U.S. Soccer to Host Australia, Brazil & Japan in Seattle, San Diego and LA for 2017 Tournament of Nations
CenturyLink Field (July 27), Qualcomm Stadium (July 30) and StubHub Center (August 3) Will Each Host a Doubleheader
WNT May 10, 2017
CHICAGO (May 10, 2017) – U.S. Soccer will host its second four-team elite international tournament of the year as Australia, Brazil and Japan come to the USA for the Tournament of Nations to be held from July 27-August 3 at three venues along the west coast. The round-robin tournament will feature three doubleheaders. The USA is currently ranked second in the world, Japan is tied for sixth, Australia is eighth and Brazil is ninth.
U.S. Soccer is planning on hosting this tournament every summer during the years that do not feature a World Cup or Olympic Games. Next year’s tournament will feature the same four teams.
“It’s fantastic to play another tournament at home against some of the world’s best teams in a year after the world championship cycle, and it shows U.S. Soccer’s continuing dedication to growing the women’s game,” U.S. WNT head coach Jill Ellis said. “These are three talented teams that we haven’t played in a while so we’re looking forward to a summer tournament that will be extremely challenging and valuable for our players and entertaining for the fans.”
How, When, Where Can I Get Tickets?
Tickets for the doubleheaders in San Diego and Los Angeles go on sale to the public Friday, May 19, at 10 a.m. PT through ussoccer.com. For the tournament opener in Seattle, tickets will become available on May 26 at 10 a.m. PT, also through ussoccer.com. Fans looking to purchase by phone should dial 1-800-745-3000 for the events in Seattle and San Diego and 1-888-929-7849 for the doubleheader in the Los Angeles area. Tickets are also available at the CenturyLink Field Northwest Box Office (open Monday-Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Saturday-Sunday, 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.) and at the StubHub Center ticket office (open Monday-Friday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.). [NOTE: Tickets are not sold at Qualcomm Stadium except on the day of the event.]
U.S. Soccer Members receive presale access prior to the general public for all U.S. Soccer controlled matches. If you would like to be included in the presale for the Tournament of Nations and are not already a member, click here to join the membership by Monday, May 15.
To receive notifications directly and for early ticket access, join U.S. Soccer’s social media channels on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or Snapchat.
Girls Fantasy Camp
U.S. Soccer will offer a four-day Girls Fantasy Camp around the match in Los Angeles, running from August 1-4. The camp is open to girls born in 2003, 2004 and 2005. This exclusive opportunity includes training sessions with former Women’s National Team stars at the U.S. Soccer National Training Center, behind-the-scenes access, on-field match tickets, a pre-game stadium tour and field-level access to watch warm-ups, U.S. Soccer training apparel and jersey, hotel accommodations, an honorary one-year membership in the Supporters Circle of the Development Fund, meals and more. The Fantasy Camp is a fundraiser to support the U.S. Soccer Development Fund and includes a special tax-deductible donation. Space is very limited with a roster size comparable to a National Team. For more information and to register, visit the U.S. Soccer Fantasy Camps web page or contact fantasycamp@ussoccer.org
USA vs. Australia
The USA is 25-0-2 all-time against the Matildas, who made it to the quarterfinal of the Women’s World Cup before falling 1-0 to Japan. Australia also made to the quarterfinal of the 2016 Olympic tournament, but fell to Brazil in a penalty kick shootout that went eight players deep.
Becky Sauerbrunn
USA vs. Brazil
The USA is 26-3-5 all-time against Brazil in a series that has featured some epic matches, including the gold medal games of the 2004 and 2008 Olympics, both U.S. wins in overtime, a semifinal loss for the USA at the 2007 FIFA Women’s World Cup and a penalty kick win during the quarterfinal at the 2011 FIFA Women’s World Cup that featured Abby Wambach’s last gasp header in overtime, one of the famous goals in U.S. history.
USA vs. Japan
The USA has a record of 26-1-7 against Japan with just 11 of those games have taken place on U.S. soil. The USA is 7-0-4 against Japan in the United States. The two teams have met in some of the most exciting matches ever player in women’s soccer including the last three of four World Championship Finals.
Match Preview
USA vs. Japan Through the Years
A World Class Rivalry
2017 Tournament of Nations Schedule
Date
Matches
Stadium
City
Kickoff
TV
July 27
Brazil vs. Japan
CenturyLink Field
Seattle, Wash.
4:15 p.m. PT
July 27
USA vs. Australia
CenturyLink Field
Seattle, Wash.
7 p.m. PT
ESPN
July 30
Japan vs. Australia
Qualcomm Stadium
San Diego, Calif.
