USWNT continues Olympics prep with friendlies vs. Colombia

USA vs. Colombia
International Friendly
Pratt & Whitney Stadium; East Hartford, Conn.
April 6, 2016 (7 p.m. ET on FS1)

(Via U.S. Soccer) – After winning two tournaments early in the year – taking the title at the CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying Tournament in February and the SheBelieves Cup in March, the USA will now start a run of friendly matches before participating in the 2016 Olympics in Brazil.

The USA is coming off three stellar results at the SheBelieves Cup, defeating England 1-0 on March 3 with a spectacular late goal from Crystal Dunn, downing France 1-0 in stoppage time on March 6 off a brilliant pass from Mallory Pugh to Alex Morgan, who finished with class in the first minute of stoppage time, and then coming from behind to defeat Germany, 2-1 , in a match it had to win to take the tournament title. The USA now faces another team that had some success last summer at the Women’s World Cup, facing Colombia twice in the first meeting since the countries squared off in the Round of 16 in Canada. The first game will take place on April 6 at Pratt & Whitney Stadium in East Hartford, Conn. (7 p.m. ET on FS1) followed by a rematch four days later on April 10 at Talen Energy Stadium in Chester, Pa. (2 p.m. ET on FS1), in the second of two matches against the up-and-coming South American side.

The U.S. team trained in Orlando, Fla. with 23 players for six days prior to coming to Connecticut, but U.S. head coach Jill Ellis will name 18 to suit up for both matches. The match in Chester is sold out while more than 20,000 tickets have been sold for the game in East Hartford.

+Read: U.S. U-17 WNT heads to Carson, Calif. for training camp

U.S. Women’s National Team Roster by Position

GOALKEEPERS (3): 18-Ashlyn Harris (Orlando Pride), 21-Alyssa Naeher (Chicago Red Stars), 1-Hope Solo (Seattle Reign FC)
DEFENDERS (8): 6-Whitney Engen (Boston Breakers), 19-Jaelene Hinkle (Western NY Flash), 8-Julie Johnston (Chicago Red Stars), 7-Meghan Klingenberg (Portland Thorns FC), 11-Ali Krieger(Washington Spirit), 5-Kelley O’Hara (Sky Blue FC), 4- Becky Sauerbrunn (FC Kansas City), 6-Emily Sonnett (Portland Thorns FC)
MIDFIELDERS (7): 14-Morgan Brian (Houston Dash), 17-Tobin Heath (Portland Thorns FC), 20-Lindsey Horan (Portland Thorns FC), 10-Carli Lloyd (Houston Dash), 23-Allie Long (Portland Thorns FC), 3-Samantha Mewis (Western NY Flash), 9- Heather O’Reilly (FC Kansas City)
FORWARDS (5): 16-Crystal Dunn (Washington Spirit), 13-Alex Morgan (Orlando Pride), 12-Christen Press (Chicago Red Stars); 2-Mallory Pugh (Real Colorado); 22- Ashley Sanchez (So Cal Blues)

• 2016 U.S. WNT SCHEDULE/RESULTS

12 NATIONS SET FOR BRAZIL: The field for the 12-team Olympic Football Tournament is set and it’s a strong one: the USA and Canada from CONCACAF; Brazil and Colombia from South America; South Africa and Zimbabwe from Africa; New Zealand from Oceania; France, Germany and Sweden from Europe; and Australia and China PR from Asia. Japan and Nigeria, both regular participants in world championships, failed to qualify. The Final Draw for the Olympic Tournaments will be held onApril 14 in Rio de Janeiro and the teams will find out their opponents and venues. With three groups in the women’s tournament and Brazil slated to be in Group E and based in Rio for the first two games, the USA, which will likely be one of three seed teams, will either be in Group F, which plays its first two group games in Sao Paulo and third in Salvador or Brasilia, or Group G, which plays its first two games in Belo Horizonte and its third in Manaus or Salvador.

