As their final warm up before heading out to Brazil for the 2016 Rio Olympics, the U.S. Women’s National Team will be facing the Costa Rica Women’s National Team this weekend. With the final roster all set, it’ll be a match of fine tuning and small tweaks for the home side as they focus on winning gold come August.
Costa Rica’s gaining experience
Just barely being edged out of qualifying for this summer’s tournament, Costa Rica finished third in the 2016 CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying Tournament earlier this year. This match for this will mainly be about gaining more experience as they face off against the number one team in the world. Costa Rica is becoming one of the stronger teams out of CONCACAF, and are continuing to develop their talent.
Their squad features the faces of Captain Shirley Cruz and 2015 breakout Raquel Rodriguez. Cruz plays at Paris Saint Germain in France, and has 21 goals in 61 appearances for her national team. Rodriguez burst onto the scene last summer at the 2015 Women’s World Cup. Following her world performance, she went on to win the 2015 NCAA Women’s Soccer Championship with Penn State as a senior. The 22-year-old currently plays in the NWSL, where she was drafted second overall by Sky Blue FC. With these two attacking players, they’ll be sure to test America’s backline a few times.
United States strong and steady
Coach Jill Ellis’ 18-woman roster is filled with a balance of experience and youth. New leaders will continue emerge this summer with the faces of Abby Wambach and Christie Rampone no longer included. Seven players return to the Olympics after winning gold in 2012, and nine hopefuls are working to help the United States be the first team to win a World Cup and Olympics back-to-back. The most notable newcomer to the squad is 18-year-old Mallory Pugh, who made her case all year to Ellis and earned herself a ticket to Rio as one of four forwards.
This match should hopefully also test Carli Lloyd once more after coming off her MCL sprain as well as Megan Rapinoe, who hasn’t played a match since her ACL tear back in December. It’ll important for Ellis to use her six substitutes allowed in this friendly in order to rest expected starters and let others get one more game under their belt before heading out to Brazil. Although letting her expected starters play the majority of the match would be good, it’s important to keep them healthy and at full strength.
Long History between teams
The United States has played Costa Rica the third most out of all other CONCACAF teams, right behind rivals Canada and Mexico. The record stands at 13-0-0 all time against Costa Rica, not having lost a single game against the weaker CONCACAF power. The last time these teams faced off, the U.S. won 5-0 to kick-off the 2016 Olympic Qualifying Tournament on February 10 in Frisco, TX.
The two teams are set to face off Friday, July 22 at Children’s Mercy Park in Kansas City. Kick off is at 8 pm Central Time.