2:15 p.m. PT
July 30
USA vs. Brazil
Qualcomm Stadium
San Diego, Calif.
5 p.m. PT
ESPN2
Aug. 3
Australia vs. Brazil
StubHub Center
Carson, Calif.
4:15 p.m. PT
Aug. 3
USA vs. Japan
StubHub Center
Carson, Calif.
7 p.m. PT
ESPN2
Tournament Format
The winner of the tournament will be based on total points (three for a win, one for a tie), with the first tie-breaker being overall goal difference, followed by most total tournament goals scored, then head-to-head result and lastly, FIFA Ranking if necessary.
Integrity in football campaigner Moya Dodd has lost her place on FIFA.
The former Matilda and leading global advocate for the women’s game was beaten in a ballot 27 to 17 by Bangladeshi, Mahfuza Ahkter, at the Asian Football Confederation Congress on Monday.
Dodd was a co-opted member of FIFA’s old executive committee and Australia’s most powerful voice on the governing body. Two other candidates for the protected seat for Asian women withdrew before the vote.
The 52-year-old was contesting a spot on the rebranded FIFA Council.
Prior to the ballot Dodd spoke about lingering corruption scandals infecting the sport’s global governance.
“We have to accept that it’s a work in progress to bring football to the level of integrity that we want it to be, and while we continue to have these controversies, our reputation will suffer,” Dodd told the Associated Press.
”The view of football from the fans, the stakeholders, the sponsors etc. will also suffer.”
On the subject of women’s football, she added: “I think we’ve seen how important it is for there to be a diversity of voices at the top table of FIFA.
“When I joined, there had only been one (woman on the executive committee), there were then three and two of us couldn’t vote and I’d think when you look back you’d have to say that we did make a difference.
“Our voices were heard, it was part of a change in culture in FIFA and you saw in the reforms (that) women in football was a key tenet of the reforms and it’s a key priority of FIFA going forward.”
Football West is conducting a comprehensive study into the demographics of participants and their satisfaction with football in Western Australia. Results of the study will help shape the future of the game.
Female football participants are an important part of the game and your responses will be invaluable to the future of WA football.
As Women’s Development Manager at Football West, I invite you to be involved in this project by filling out the football player survey or the parent of a junior player survey.
You can also fill out any other surveys that apply to you, such as the overall satisfaction survey and the football fan survey. The more responses you provide, the more impact your voice will have.
Your responses will remain anonymous but will be invaluable to the future of WA football.
If you have any questions about the survey, please email media@footballwest.com.au with the word “SURVEY” in the subject field.
Kind Regards
Sam Watkins
Football West | Women’s Development Manager
Thank you, Eldon Abrahams from the WA State Futsal Centre, Bibra Lake, for the support you have given to our players and for providing the Black Swans alternate (red) strip while the teams were away at The World Masters Games New Zealand. Your support was very much appreciated.
Standing in the spotlight, camera lenses pointed in her direction, flashes firing, Sam Kerr grasped a bronzed medallion that carried the weighted of a storied name with a storied history of winners.
Julie Murray, Joanne Peters, Heather Garriock, Lisa De Vanna, Sally Shipard; this was the night that a once precocious teenager officially fulfilled her promise.
“I’ve never really won a major individual award,” said Kerr.
“Obviously this is the highest achievement so it’s a massive honour and I think something I will look back on when I am older and be very proud of.”
Julie Dolan Medalists reunion: Lisa De Vanna, Sam Kerr, Heather Garriock (Photo: Ann Odong)
For nearly a decade, Sam Kerr has been one of the most entertaining and dangerous players in the W-League – in Australian football.
Since bursting onto the scene as a 15 year old – still holding the record for the youngest W-League goal scorer – the pacy winger’s game has matured and developed over time to make her a crucial part of whichever team she lines up for.
Time has also brought consistency with the 2016/17 W-League season arguably her best, resulting in the West Australian earning acclaim from the FFA, media and fans alike.
Darkest before dawn
Kerr’s performances are even more noteworthy when you consider it almost didn’t happen.
“If you had asked me a year ago if I thought I would be playing this year, I probably would have said no,” she stated.
“I was ready to hang the boots up because I wasn’t coping mentally.”
It was the third serious injury in her career following a knee reconstruction in 2011 and subsequent knee injury in 2014.
While she had successfully returned from the previous setbacks, this time the long layoff mentally played havoc with the Glory captain.
“I’d played 6 months of football in two years,” she said. “It wasn’t worth it really for me to be that down off the field when I wasn’t really playing any football.”