ROSTER BREAKDOWN: Of the 23 players named to the roster for the Colombia friendlies, 19 were on the qualifying squad that earned a spot in the 2016 Olympics and 21 were a part of the SheBelieves Cup-winning side. 2015 Women’s World Cup champions Whitney Engen and Heather O’Reilly, who with 228 caps is the most experienced player on the U.S. roster, were not on the Olympic qualifying roster but were recalled for the SheBelieves Cup. For the April matches, Ellis has added Portland Thorns FC midfielder Allie Long, who earned four caps with the WNT in 2014, as well as 17-year-old Ashley Sanchez, the captain of the U.S. Under-17 Women’s National Team. Sanchez recently helped lead the USA to a berth in the 2016 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup at the CONCACAF U-17 Women’s Championship in Grenada.

PUGH MAKES JUMP TO SENIOR SIDE: Mallory Pugh, who will turn 18 on April 29, achieved a rare feat (along with Ashley Sanchez) of helping two different teams qualify for a world championship in the same cycle. Last December, she captained the U.S. Under-20 Women’s National Team to a 2016 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup berth and the CONCACAF title at the qualifying tournament in Honduras. Pugh was called up by Jill Ellis for the USA’s January training camp this year, making her one of the youngest field players called into the full U.S. WNT in the past 15 years. She does have extensive experience with the USA’s Youth National Teams, having been a starter at the age of 16 in the 2014 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup in Canada. Pugh, who will compete in the U-20 Women’s World Cup in Papua New Guinea at the end of the year, scored in her senior team debut (the 19th U.S. WNT player to score in her first cap) on Jan. 23 vs. Ireland at 17 years, 8 months and 25 days old, becoming the youngest player to debut for the U.S. in the last 11 years. Pugh earned her second cap with the WNT on Feb. 10, coming on for Crystal Dunn in the 68th minute against Costa Rica in her first Olympic qualifying match and thus became the youngest female player in WNT history to play in an Olympic qualifier match at 17 years, 9 months and 12 days old. She earned her third cap against Mexico when she played the last 16 minutes and was on the field for the winning goal. She got her first career start against Puerto Rico on Feb. 15 and picked up her first WNT assist while creating a PR own goal. She also got starts in the semifinal victory against Trinidad & Tobago and championship game victory against Canada, picking up assists in both games on Tobin Heath goals. With her starts against England on March 3 and France on March 6, she started five consecutive games, and picked up the huge assist on Alex Morgan’s goal against France to create the game-winner. She came off the bench to play the last 30 minutes against Germany to finish the SheBelieves Cup. Pugh signed a letter of intent on Feb. 3 to play at UCLA starting fall 2016.

