USWNT to play Costa Rica in final Olympic send-off match July 22
CHICAGO (Via U.S. Soccer) – The U.S. Women’s National Team will face Costa Rica at Children’s Mercy Park on July 22 in Kansas City, Kansas, in the final game before the squad departs for the 2016 Olympics in Brazil. The match will kick-off at 8 p.m. CT and will be broadcast on ESPN.
In its other July send-off match, the USA will face South Africa on July 9 at Soldier Field in Chicago (Noon CT on FS1).
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At the 2016 Olympics, the USA will face New Zealand (Aug. 3), France (Aug. 6) and Colombia (Aug. 9) in Group G play.
“We will have named our final roster by the time we get to this match so it will be a great opportunity to get the Olympic team together and have one final tune up before departing for Brazil,” said U.S. head coach Jill Ellis. “It was important for us to play a final game at home and Kansas City will no doubt give us a fantastic send off.”
Additional Notes:
- The USA is 12-0-1 in 2016 heading into its final two matches before the Olympics, having scored 47 goals and allowed four.
- The match against South Africa will be the first meeting between the two countries in women’s international play and also just the second African country the USA has faced in its history. The Americans have played Nigeria four times, all in World Cup or Olympic competition.
- The USA has faced Costa Rica more times than any other CONCACAF foe besides Canada and Mexico. The USA is 13-0-0 all-time against Costa Rica, with the most recent match occurring in the opening game of 2016 Olympic Qualifying, a 5-0 victory in Frisco, Texas on Feb. 10 of this year.
- This will be the third match for the U.S. Women in Kansas, with the team playing at Children’s Mercy Park (formerly Sporting Park and home to MLS club Sporting Kansas City) in September of 2011 against Canada (1-1 T) and in October of 2014 against Trinidad & Tobago (1-0 W) in Women’s World Cup qualifying.
- The USA has played four times on the other side of the Kansas-Missouri border at Arrowhead Stadium, winning twice and tying twice, but has not played there since 2004.