“I remember last year Staj [Matildas coach Alen Stajcic] was giving me all the time I needed and being very understanding but my foot didn’t ever feel like it was getting better.”
Present at the ceremony to recognise her daughter, Kerr’s mother Roxanne played an important role in her daughter’s mental health – especially while she was thousands of miles from home in the United States.
“I had many conversations with my Mum about giving it up. Obviously it’s very tough because people want you to stay around.”
“It was a bit of a rocky patch and when you haven’t played in 9 months, you kind of doubt your ability and you doubt if it’s really worth it.”
“I really thought about it but I finally got the pain out of my foot and then things started to look up.”
Roxanne Kerr and Sam Kerr (Photo: Ann Odong)
Pain free, the 23 year old finally saw glimpses of light at the end of what had been a dark tunnel. That ray was the Rio 2016 Olympics but there was still one hurdle to overcome.
“Staj gave me an ultimatum,” she remembered. “I had to play 30 minutes to get picked in the Olympics.”
Kerr’s return to football occurred 222 days after first rupturing her foot ligament and it was a return that provided further clarity about her relationship with football.
“I went on [for Sky Blue FC] and with my first touch I scored a volley. It was meant to be I think,” she laughed.
“That was my sign that I was meant to keep playing and that kind of just sparked the fire again.”
“When you make it back, you know what it was worth.”
Re-capturing passion
Named captain of her hometown club in 2015, Kerr had little time to acclimatise to the role before it was all halted by that career threatening injury.
Returning to Perth Glory for the 2016/17 season, there was some trepidation after lows of being sidelined for months and the highs of the Rio 2016 Olympics campaign.
However what she found in Glory, and in 2016/17 Coach of the Year Bobby Despotovski, was freedom rather than pressure and expectation.
“Bobby let me play freely and made me realise why I loved the game and why I started playing it in the first place,” said Kerr.
“That’s why I was so grateful for my teammates at Glory this year. They really picked me out of that hole and made me find my love for the game again.”
Kerr and Perth Glory teammates (L-R) Sarah Carroll, Rosie Sutton, Natasha Rigby and Melissa Maizels (Photo: Ann Odong)
Throughout the season Kerr’s high regard for her teammates was palpable. While she continued to receive praise week after week, the captain regularly diverted attention to her teammates.
It was no different on the night of her greatest individual recognition with Kerr paying tribute to her team.
“It is a reward for our team,” she stated emphatically. “We put in lots of work this year.”
“Honestly everyone in our team deserves a little bit of this medal because I think we worked above and beyond, and finished above and beyond where we probably should have on paper.”
“It is a credit to our team and I am very proud to be a part of the team.”
After the trials of the past two and half years, Kerr’s plans for the future are understandably relatively simple.
“For the next year its just to keep fit. Stay healthy. That’s my main priority and then hopefully good form will follow.”
“My main priority is America and then W-League and Asian Cup next year.”
THE W-League will take baby steps towards professionalism this season, with a new pay deal confirming that all players are recompensed for the first time. Australia’s national women’s soccer league has been criticised for using amateur players without paying them.
In an era of growing prominence and respect for women’s sport, it was an untenable position and will end in the 2016/17 competition, which starts in a fortnight.
Amateur players will now receive an allowance in line with male National Youth League (NYL) and state competitions – between $60 and $150 a week. Professional Footballers Australia (PFA) chief John Didulica said the move wasn’t going to turn national league players into professionals overnight, but it was something.
“Symbolically it’s important to recognise the sacrifices W-League players make, so the small step forward of having a safety net on par with NYL players is a move in the right direction,” he said.
Melbourne City players celebrate scoring against Sydney FC in last season’s W-League grand final.
“The big challenge for the sport is to build a cohesive and expanded professional pathway that will enable international success and the W-League to be the jewel in the crown of women’s sport.” League bosses and PFA will attempt to do just that in the coming weeks, when they begin broad-ranging talks on growing and strengthening the competition. Improved pay is seen as crucial to continuing the success of the national team, the Matildas, by ensuring a strong talent pool of players available for selection.
Cricket and netball have vastly improved wages to their female athletes in recent months, with the forthcoming AFL women’s league bringing more competition for elite talent.
W-League clubs have been heavily encouraged by head office to spend more of their salary allowance – set at a minimum of $35,000 and a maximum of $150,000 – on players.
By comparison, A-League clubs are obliged to spend at least $2.34 million on their squads – 67 times more than their female counterparts. Melbourne City and Canberra United are the only two W-League clubs which hit or near the maximum spend.