U.S. TEAM AND ROSTER NOTES

• The USA is 9-0-0 in 2016, having scored 32 goals while allowing one.
• Hope Solo has earned wins in eight of those games with seven shutouts. Alyssa Naeher has the other win.
• Christen Press became the 18th player to score 30 or more goals for the U.S. WNT when she tallied against Costa Rica on Feb. 10. She now has 31 in 64 games giving her an average of scoring a goal for almost every two games she plays (0.48 goals per game).
• Against Canada on Feb. 21 in the championship game of the Olympic Qualifying tournament, U.S. co-captain Becky Sauerbrunn became the 35th U.S. female player to hit 100 caps. She also picked up the third assist of her career, lofting a perfect pass to Lindsey Horan to score off a header.
• On Jan. 23, Alex Morgan became the 34th female player in U.S. history to play 100 times for her country, and she scored her 57th goal. Morgan debuted for the USA on Oct. 2, 2010, vs. China. Morgan has an even better average that Press scoring 0.59 goals per game in her international career. She now has 64 in 108 caps.
• Morgan’s goal 12 seconds into the match against Costa Rica on Feb. 10 was the earliest in U.S. WNT history. She also scored the latest goal in U.S. history, tallying after 122 and 22 seconds against Canada in the semifinal of the 2012 Olympics. It was also the quickest in CONCACAF qualifying history, besting Abby Wambach (35 seconds vs. Dominican Republic on Jan. 20, 2012).
• Morgan scored three goals in the Olympic Qualifying semifinal match against Trinidad & Tobago on Feb. 19. It was her third career hat trick and the first since Nov. 28, 2012 against Ireland.
• Carli Lloyd and Morgan have combined for five goals in 2016 with one providing the assist and the other the goal.
• Tobin Heath’s two goals in the Olympic Qualifying tournament were her first since the Women’s World Cup Final and were remarkably similar, both coming off spinning left-footed blasts after making runs into the box from the right side. Both were also off excellent and similar passes from Pugh who had made dynamic runs down the left side. Heath now has 14 international goals.
• Crystal Dunn, who was among the final 25 players vying for Women’s World Cup spots before the roster was trimmed to the 23 that represented the USA in Canada, returned to the team for the final seven games of the 2015 Victory Tour and started them all, scoring four goals with three assists. Since returning to the team on the Victory Tour, Dunn has started 12 games and has scored 11 goals with three assists, in addition to earning a penalty kick against Costa Rica on Feb. 10. The 11 goals of course include her five-goal game on Feb. 15 against Puerto Rico that tied a U.S. record for goals in a match.
• Before the match against Puerto Rico, Dunn had scored five goals for the U.S. WNT. She doubled that total vs. Puerto Rico, notching five goals to tie a U.S. record for most goals scored in a match. She became the seventh player to achieve that feat. The other six were: Brandi Chastain, Michelle Akers, Tiffeny Milbrett, Abby Wambach, Amy Rodriguez and Sydney Leroux. It was Dunn’s first multi-goal game for the WNT.
• After earning two caps at the 2013 Algarve Cup, 21-year-old Lindsey Horan got the first three starts of her career at the end of last year, switching positions to holding midfielder where she excelled in the Olympic Qualifying tournament and the SheBelieves Cup. Horan, who was the first American female player to skip college and head overseas to play professionally, left for Europe in July of 2012 after she graduated from high school and spent more than three years in France with Paris Saint-Germain. She scored her first WNT goal against T&T at the end of last year and scored her second to break open a tight match against Canada in the championship of Olympic Qualifying.
• The 23-year old Samantha Mewis made her debut at the 2014 Algarve Cup, played in one match last year and has four caps this year while scoring her first WNT goal during Olympic Qualifying. She scored her second WNT goal, which was the game-winner, in a 2-1 victory against Germany to clinch the SheBelieves Cup title.
• Jaelene Hinkle, 22, earned her first cap on Oct. 21, 2015 against Brazil, coming on at left back and playing well in the last 20 minutes. She has since earned seven more, including four this year, while making one start, but was injured at the end of the Olympic Qualifying tournament and did not play in the SheBelieves Cup.
• Emily Sonnett, 22, earned her first cap on Oct. 25 against Brazil, playing on 90 minutes in the center of the defense, and has since earned seven more caps including four this year with three starts. She played the entire 90 minutes in the opening game of the SheBelieves Cup against England.
• Six players on the roster have played 100 times or more for the USA, led by Heather O’Reilly’s 228 caps. Lloyd has 220, Hope Solo has 193 followed by Heath’s 114, Morgan with 108 and Becky Sauerbrunn with 103.
• Five players scored their first WNT goals in 2015: Julie Johnston (who got five, including her first against France in the Algarve Cup Final), Kelley O’Hara (on June 30, 2015 against Germany in the Semifinal match of the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup), Horan (on Dec. 10 against T&T), Dunn (on Sept. 17 vs. Haiti) and Stephanie McCaffrey, who scored against Brazil in her debut on Oct. 25. All of Johnston’s goals came off set pieces, with the first three assisted by the now-retired Lauren Holiday and one each by Megan Rapinoe and O’Hara.
• Two players have scored their first WNT goals in 2016: Against Puerto Rico in Olympic Qualifying, Mewis scored her first goal at the senior international level to become the second player to score her first goal in 2016, notching the 10th and final goal in stoppage time. Her older sister Kristie has one international goal for the USA. Pugh became the first player to score her first goal in 2016 for the WNT when she scored in her debut on Jan. 23vs. Ireland.
• Of the 23 field players roster, five players do not have an international goal, defenders Emily Sonnett, Becky Sauerbrunn and Jaelene Hinkle, midfielder Allie Long and uncapped forward Ashley Sanchez.
• Lloyd’s 18 goals in 2015 were a career high for her in a calendar year and eight more than her closest teammate Press, who had 10. With seven goals in the first nine games, Lloyd is tied for second on team with Dunn early on behind Alex Morgan’s eight scores.
• Lloyd has scored 23 goals in the USA’s last 22 matches starting with the Round of 16 game at the WWC, 22 of them coming while playing in a withdrawn forward position.

