USWNT facing South Africa in pre-Olympics friendly on Saturday

USA vs. South Africa
International Friendly
Soldier Field; Chicago
July 9, 2016 (12:30 p.m. CT on FS1)

(Via U.S. Soccer) – The U.S. Women’s National Team has just two send-off matches remaining before departing for the 2016 Olympics in Brazil, and the first will be against a team the American women have never faced before.

The meeting with South Africa on July 9 at Soldier Field in Chicago (12:30 p.m. CT on FS1) will be the first at any level for the U.S. Women’s National Team programs. South Africa is just the second African country – along with Nigeria – that the USA has ever played. Playing a country for the first time is a rarity for the USA (although the last time it happened was just five months ago during Olympic Qualifying against Puerto Rico on Feb. 15), and South Africa, also known by the nickname Banyana Banyana (or The Girls, The Girls), will be the 49th nation the USA has faced in its history. From the 24 players in training camp, U.S. head coach Jill Ellis will name 18 to suit up for the match.

SO FAR, SO GOOD: The USA is 12-0-1 in 2016, earning 11 shutouts while allowing just four goals, three of which came against Japan on June 2. The USA started the year with a 5-0 win against Ireland and then won two tournaments early in the year – taking the title at the CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying Tournament in February and the SheBelieves Cup in March. In the SheBelieves Cup, the USA defeated England 1-0 on March 3 with a spectacular late goal from Crystal Dunn, downed 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 came from behind to defeat Germany, 2-1 , in a match it had to win to take the tournament title. The USA played two friendly matches against Olympic Group G opponent Colombia in April,winning 7-0 and 3-0 with seven different players scoring the 10 goals. The USA is coming off two entertaining matches against Japan in June, a wild 3-3 draw on June 2 in Commerce City, Colo., that saw the USA go down 2-0 after 22 minutes, only to roar back to take a 3-2 lead heading into stoppage time on goals from Alex Morgan, one in each half, and a dramatic 89th minute header from hometown hero Lindsey Horan. The referee added four minutes and Japan equalized in the third minute of stoppage time. When the USA fell behind 2-0 against Japan on June 2, it was the first time the USA had trailed by two goals at home in 117 games. The last time came in a 3-1 loss to Denmark in Nov. 2004. The most recent time the USA fell behind 2-0 was Feb. 8, 2015 vs. France, which ended in a 2-0 friendly loss in Lorient in the team’s first game of that year. The USA won the rematch 2-0 in Cleveland during a game that was stopped in the 75th minute due to inclement weather as Julie Johnston and Alex Morgan tallied goals. Following the match against South Africa, the USA will have one more game – on July 22 against Costa Rica in Kansas City, Kansas (8 p.m. CT on ESPN) before departing for Brazil and the sixth Olympic tournament for women’s soccer.

SOLO CLOSES IN ON 100 SHUTOUTS: U.S. goalkeeper Hope Solo comes to the match in Chicago with 99 career shutouts, and is one away from becoming the first goalkeeper to reach the 100 mark. Solo has 10 wins in 2016, nine by shutout, and also has a good chance to surpass her high of 13 shutouts in a calendar year achieved in another Olympic year, 2008. She earned 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. Solo has earned shutouts against 28 different countries.

LLOYD RETURNS: CarliLloyd, the reigning FIFA Women’s World Player of the Year and U.S. Soccer Player of the Year, returns to the team after missing the Japan games in June while recovering from an MLC strain suffered playing for the Houston Dash on April 23. Lloyd, who has eight goals this year, tied for second in the team with Crystal Dunn and behind Alex Morgan’s 11 scores, has not played in a match since the injury, but should be fit and ready for selection against South Africa. In June, Lloyd missed her first WNT games since the very beginning of 2014 when she did not play in the first match of the year, a 1-0 victory vs. Canada in Frisco, Texas on Jan. 31, due to a red card received in the final match of the previous year. Lloyd has scored 87 goals in her career and is just 13 from becoming the sixth player in U.S. history to score 100 or more.

