Guess Who's Coming to Town?
USA! USA! USA! This will most likely be one of the various chants heard in and around Busch Stadium when the US Women’s National Team takes on New Zealand this Saturday, April 4th. The team has been traveling all around Europe to play against other national teams to help prepare themselves for the upcoming World Cup. This match against the “Kiwis” begins a four-game run-up to the 2015 Women’s World Cup, which includes three Send-Off series games in May. Head coach Jill Ellis had recently named the 25-player roster that will train in Los Angeles for a week before traveling on to St. Louis for the USA”s first domestic match of the year against New Zealand. The roster included the same 25 players who went to Portugal earlier this month, who helped the USA win and bring home the 2015 Algarve Cup, which happens to be the program’s 10th title at this prestigious annual tournament. We’re sure some of the fan favorites, like Alex Morgan, Abby Wambach, Hope Solo, and Tobin Heath, will be in attendance and we’re all excited to see what the US Women’s National Team holds in store for us. Believe it or not, there are also two St. Louis natives on the roster as well (Becky Sauerbrunn and Lori Chalupny)!
Kick off for the US vs. New Zealand starts at 2.30 pm and will be shown live on FOX Sports 1. There have also been more than 31,000 tickets sold already for this game and bunch of students here in Mascoutah High School have been lucky enough to purchase a few, including myself. Freshman Tehya Wise is quoted as saying “ Well it’s USA vs. New Zealand so I think it’s going to be a good game. I’m super excited for it and I feel like USA is going to win.” Emily Smith, a junior, also said, “ I think it’s really neat to have a national soccer team come and play in St. Louis. It will be a great opportunity to see the players who will represent the USA in the upcoming World Cup. Also, great players are going to play (such as: Alex Morgan and Abby Wambach) and it will be very neat to see them play as well.”
The final stretch to the World Cup has just begun and after the team plays here in Saint Louis, they will be attending three other “send off games” in the United States and start their journey to bring home the World Cup. The WC will be hosted by our friends up north, Canada, this year and starts June 6th (be sure to tune in to support!) and continues on until July 5th.
So whether or not you’re physically going to the game this Saturday, you can still catch it on TV and support the Women’s National Team in one way or another! Be sure to check them out during their pre-World Cup matches here in the US of A and over the summer while they play in the 2015 World Cup!