IN THE RECORD BOOKS

• Carli Lloyd is the 10th woman in U.S. history to reach 200 caps, achieving the feat at the WWC quarterfinal match against China PR on June 26. She is the third active player to reach that mark and 10th overall American. Christie Rampone and Heather O’Reilly are the other two. She also became the third player in U.S. history to score in her 200th appearance. Wambach and O’Reilly are the other two.
• Lloyd is the highest active goal scorer in U.S. history with the players ahead of her, Mia Hamm, Abby Wambach, Kristine Lilly, Tiffeny Milbrett and Michelle Akers all retired.
• Lloyd is in eighth place on the USA’s all-time caps with 220.
• Lloyd is in sixth place on the U.S. WNT’s all-time goal scoring list. Lloyd, now with 86 goals, is the highest-scoring midfielder in U.S. history even though she has scored 22 of her last 23 goals playing as more of a withdrawn forward. She scored from the penalty spot while playing center-midfield against Puerto Rico on Feb. 15.
• Hope Solo recorded her 89th career shutout against Germany in the semifinal of the WWC. It was the fifth straight World Cup clean sheet for the USA, and Solo’s 10th in World Cup play, tying the record for most by a U.S. goalkeeper and most in World Cup play with Brianna Scurry. She earned her 97th shutout against France on March 6 and is three away from becoming the first goalkeeper in U.S. history to hit 100.
• Solo earned her 177th cap against Japan in the World Cup Final on July 5. With 193 caps, she is the leader for caps by a goalkeeper in U.S. history and is seven away from becoming the first goalkeeper in U.S. and world history to hit 200 caps. Briana Scurry earned 173 caps in her career (1994-2008).
• Solo has the most starts by a WNT goalkeeper with 186 and in 8th place on the on the WNT’s all-time starts behind Lloyd, who has moved into seventh place, passing Kate Markgraf, with 190.
• Solo has 147 goalkeeper wins and is the all-time leader in wins for a goalkeeper in U.S. history. Brian Scurry had 133 during her career (1994-2008).
• With her game-winning goal against England on Feb. 13, 2015, Morgan became the 10th player in U.S. history to score 50 or more goals. She now has 64 and is in eighth place on the USA’s all-time goal scoring list. Next up for Morgan is Cindy Parlow’s 75 career goals.
• Against France on March 6, Morgan Brian earned her 50th cap at the young age of 23. She became the 52nd female player in U.S. history to reach 50 caps. She currently has 51.
• Against France on March 6, Kelley O’Hara hit 75 caps, making her the 40th U.S. female player to hit that mark. With her 76th cap on March 9 vs. Germany, she moved past Sydney Leroux into 39th on the all-time caps list.
• The USA continues to break city and state attendance marks. The crowd of 25,363 in Nashville for USA-France set a new record for a U.S. WNT match in the state of Tennessee, breaking the previous mark of 21,535 that watched the USA play Costa Rica in Chattanooga on August 19, 2015. The 13,027 fans that came out to watch the USA play England on a weekday during the SheBelieves Cup set a record for a crowd to watch the team in Tampa. The 13,501 fans to come out, also on a weekday, to watch the USA beat Germany in the SheBelieves Cup was also a record to watch the WNT in Boca Raton, Fla.