RAPINOE RETURNS, TOO: After having ACL surgery in mid-December of last year, midfielder Megan Rapinoe has made a steady recovery and is at the point where she was named to her first roster of the year for this training camp. Rapinoe is in camp for some training and evaluation of her progress only, and will not play in the match against South Africa.

FAMILIAR FACES: As the naming of the 2016 Olympic Team draws closer, there are no new faces among the 24 players called into the training camp for the South Africa friendly. All the players have been with the U.S. team for most or part of the year, and the Olympic Team – featuring 18 players – will almost surely come from these 24 players. U.S. head coach Jill Ellis will also name four alternates – three field players and a goalkeeper – that will travel to Brazil and train with the team, but who will not be eligible to play and will not suit up for matches. The player with the least international experience is defender Gina Lewandowski, who earned her first cap last October against Brazil during the U.S. WNT’s Victory Tour. She is coming off helping FC Bayern Munich win the German Women’s Bundesliga this past season. Portland Thorns midfielder Allie Long earned her third consecutive call-up for this camp. She saw action in both games against Colombia in April and scored twice on April 6 in East Hartford, Conn. which were her first two senior team goals. She also assisted on the USA’s first goal against Japan on June 5 in Cleveland.

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 (9): 6-Whitney Engen (Boston Breakers), 19-Jaelene Hinkle (Western New York Flash), 8-Julie Johnston (Chicago Red Stars), 7-Meghan Klingenberg (Portland Thorns FC), 11-Ali Krieger (Washington Spirit), 25-Gina Lewandowski (FC Bayern Munich), 5- Kelley O’Hara (Sky Blue FC), 4- Becky Sauerbrunn (FC Kansas City), 22- Emily Sonnett (Portland Thorns FC)
MIDFIELDERS (8): 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 New York Flash), 9- Heather O’Reilly (FC Kansas City), Megan Rapinoe (Seattle Reign)
FORWARDS (4): 16-Crystal Dunn (Washington Spirit), 13-Alex Morgan (Orlando Pride), 12-Christen Press (Chicago Red Stars); 2- Mallory Pugh (Real Colorado)

• 2016 U.S. WNT SCHEDULE/RESULTS

USA SET TO FACE NEW ZEALAND, FRANCE AND COLOMBIA IN OLYMPIC GROUP PLAY:The field for the 12-team Olympic Football Tournament is a strong one featuring 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 Tournament was held on April 14 in Rio de Janeiro and the United States was drawn into Group G with New Zealand, France and Colombia for the tournament taking place from Aug. 3-19 at seven venues throughout Brazil. The U.S. will open Group G play on Aug. 3 – two days before the Olympic Opening Ceremonies – against New Zealand (7 p.m. local / 6 p.m. ET) at Mineirão Stadium in Belo Horizonte. The USA will stay in Belo Horizonte – which is 270 miles north of Rio de Janeiro – to face France at Mineirão Stadium on Aug. 6 (5 p.m.local / 4 p.m. ET) and finish group play against Colombia on Aug. 9 (6 p.m. local / 6 p.m. ET) at the Amazônia Stadium in Manaus, the same arena in which the U.S. MNT tied Portugal 2-2 during the 2014 FIFA World Cup, and the furthest soccer venue from Rio (more than 1,700 miles). Drawn into Group E with Brazil were China PR, Sweden and South Africa. Group F will consist of Germany, Canada, the tournament’s only debutante Zimbabwe, and Australia.

2016 Olympic Schedule – U.S. Women’s National Team

U.S. All-Time Record vs. Group G Olympic Opponents

OLYMPIC COMPETITION FORMAT: The Olympic Women’s Football Tournament features 12 teams, with the top two finishers in each group advancing to the quarterfinals along with the two best third-place teams. Should the U.S. advance to the second round by winning the group, it would meet a third-place team from Group E or F. If the USA finishes second in the group, it would face the first-place team from Group F. A third-place finish could mean a possible meeting with the first-place team from Group E.