Two-time champions Brisbane Roar drew ire for offering their players improved deals for this season – then flirted with a 40 per cent reduction – only to honour their wage rises.
The league kicks off on November 5 when Brisbane Roar host Sydney FC.
Football West is conducting a comprehensive study into the demographics of participants and their satisfaction with football in Western Australia. Results of the study will help shape the future of the game.
Female football participants are an important part of the game and your responses will be invaluable to the future of WA football.
As Women’s Development Manager at Football West, I invite you to be involved in this project by filling out the football player survey or the parent of junior football player survey.
You can also fill out any other surveys that apply to you, such as the overall satisfaction survey and the football fan survey. The more responses you provide, the more impact your voice will have.
Your responses will remain anonymous but will be invaluable to the future of WA football.
If you have any questions about the survey, please email media@footballwest.com.au with the word “SURVEY” in the subject field.
Kind Regards
Sam Watkins
Football West | Women’s Development Manager
PO Box 214, Maylands WA 6931 | Unit 94, 262 Lord Street, Perth WA 6000
T | 08 6181 0700
WA teams competing in the World Masters Games will battle it out in play-off matches after being eliminated from the finals series in Auckland, New Zealand.
With teams from as far as USA, Canada, Brasil and United Kingdom, the tournament has been a fantastic football experience for all WA representative teams.
The WA Black Swans in the Women’s Over 40s age group made the quarter-finals after going undefeated in the group stage with three wins and two losses, finishing two points clear on top of the ladder.
In the knock-out stage the Black Swans were eliminated in their quarter-final match losing 3-1 on penalties to Canadian side T-Birds Alumni.
The WA Black Swans in the Women’s Over 50s age group finished second on the ladder after the group stage on eight points with two wins and two draws. The 50+ team was also eliminated in the quarter-finals being undone by eventual finalists the Breakaways represented from USA.
Other competing teams from WA included Kwinana United in the Men’s Over 40s category and Perth United in the Women’s Over 40s.
Perth United finished second in their group however were beaten in their quarter-final match up 1-0 against WAM also representing USA.
Kwinana United’s tournament came to an end in the same round of the knock-out stage with a 6-0 loss to Brasilian representative team Laranja MecAcnica do Brasil.
All the WA teams will continue to compete on Saturday, April 29 in the remaining play-off games with the final of each age group scheduled for Sunday.
Katarina Jukic scored a double as Queens Park recorded a dominant victory against East Fremantle, continuing their unbeaten start to the season.
Queens Park coach Ben Anderton was pleased that his side had used their pre-season momentum in the fixture.
“We were in the right places at the right times, unfortunately we weren’t as clinical as we had been in the past.
“All I ask from the girls is to run non-stop, 90 minutes, just keep running and put them under pressure.”
Queens Park got off to a fast start early, utilising the wings to put East Fremantle under pressure.
East Fremantle goalkeeper Leniana Masibaka missed a chance to clear a Tia Stevehill cross in the 8th minute, allowing Jukic to open the scoring.
Jukic went close again in the 36th minute, but her shot was saved by Masibaka. Stevehill gathered the rebound, but only managed to hit the side netting with the follow up shot.
East Fremantle’s troubles with the aerial ball continued. A Queen’s park free kick bounced awkwardly and landed at the feet of Jukic who rattled her shot against the bar.
Five minutes into the second half, Jukic took her season tally to five goals, latching onto a corner at the back post to double Queens Park’s advantage.
Queens Park continued to dominate and won a free kick in a promising position as Stevehill went close, her curling effort tipped over the bar by Masibaka.
Despite the loss, East Fremantle assistant coach Luke Nezi was proud of his side’s performance.
“Today we played really well, we’re playing the top side in the league, a very organised team.
“Our players were getting a little bit tired towards the end, we need to work on our fitness, but it’s early in the season.”
The victory takes Queens Park to the top of the table with six points from two games while East Fremantle remains winless.
A free service to promote women's soccer in WA at grass roots level. Contact Penny on 0408 921 832 or socceron@womensoccer.com.au at any time for up-to-date news and information. Refer to Club Noticeboard for player, team and club news.
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World Football Programme
You can now hear THREE (yes, 3) hours of The World Football Programme every Saturday throughout the year on 107.9FM thanks to sponsors of the programme and Radio Fremantle.
Penny is looking for historical photos and information about your club and women's soccer in WA up to 2005, for a second book about the history of women's soccer in WA.
A free service to promote women's soccer in WA at grass roots level. Contact Penny on 0408 921 832 or socceron@womensoccer.com.au at any time for up-to-date news and information. Refer to Club Noticeboard for player, team and club news.