BY THE NUMBERS

0.11 Goals per game the USA allowed in 2016
1 Numbers of players that made their WNT debut in 2016 (Pugh)
1 USA’s FIFA ranking
4 Number of players that made their WNT debut in 2015 (Hinkle, Lewandowski, Sonnett, McCaffrey)
3.56 Goals per game the USA scored in 2015
5 Number of goals in 2016 that have featured a goal and an assist to each other from Lloyd or Morgan
9 Number of different U.S. players to score a goal in 2016
14 Goals Carli Lloyd needs to reach 100
18 Players that will make the Olympic roster
97 Shutouts by Hope Solo, an all-time U.S. WNT record
99 Minutes on the field per goal averaged by Abby Wambach in her career
104 Minutes on the field per goal averaged by Alex Morgan in her career
130 Minutes on the field per goal averaged by Mia Hamm in her career

USA IN NWSL: Withthe 2016 NWSL set to kick off on April 16, following are the 2015 NWSL regular season statistics of the U.S. players on this roster. The NWSL players are coming off a short training stint with their NWSL teams during pre-season and will return to their clubs after these games to kick-off the historic fourth season of the league. The members of the Women’s World Cup Team missed quite a few games due to National Team commitments over the 2015 seasons and several players also missed some games due to injury. Christen Press was the top scorer in the league of the WWC players, tallying 10 times in 10 games. After not making the WWC Team, Crystal Dunn took advantage of the increased opportunities with her club to lead the NWSL in scoring with 15 goals (along with three assists) while starting in 19 of the Washington Spirit’s 20 games and winning the league MVP. She doubled the number of shots of her next closest teammate, firing 84, which led the league. She also led the NWSL in shots on goal with 48.

2015 NWSL Regular Season Statistics Field Players

2015 NWSL Regular Season Statistics Goalkeepers

AND THE WINNER IS: Current U.S. WNT players that won 2015 NWSL post-season awards are Crystal Dunn (Golden Boot and MVP), Defender of the Year Becky Sauerbrunn, and NWSL Best XI members Julie Johnston, Sauerbrunn, Dunn and Press. U.S. WNT players that made the NWSL Second XI are Lauren Holiday, Carli Lloyd and Megan Rapinoe.

FOUR SCORE AND HEADED FOR RIO: The USA’s triumph at the 2016 CONCACAF Women’s Olympic Qualifying Championship in which it won all five games by shutouts, and out-scored its opposition 23-0, marked the fourth consecutive time the Americans have won the tournament. In 2012, the USA won the Olympic Qualifying tournament in Vancouver, B.C. (at the same stadium where it would win the Women’s World Cup three years later) and then went on to win the gold medal in London. In 2008, the USA won the tournament in Mexico and went on to win gold in Beijing. In 2004, the U.S. won the tournament in Costa Rica and went on to win gold in Athens, Greece. The U.S. qualified for the 1996 Atlanta Games as host and for the 2000 Sydney Games as a top-7 finisher at the 1999 Women’s World Cup. The WNT remains unbeaten in all-time CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying with an 18-0-1 record.

OLYMPIC QUALIFYING RECAP

• Against Canada on Feb. 21, the U.S. WNT extended its streak to 10 consecutive games in CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying without allowing a goal, dating back to the Final of the 2008 tournament when the U.S. tied Canada 1-1 on April 12, 2008 and went on to win in penalty kicks 6-5.
• Nineteen of the 20 players on the Olympic Qualifying roster saw action with seven players playing in all five games.
• Meghan Klingenberg played the most minutes in Olympic Qualifying with 384 out of 450 while Carli Lloyd played 380 and Alex Morgan played 379. Crystal Dunn led the team with six goals, while Morgan scored five and Carli Lloyd scored four. Morgan Brian and Mallory Pugh shared the team lead in assists over the five games with three each.
• The USA placed eight players on the 2016 CONCACAF Women’s Olympic Qualifying Best XI: Hope Solo, Kelley O’Hara, Becky Sauerbrunn, Lindsey Horan, Brian, Tobin Heath, Morgan and Lloyd.
• Additionally, three players won individual awards as Solo was awarded the Golden Glove, Brian the Golden Ball and Dunn the Golden Boot.
• Eleven players made their Olympic Qualifying this year in Alyssa Naeher, Emily Sonnett, Stephanie McCaffrey, Samantha Mewis, Jaelene Hinkle, Dunn, Horan, Julie Johnston, Pugh, Klingenberg and Christen Press.
• Six players scored the USA’s 23 goals in the tournament: Dunn (6), Morgan (5), Lloyd (4), Heath (2), Press (2), O’Hara (1), Horgan (1) and Mewis (1). The USA benefited from an own goal vs. Puerto Rico.
• The USA scored three goals in a one minute and 56 second span during the second half against Puerto Rico from the 60th to the 62nd minute as Ashley Rivera scored an own goal, Dunn scored and then Press scored. It is believed to be the shortest time in which the U.S. WNT has ever scored three goals.
• Lloyd has scored 12 career goals in Olympic Qualifying, just two short of Abby Wambach’s USWNT record of 14.