U.S. TEAM AND ROSTER NOTES:

• In Commerce City, Colo. on June 2, the USA fell just short of tying its best start to a calendar year. In 1991 and 1997, the USA started the year 12-0-0, scoring 80 goals in 1991 through the first 12 games while allowing only one goal, and scoring 55 goals through the first 12 games in 1997 while allowing six. In 2016, the USA is 12-0-1, having scored 47 goals while allowing four.
• Hope Solo has earned wins in 10 of those games, with one tie, while Alyssa Naeher has the other two victories.
• Alex Morgan’s two goals on June 2 marked her 18th career multi-goal game. She now has 67 career goals, 11 of which have come in her 11 games played so far in 2016. The only other time Morgan scored double-digit goals for the USA in a calendar year was in 2012 (when she scored 28 goals), which, coincidently, also happened to be an Olympic year.
• With an assist on Alex Morgan’s second goal on June 2 against Japan, Tobin Heath now has four assists in 2016 and 25 for her career with the WNT.
• Mallory Pugh’s assist on June 2 against Japan on Morgan’s first goal was her team-leading sixth of 2016.
• Lindsey Horan’s goal against Japan on June 5 was her second of 2016 and third of her career.
• Crystal Dunn has eight goals in 2016 and is tied with Carli Lloyd for second most on the team this year. Dunn has scored 12 goals in the last 20 games, which of course includes her five-goal outburst during Olympic Qualifying against Puerto Rico.
• Dunn, who was among the final 25 players vying for 2015 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 16 games and has scored 12 goals with five assists, in addition to earning a penalty kick against Costa Rica on Feb. 10.
• Before the match against Puerto Rico in the Olympic Qualifying tournament, 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 U.S. player to achieve that feat. The other six were: Brandi Chastain (1991), Michelle Akers (1991), Tiffeny Milbrett (2002), Abby Wambach (2004), Amy Rodriguez (2012) and Sydney Leroux (2012). It was Dunn’s first multi-goal game for the WNT.
• Midfielder Allie Long earned her fifth cap in her third start and scored the first two goals of her international career on April 6 against Colombia. Long scored twice on headers. Her most recent start before that match was also at Pratt & Whitney Stadium, on June 19, 2014, in a 2-2 draw with France. She came off the bench on April 10 vs. Colombia to earn her sixth cap and started against Japan on June 2 and June 5 to earn her seventh and eighth.
• Tobin Heath scored her third goal of 2016, and 15th of her career, on a blistering volley vs. Colombia on April 6. Heath’s two goals in the February 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 and both coming off excellent and similar passes from Pugh who had made dynamic runs down the left side.
• Christen Press scored in both games against Colombia this year, upping her total to 33 in 67 games and moving her past Lindsay Tarpley into 16th place on the U.S. WNT all-time goals list. Currently with 33 in 68 caps, she is averaging just under a goal for every two games she plays (0.49 goals per game) for the WNT.
• Julie Johnston’s two goals against Colombia on April 10 upped her career total to seven, all coming off set plays. It was her first multi-goal game for the USA.
• 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.
• OnJan. 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 0.60 goals per game in her international career. She now has 67 in 110 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.
• After earning her first two caps at the 2013 Algarve Cup, now 22-year-old Lindsey Horan got her first three starts 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. Her third was one to remember, coming off the bench in her hometown of Denver on June 2 to head home an apparent game-winner in the 89th minute, but Japan equalized in the third minute of stoppage time.
• Twenty-three-year old Samantha Mewis made her debut at the 2014 Algarve Cup, played in one match last year and has seven 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.
• 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 eight more caps including five this year with three starts. She played the entire 90 minutes in the opening game of the SheBelieves Cup against England.
• Mallory Pugh achieved a rare feat 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. Pugh was a starter at the age of 16 in the 2014 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup in Canada and will compete in the U-20 Women’s World Cup in Papua New Guinea at the end of this year.
• Pugh 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 Qualifying match at 17 years, 9 months and 12 days old.
• Pugh earned her first start against Puerto Rico on Feb. 15 and picked up her first WNT assist while also creating a PR own goal. She has played in 12 of the USA’s 13 games this year, missing just the most recent game against Japan to rest. She has started eight of the last 10 matches while scoring two goals and picking up six assists, best on the team.
• Pugh, who turned 18 on April 29, is fifth all-time for most U.S. caps before the age of 18 (11). She is third for most goals before the age of 18 (2), fourth in most starts before the age of 18 (7) and first for most assists before the age of 18 (5).
• Seven players on the training camp roster have played 100 times or more for the USA, led by Heather O’Reilly’s 229 caps. Carli Lloyd has 222, Solo has 196, followed by Heath’s 118, Rapinoe with 113, Morgan with 110 and Becky Sauerbrunn with 107.
• Of the 24 players on the roster, four players do not have an international goal: defenders Emily Sonnett, Becky Sauerbrunn, Gina Lewandowski (who has one cap) and Jaelene Hinkle.
• 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.
• Lloyd has scored 24 goals her last 24 matches starting with the Round of 16 game at the WWC, 20 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.
• Hope Solo earned her 177th cap against Japan in the World Cup Final on July 5. With 196 caps, she is the leader for caps by a goalkeeper in world and U.S. history and is four away from becoming the first goalkeeper in U.S. and world history to hit 200, which she will likely reach in the Olympics. Briana Scurry earned 173 caps in her career (1994-2008).
• Solo has the most starts by a WNT goalkeeper with 189 and is in 8th place on the WNT’s all-time starts list behind Lloyd, who has moved into seventh place with 192.
• Solo has 149 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).
• 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 222.
• With her two assists against Colombia on April 6, Lloyd moved into a tie for ninth place on the U.S. all-time assist list with Aly Wagner at 42 each.
• Lloyd is in sixth place on the U.S. WNT’s all-time goal scoring list. Now with 87 goals, she is the highest-scoring midfielder in U.S. history even though she has scored 20 of her last 24 goals playing as more of a withdrawn forward. She scored her first two goals in the 2015 World Cup playing center-midfield; scored from the penalty spot while playing center-midfield against Puerto Rico on Feb. 15; and scored against Colombia on April 6 while also playing center-midfield.
• 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 67 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 53.
• 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 and now has 80 to go along with her two international goals.
• The USA continues to break city and state attendance marks. The crowd of 25,363 in Nashville for USA-France on March 6 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 March 3, a weekday, during the SheBelieves Cup set a record for a crowd to watch the team in Tampa. The 13,501 fans that come out on March 9, 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. The crowd of 21,792 at Pratt & Whitney Stadium onApril 6 for the match against Colombia set a new record for an all-women’s soccer event in Connecticut, besting the previous mark of 18,870 that watched the USA play Germany at the same venue on Oct. 23, 2012. The sell-out crowd of 18,572 that watched the June 2match against Japan was just a fans short of the stadium record for a WNT match.
• The three goals for each team during the 3-3 draw on June 2 against Japan equaled the highest-scoring draw in USWNT history. It has occurred only three previous times, most recently vs. Germany in 2013.

