches in its qualifying campaign for the 2017 European Women’s Championship to be held in the Netherlands and sits in fourth place behind Spain, Finland and Portugal, having lost to Finland, 2-0, defeated Portugal 2-1 and fallen to Spain, 3-0.
• The USA is 10-0-0 all-time vs. Ireland, with the most recent meetings being two matches at the end of 2012 as the Americans went on a victory tour to celebrate the Olympic gold medal in London. The USA won 5-0 in Portland, Ore., and 2-0 in Glendale, Ariz. Alex Morgan scored four of the seven goals over the two games.