JILL ELLIS FACT FILE : After leading the USA to the Women’s World Cup title, U.S. head coach Jill Ellis was rewarded with a multi-year contract extension on Aug. 5, 2015. She is the third U.S. coach – and first female coach — to win a Women’s World Cup at the senior level, following Anson Dorrance (1991) and Tony DiCicco (1999). Ellis was named the 2015 FIFA World Coach of the Year for Women’s Soccer on Jan. 11 at the FIFA Awards Gala in Zurich, Switzerland. She was also named the CONCACAF Female Coach of the Year. Ellis, who previously served two stints as interim head coach of the U.S. WNT, is the eighth official head coach in U.S. history. She coached seven games as interim coach in 2012 (5-0-2) and two games (1-0-1) as interim in 2014 before she officially came on board, which gave her a 6-0-3 record before she ever was formally named the head coach in May of 2014. She has gone 39-3-7 since then for an overall record of 45-3-10. Since taking over as head coach, Ellis has won four tournaments: the 2015 Algarve Cup, the 2015 Women’s World Cup, the 2016 CONCACAF Women’s Olympic Qualifying Championship and the 2016 SheBelieves Cup. When named head coach in 2014, Ellis stepped away from her job as Development Director for the U.S. Women’s National Teams, a job to which she was appointed in January of 2011, but still consults with U.S. Women’s National Team Technical Director April Heinrichs who oversees the USA’s youth teams.

• Prior to becoming head coach, Ellis had extensive experience in the U.S. Women’s National Team programs having served as an assistant coach for the U.S. Women’s National Team under Pia Sundhage, helping the team to a gold medal at the 2008 Olympics. She has served two stints as head coach of the U.S. Under-20 Women’s National Team, guiding the squad to the CONCACAF title in 2010 and to the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup in Germany.
• Ellis also had two stints as the head coach of the U.S. Under-21 Women’s National Team, the second starting in the middle of 2005, after which she guided the team to the Nordic Cup in Sweden. She also coached the U-21s to the Nordic Cup title in Germany in 2000.
• Ellis was a scout for the USA at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, and has served as an assistant coach with the U.S. U-21s and U-16 Girls’ National Teams.
• Ellis joined U.S. Soccer full-time after a highly successful 12-year run as the head women’s soccer coach for the UCLA Bruins. Ellis led UCLA to eight NCAA Final Fours, including seven in a row from 2003-2009, and won six straight conference titles from 2003-2008. She finished her time in Westwood with a record of 229-45-14. Ellis, who was also head coach at the University of Illinois, has an all-time collegiate coaching record of 248-63-14.
• She was the 2000 NSCAA National Coach of the Year after leading the Bruins to the NCAA Final in just her second season as head coach.
• Ellis arrived in Westwood after heading the University of Illinois women’s soccer program for two years. In 1998, she brought the Fighting Illini to a 12-8 record and a first Big Ten Tournament berth. Prior to coaching at Illinois, Ellis served as an assistant coach at the University of Virginia for one year (1996-97), at Maryland for three years (1994-96) and at North Carolina State for another three years (1988-90). As an assistant coach at North Carolina State, Ellis helped the Wolfpack secure the 1988 ACC title and an NCAA Final Four appearance.
• A forward during her playing days at the College of William & Mary from 1984-87, Ellis was a Third-Team All-American in 1987. In 1984, Ellis helped Braddock Road in Virginia to the Under-19 club national championship.
• Ellis grew up in Portsmouth, England, and came to the United States in 1981 at the age of 15. She also lived in Singapore for two years while her father helped to develop a national soccer program in that country. She earned her B.A. in English Literature and Composition from the College of William & Mary in 1988 and currently resides in Los Angeles. She has a USSF “A” coaching license.