BY THE NUMBERS:
0.31 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)
3.66 Goals per game the USA scored in 2015
11 Number of different U.S. players to score a goal in 2016
13 Goals Carli Lloyd needs to reach 100
18 Players that will make the Olympic roster
99 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
102 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: About two thirds of the way into the 2016 NWSL season, here’s a look at the club statistics of the players on this U.S. WNT roster. The U.S. players that make the Olympic Team roster or are name alternate will not be back with their clubs until after the Olympic run is over. Several players — including Morgan Brian, Julie Johnston, Jaelene Hinkle and Carli Lloyd have missed NWSL games due to injury and Tobin Heath missed one due to a red card suspension. Hope Solo missed a game to attend a family funeral. Several U.S. WNT players are at the top of statistics charts. Christen Press and Lindsey Horan are tied for second in the league lead (along with three other players) in goals with four each. Heath leads the league with five assists while Crystal Dunn is second with four. With three assists, Hinkle is tied for fifth in the league with three others. Press leads the league in shots with 42, followed by Morgan with 31. Press also leads in shots on goal with 27. Morgan is third with 16 and Heath is tied for fourth with 13. Alyssa Naeher and Hope Solo are tied for the league lead (with one other GK) in shutouts with five each, but Ashlyn Harris is right behind them with four.

