Thursday, November 21, 2013

U.S. WOMEN'S NATIONAL TEAM WILL OPEN 2014 SCHEDULE ON JAN. 31 AGAINST CANADA AT TOYOTA STADIUM IN FRISCO, TEXAS

CHICAGO (Nov. 21, 2013) - The U.S. Women's National Team will open its 2014 schedule with a match against Canada on Jan. 31, at Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas, home to FC Dallas of Major League Soccer. The match will kick off at 8 p.m. CT and will be broadcast on FOX Sports 1.

Ticket information for the match will be announced at a later date.

The USA and Canada met once this year, a 3-0 victory for the Americans in front of a sold-out crowd at BMO Field in Toronto that saw Alex Morgan score twice and Sydney Leroux add a clincher.

"It's great to start the year with a game that is going to be a real test for us and a game that is always highly competitive," said U.S. head coach Tom Sermanni. "It's a friendly game, but one that's meaningful for both teams, and it's an excellent first match in a year that will end with World Cup qualifying. In 2014, it will be important to play as many quality opponents as possible."

This will be the third appearance for the U.S. Women at Toyota Stadium, and the second match there against Canada. The USA last played in Frisco on Feb. 11, 2012, in front of 20,677 fans that braved near-freezing temperatures to see Morgan score two late goals to pull out a 2-1 victory against New Zealand. The USA also played there in May 2007 in 6-2 victory over Canada.

The match should once again showcase the world's top two active goal scorers in Abby Wambach of the USA, who sits on 163 career goals, and Christine Sinclair of Canada, who has found the net 146 times.

Additional Notes:
The USA has an all-time record of 46-3-5 against Canada.
The two countries have faced each other in the last two Olympics, a 2-1 quarterfinal win for the USA in 2008 and a dramatic 4-3 semifinal triumph in overtime for the Americans in 2012.
The U.S. team is ranked No. 1 in the latest FIFA Women's World Rankings while Canada is No 7.
The USA finished 2013 with an unbeaten record of 13-0-3 and scored 56 goals while allowing 11.
This will be the USA's 10th all-time match in Texas where it holds a 9-0-0 record.

The USA's first appearance in Texas was a 9-1 win against Canada on May 19, 1995, at Franklin Field in Dallas and drew 6,145 fans, which was at the time the second-largest crowd ever to watch the U.S. team in the United States.

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