IN FOCUS: COLOMBIA

FEDERACIÓN COLOMBIANA DE FÚTBOL

FIFA World Ranking: 24
CONMEBOL Ranking: 2
Olympic Appearances: 1 (2012)
Best Olympic Qualifying finish: First Round (2012)
Record vs. USA: 0-3-0
Head Coach: Fabian Taborda

Colombia Women’s National Team Roster by Position:
GOALKEEPERS (2): Paula Forero (Barry University, USA), Catalina Perez (Univ. of Miami, USA)DEFENDERS (2): Natalia Gaitan (Valencia, Spain), Nataly Arias (Atlanta Silverbacks, USA)
MIDFIELDERS (10 ): Isabella Echeverri (University of Toledo, USA), Liana Salazar (Futuro Soccer), Leicy Santos (Club Besser), Diana Ospina (Club Formas Íntimas), Yorely Rincon (Avaldsnes, Norway), Orianica Velasquez (Club Gol Star), Catalina Usme (Club Formas Íntimas), Maria Jaramillo (Western Michigan, USA), Carolina Arbelaez (Club Formas Íntimas) , Mildrey Pineda (Generaciones Palmiranas)
FORWARDS (4): Tatiana Ariza (Houston Aces, USA), Leidy Asprilla (Generaciones Palmiranas), Yisela Cuesta (Club Formas Íntimas), Nicole Regnier (Rayo Vallecano, Spain)

COLOMBIA NOTES:

• Colombia has one player in the NWSL with star Lady Andrade turning out for the Western New York Flash. She played in six games last season with the Flash, starting four, and scored one goal.
• Colombia, ranked 24th in the world and second in South America behind Brazil, put in a fine performance at the World Cup last summer, drawing 1-1 with Mexico, defeating world power France 2-0, and then falling to eventual third-place finisher England by a 2-1 score to complete group play. The four points were enough to earn Colombia a Round of 16 match with the USA and they put up quite a fight against the eventual world champions before bowing out.
• Colombia made its debut at the Women’s Olympic Football Tournament at London 2012, when drawn in a fiercely tough Group G against holders and eventual champions USA, France (who finished fourth) and Korea DPR. And though conceding just six times in three games, despite being up against some of the sport’s most prolific attackers, Colombia did not score, losing to the North Korea (2-0), the USA (3-0) and France (1-0).
• Las Cafeteras earned their berth to the Olympics after finishing in second behind Brazil at the 2014 Copa America Femenina in Ecuador. Colombia did not lose in the tournament, taking the top spot in Group A with four wins from four games and just one goal conceded, against Venezuela. Colombia went on to take second spot in the four-team final round thanks to a win over Ecuador and draws with Argentina and Brazil.
• The generation that should take the stage in Brazil in 2016 will be a more mature and experienced version of the Chicas Superpoderosas crop that burst onto the global scene with a fourth-place finish at the 2010 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup in Germany, and impressed at the 2011 FIFA Women’s World Cup.
• Holder of a degree in Physical Education, Colombia head coach Fabian Felipe Taborda was brought in by the Colombian Football Association in February 2012 to take charge of the U-17 Colombia Women’s National Team- who he guided to qualification for the 2012 and 2014 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cups at Azerbaijan and Costa Rica, respectively. Promoted to senior team coach in July 2014, just a couple of months prior to the Copa America Femenina, his steady hand took Las Cafeteras to the only available qualifying spot for Rio de Janeiro 2016, as well as a place at the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Canada.

USA VS. COLOMBIA

• The USA has played 34 matches against Brazil, but has rarely faced other South American teams. These will be the fourth and fifth meetings between the USA and Colombia. The USA has also played Argentina three times, but there have been no other U.S. matches against CONMEBOL teams at the senior level.
• The USA and Colombia most recently met in the Round of 16 at the 2015 Women’s World Cup with the USA prevailing 2-0 in Edmonton on goals from Alex Morgan and Carli Lloyd.
• Lloyd has scored in all three of the matches she has played against Colombia.
• These will be the first friendly matches between the USA and Colombia.
• The three previous meetings saw the USA defeat Colombia 3-0 in group play at the 2011 Women’s World Cup (on goals from Heather O’Reilly, Megan Rapinoe and Lloyd), 3-0 in group play at the 2012 Olympics (on goals from Rapinoe, Lloyd and Abby Wambach) and 2-0 in the Round of 16 at the 2015 Women’s World Cup (on goals from Morgan and Lloyd)

AT PRATT & WHITNEY STADIUM

• This will be the sixth trip to East Hartford for the U.S. Women which played at the former Rentschler Field in 2004, 2007, 2010, 2012 and most recently in June of 2014: a 2-2 tie with France.