2016 NWSL Regular Season Statistics Field Players

2016 NWSL Regular Season Statistics Goalkeepers

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), Horan (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 WNT record of 14.

Videos and Photo Galleries:

• Video: Two-Game Series vs. Japan Provides Goals, Drama for WNT
• Video: Carli Comes Home, USA vs. Colombia
• Video: 2016 USWNT Photo Shoot Behind-the-Scenes
• Video: USA Sweeps Through Inaugural SheBelieves Cup
• Meghan’s Klingenbloopers
• Gallery: The WNT Black and White Collection
• Gallery: The WNT Sunset Series
• Tobin: Queen of the Nutmeg
• Inspired and Inspiring: Hope Solo at the One Young World Summit
• A Special Night for Carli Lloyd and Jill Ellis: The 2015 Ballon D’Or in Zurich
• Jill Ellis: Coaching Was in the Blood

Releases:

• U.S. WNT Unveils New Nike Home Kit for 2016 Olympics
• Ellis Names 24-Player Roster for July 9 Match vs. South Africa
• USA’s Final Olympic Send-Off Game vs. Costa Rica Set for KC
• WNT To Face South Africa in First of Two Send-Off Matches on July 9 in Chicago
• Brandi Chastain, Shannon MacMillan and Don Garber Elected to National Soccer Hall of Fame Class of 2016

· USA to Face New Zealand, France and Colombia in Group G at 2016 Rio Olympics

• Carli Lloyd and Jill Ellis Honored as FIFA Women’s World Player and Coach of the Year
• Five U.S. WNT Players Named to 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup All-Star Squad
• U.S. Soccer and Jill Ellis Agree to Multi-Year Contract Extension

Features:

• Countdown to Brazil Well Underway for WNT
• Leaders for Club and Country
• Mallory Pugh: Head of the Class
• Opponent Breakdown: New Zealand, France and Colombia
• Becky Sauerbrunn: Journey to 100
• The Women’s Soccer Dynasty of Anson Dorrance
• #SheBelieves Series
• Horan’s Home
• Keeping Tobin Tethered to Earth
• Meghan Klingenberg, Street Fighter
• Becky Vocabulary
• Swim on Through to the Other Side

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 American 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, 2016, 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 42-3-8 since then for an overall record of 48-3-11. 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 was the keynote speaker at the 2016 commencement exercises at William & Mary. Her theme for the speech: “Be bold.”
• 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: SOUTH AFRICA

SOUTH AFRICA FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION

FIFA World Ranking: 52
CAF Ranking: 5
Olympic Appearances: 1 (2012)
Best Olympic Qualifying finish: Group Play (2012)
Record vs. USA: 0-0-0
Head Coach: Vera Pauw

South Africa Women’s National Team Roster by Position:
GOALKEEPERS (3): Roxanne Barker (SC Heerenveen), Andile Dlamini (Mamelodi Sundowns Ladies), Kaylin Swart (Menlo College)
DEFENDERS (8): Janine Van Wyke (JvW FC), Lebohang Ramalepe (Maindis FC), Nothando Vilakazi (Palace Super Falcons FC), Nomathemba Ntsibande (Springs Home Sweepers), Bambanani Mbane (Bloemfontein Celtic Ladies), Noko Matlou (Maindis FC), Lebogang Mabatle (Tuks), Lerato Kgasago (Mamelodi Sundowns Ladies)
MIDFIELDERS (9): Nompumelelo Nyandeni (JvW FC), Refiloe Jane (Mamelodi Sundowns Ladies), Amanda Dlamini (JvW FC), Sanah Mollo (Mamelodi Sundowns Ladies), Stephanie Malherbe (Texas A&M), Linda Mothlalo (JvW FC), Leandra Smeda (Univ. of West Cape Ladies), Mamello Makhabane (JvW FC), Robyn Moodaly (Univ. of Northwestern Ohio)
FORWARDS (5): Jermaine Seoposenwe (Samford Univ.), Thembi Kgatlana (Univ. of West Cape Ladies), Silindile Ngubane (Durban Ladies FC), Chantelle Essau (Palace Super Falcons FC), Shiwe Nogwanya (Bloemfontein Celtic Ladies)