OLYMPICS — August 5, 2012 at 10:32 pm

U.S. Women’s National Team vs. Canada – 2012 London Olympics Old Trafford; Manchester, England

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Aug. 5, 2012

USA, CANADA SQUARE OFF IN OLYMPIC SEMIFINALS: The U.S. Women’s National Team will meet a familiar opponent in its semifinal clash in the 2012 Olympics, taking on Canada at 2:45 p.m. ET on Monday, Aug. 6, at Old Trafford in Manchester, England. The match will be broadcast live on the NBC Sports Network, NBC Olympic Soccer Channel and streamed on NBC Live Extra. Fans can follow the match via ussoccer.com’s MatchTracker and on Twitter @ussoccer_wnt. The winner of USA-Canada will face the winner of the other semifinal featuring Japan and France with the gold medal to be determined on Thursday, Aug. 9, at Wembley Stadium in London.

 

2012 U.S. WNT Schedule

Date Opponent Result/
Time (ET)
U.S. Goalscorers/TV  

Venue

Jan. 20* Dominican Republic 14-0 W Wambach (2), Lloyd, Buehler, O’Reilly (3), Heath, Rodriguez (5), Cheney  

BC Place, Vancouver, Canada

Jan. 22* Guatemala 13-0 W Wambach (2), Cheney, Rodriguez, Lloyd, Lindsey, Leroux (5), Rapinoe, Morgan  

BC Place, Vancouver, Canada

Jan. 24* Mexico 4-0 W Lloyd (3), O’Reilly BC Place, Vancouver, Canada
Jan. 27* Costa Rica 3-0 W Heath, Lloyd, Morgan BC Place, Vancouver, Canada
Jan. 29* Canada 4-0 W Morgan (2), Wambach (2) BC Place, Vancouver, Canada
Feb. 11 New Zealand 2-1 W Morgan (2) FC Dallas Stadium, Frisco, Texas
Feb. 29^ Denmark 5-0 W Morgan (2), Wambach, Lloyd, Leroux Estadio Municipal; Lagos, Portugal
March 2^ Norway 2-1 W Wambach, Leroux Estadio Municipal; Lagos, Portugal
March 5^ Japan 0-1 L Estadio Algarve; Faro, Portugal
March 7^ Sweden 4-0 W Morgan (3), Wambach Estadio Bela Vista; Parchal, Portugal
April 1** Japan 1-1 T Morgan Yurtec Stadium; Sendai, Japan
April 3** Brazil 3-0 W Lloyd, Boxx, Rodriguez Fukuda Denshi Arena; Chiba, Japan
May 27 China PR 4-1 W Morgan (2), own goal, Wambach PPL Park; Chester, Pa.
June 16^^ Sweden 3-1 W Wambach, Morgan, Heath Örjans Vall Stadium; Halmstad, Sweden
June 18^^ Japan 4-1 W Morgan (2), Wambach (2) Örjans Vall Stadium; Halmstad, Sweden
June 30 Canada 2-1 W Own goal, Rodriguez Rio Tinto Stadium; Sandy, Utah
July 25~ France 4-2 W Wambach, Morgan (2), Lloyd Hampden Park; Glasgow, Scotland
July 28~ Colombia 3-0 W Rapinoe, Wambach, Lloyd Hampden Park; Glasgow, Scotland
July 31~ Korea DPR 1-0 W Wambach Old Trafford; Manchester, England
Aug. 3~ New Zealand 1-0 W Wambach St. James’ Park; Newcastle, England
Aug. 6~ Canada 2:45 p.m. NBC Sports Network Old Trafford; Manchester, England

* CONCACAF Women’s Olympic Qualifying tournament
^ Algarve Cup
** Kirin Challenge Cup
^^ Volvo Winners Cup
~ 2012 London Olympics

U.S. ROSTER BY POSITIONDetailed Roster
GOALKEEPERS (2): 1-Hope Solo, 18-Nicole Barnhart
DEFENDERS (6): 2-Heather Mitts, 3-Christie Rampone, 4-Becky Sauerbrunn, 5-Kelley O’Hara, 6-Amy LePeilbet, 16-Rachel Buehler
MIDFIELDERS (6): 7-Shannon Boxx, 8-Amy Rodriguez, 9-Heather O’Reilly, 10-Carli Lloyd, 15-Megan Rapinoe, 17-Tobin Heath
FORWARDS (4): 11-Sydney Leroux, 12-Lauren Cheney, 13-Alex Morgan, 14-Abby Wambach

QUARTERFINALS RECAP:

  • USA 2, New Zealand 0: Abby Wambach scored her fourth straight goal in this year’s Olympics with the game-winner in the 27th minute and Sydney Leroux added her first Olympic goal as insurance in the 87th minute as the USA improved to 4-0-0 in this year’s Summer Games. The U.S. posted its third straight shutout.
  • Canada 2, Great Britain 0: Canada’s Jonelle Filigno opened with a 12th-minute half-volley that found the upper right corner of the goal and Christine Sinclair pushed the lead to two in the 26th minute with her free kick going through the right side of Great Britain’s wall as Canada quickly took control against host Great Britain in front of nearly 29,000 at Coventry Stadium. Great Britain entered the match after having outscored its Group E opponents by a 5-0 margin, capping off the group stage with a 1-0 victory against Brazil.
  • France 2, Sweden 1: France overcame an early deficit with its defenders coming through on the offensive end. Laura Georges found the equalizer in the 29th minute, heading the ball into the net when Sweden goalkeeper Hedvig Lindahl could punch clear a corner kick and Wendie Renard scored the go-ahead goal off a scramble in front of the net in the 39th minute to earn the victory. Sweden’s Nilla Fischer had the game’s first goal off her left shoulder on a corner kick in the 18th minute.
  • Japan 2, Brazil 0: The 2011 FIFA Women’s World Cup champion Japan capitalized on its chances with Yuki Ogimi slotting the ball into the right side of the net in the 27th minute and Shinobu Ohno scored in the 73rd minute with a left-footed strike that clipped the crossbar and crossed the goal line. Japan only had three shots on goal to Brazil’s seven, but Japan goalkeeper Miho Fukumoto was up to the task with some key saves, including a clutch stop against Formiga in the first half to maintain a one-goal lead.

2012 Olympic Schedule

Date Match Time (ET) Stage Venue
Aug. 3 France 2, Sweden 1 7 a.m. Quarterfinals Hampden Park; Glasgow, Scotland
Aug. 3 USA 1, New Zealand 0 9:30 a.m. Quarterfinals St. James’ Park; Newcastle, England
Aug. 3 Japan 2, Brazil 0 12 p.m. Quarterfinals Millennium Stadium; Cardiff, Wales
Aug. 3 Canada 2, Great Britain 0 2:30 p.m. Quarterfinals City of Coventry Stadium; Coventry, England
Aug. 6 France vs. Japan 12 p.m. Semifinals BC Place, Vancouver, Canada
Aug. 6 USA vs. Canada 2:45 p.m. Semifinals Old Trafford Stadium; Manchester, England
Aug. 9 Semifinal Losers 8 a.m. Bronze Medal City of Coventry Stadium; Coventry, England
Aug. 9 Semifinal Winners 2:45 p.m. Gold Medal Wembley Stadium; London, England

 

U.S. ROSTER NOTES:

 

  • Five players on the U.S. roster have scored in this Olympics and seven total players have scored in an Olympics: Abby Wambach (4 goals in 2004; 4 goals in 2012), Carli Lloyd (2 goals in 2008; 2 goals in 2012), Heather O’Reilly (1 goal in 2004; 2 goals in 2008), Shannon Boxx (1 goal in 2004), Amy Rodriguez (1 goal in 2008), Alex Morgan (2 goals in 2012), Megan Rapinoe (1 goal in 2012), who had the game-winning tally against Colombia on July 28, and most recently Sydney Leroux who scored the clinching goal against New Zealand.
  • Morgan, Tobin Heath and Rapinoe are tied for the team lead with three assists apiece in this year’s Olympics. All 10 of the USA’s goals have been assisted, including goalkeeper Hope Solo’s first career international assist on Morgan’s 32nd-minute goal against France on July 25 en route to a 4-2 win.
  • Heath’s next appearance will mark her 50th international cap. There are 13 players on the USA’s Olympic roster who have played in 50 or more career matches, with Rapinoe being the most recent to notch her 50th cap on June 16 during a 3-1 win against Sweden.

For more roster notes, visit ussoccer.com.

USA vs. CANADA SERIES

 

  • The most recent meeting between the USA and Canada came on June 30 in the USA’s Olympic Send-Off Match, a 2-1 victory at Rio Tinto Stadium in Sandy, Utah. Amy Rodriguez scored the game-winning goal in the 85th minute to break a 1-1 tie.
  • In the only previous Olympic match between the U.S. and Canada, the USA came out on top with a 2-1 victory in the quarterfinals of the 2008 Beijing Olympics on Aug. 15. Natasha Kai tallied the game-winner in the 101st minute, Angela Hucles had the USA’s other goal in the 12th minute and Christine Sinclair had Canada’s lone goal in the 30th minute.

For more series notes, visit ussoccer.com.

IN THE RECORD BOOKS

 

  • Abby Wambach scored her eighth career Olympic goal during the USA’s 1-0 win against New Zealand on Aug. 3. She is atop the U.S. leaderboard in career Olympic goals, having surpassed the previous record of five held by Mia Hamm and Tiffeny Milbrett.
  • Sydney Leroux’s second-half goal against New Zealand on Aug. 3 was her eighth of the year. All eight goals have come off the bench, matching teammate Amy Rodriguez’s 2012 total as a sub. Leroux and Rodriguez are the best off-the-bench duo in U.S. WNT history with their combined 16 goals in 2012, easily surpassing the previous 12-goal record from Debbie Keller and Tisha Venturini in 1998. Keller still holds the WNT record with nine goals off the bench in 1998, but Leroux and Rodriguez are within one goal of matching a mark that has stood for nearly 14 years.

For more record book notes and “by the numbers,” visit ussoccer.com.

ON USSOCCER.COM

 

IN FOCUS: CANADA

 

  • Canada Soccer Association
  • Founded: 1912 (Joined FIFA in 1913)
  • Head Coach: John Herdman
  • FIFA World Ranking: 7
  • Best FIFA World Cup Finish: Fourth place in 2003
  • Best Olympics Finish: Semifinals of 2012 London Olympics

For Canada roster notes, visit ussoccer.com.

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