LAST TIME…

On the field for the USA:
March 9, 2016 – FAU Stadium; Boca Raton, Fla.
2016 SheBelieves Cup

USA 2 Morgan 35, Mewis 41
GER 1 Mittag 28

Lineups:
USA: 1-Hope Solo; 11-Ali Krieger (5-Kelley O’Hara, 80), 6-Whitney Engen, 4-Becky Sauerbrunn, 7-Meghan Klingenberg (8-Julie Johnston, 90+1); 3-Samantha Mewis (22-Lindsey Horan, 61), 14-Morgan Brian, 12-Christen Press (2-Mallory Pugh, 61), 10-Carli Lloyd (capt.), 16-Crystal Dunn (17-Tobin Heath, 61); 13-Alex Morgan
Subs not used: 9-Heather O’Reilly, 15-Emily Sonnett, 18-Ashlyn Harris, 19-Jaelene Hinkle, 20-Lauren Barnes, 21-Alysssa Naeher
Head coach: Jill Ellis

GER: 1-Almuth Schult; 4-Leonie Maier, 3-Saskia Bartusiak (capt.), 14-Babett Peter, 22-Tabea Kemme (16-Svenja Huth, 74); 15-Anna Blässe, 10-Dzsenifer Marozsan, 7-Melanie Behringer (20-Lena Goeßling, 74), 17-Isabel Kerschowski (19-Lena Petermann, 84); 11-Anja Mittag (9-Mandy Islacker, 84), 18-Alexandra Popp
Subs not used: 12-Laura Benkarth, 21- Lisa Weiß, 2-Josephine Henning, 5-Annike Krahn, 6-Lina Magull, 24-Sara Doorsoun
Head Coach: Silvia Neid

LAST TIME…

For the USA vs. Colombia:
June 22, 2015 – Commonwealth Stadium; Edmonton, Canada
Women’s World Cup Round 16

USA 2 Morgan 53; Lloyd 66
COL 0

Lineups:
USA: 1-Hope Solo; 11-Ali Krieger (16-Lori Chalupny, 81), 19-Julie Johnston, 4-Becky Sauerbrunn, 22-Meghan Klingenberg; 15-Megan Rapinoe (23-Christen Press, 75) 12-Lauren Holiday, 10-Carli Lloyd, 17-Tobin Heath; 13-Alex Morgan, 20-Abby Wambach (capt.) (14-Morgan Brian, 69)
Subs Not Used: 2-Sydney Leroux, 3-Christie Rampone, 5-Kelley O’Hara, 6-Whitney Engen, 7-Shannon Boxx, 8-Amy Rodriguez, 9-Heather O’Reilly, 18-Ashlyn Harris, 21-Alyssa Naeher,
Head coach: Jill Ellis

COL : 22-Catalina Perez; 17-Carolina Arias, 14-Nataly Arias, 13-Angela Clavijo, 9-Orianica Velasquez; 3-Natalia Gaitan (capt.), 6-Daniela Montoya (19-Leicy Santos, 85); 4-Diana Ospina, 10-Yoreli Rincon (11-Catalina Usme, 72) 16-Lady Andrade; 7-Ingrid Vidal (1-Stefany Castaño, 49)
Subs not used: 2-Carolina Arbelaez, 5-Lina Granados, 8-Mildrey Pineda, 11-Catalina Usme, 15-Tatiana Ariza, 18-Yisela Cuesta, 19-Leicy Santos, 20-Laura Cosme, 21-Isabella Echeverri, 23-Manuela Gonzalez
Head coach: Fabian Taborda