USWNT forwards Mallory Pugh and Alex Morgan celebrate.
The U.S. Women’s National Team welcomes Chile to their first meeting tonight at the StubHub Center in Carson City. While Chile is a developing team, with many young players, this match will give the U.S. opportunities to check on player fitness as well as team chemistry since head coach Jill Ellis has brought in 29 new players since the 2016 Olympics.
Chile took second place In the 2018 Copa America Femenina, which gave them their first ever qualification to the Women’s World Cup. Standing in 39th place in the FIFA rankings, Chile will be exposed to the top-quality play of the U.S., currently ranked number one. This will give them a good idea of what standard to expect for the biggest tournament of the year, taking place next summer in France.
“I think it’s great that they’ve qualified for the World Cup because I think that’s only going to continue the development of soccer of football down there,” stated Ellis. “I think they play with a great passion and are very technical players.”
California natives Alex Morgan and Christen Press return to their nearby hometowns with excitement. Press will be honored with a pre-game ceremony for reaching her 100th cap with the U.S.
USWNT head coach Jill Ellis.
“It’s been great training here at StubHub and obviously, we all love being back in LA so it’s really great energy getting the team back together never have playing Chile before, but them having qualified for the World Cup already is just a great stepping stone for us to prepare for qualifiers,” Morgan said.
This year, the U.S. has celebrated two victories by being the She Believes Cup winners and the Tournament of Nations champions. With Ellis experimenting with new players, she has found some solid ground in recruiting North Carolina Courage midfielder McCall Zerboni and Chicago Red Stars defender Casey Short, who are also new on the roster since 2016.
The U.S. has found consistency in their results by not taking a loss since the 2017 Tournament of Nations. Despite the player injuries, with forward Mallory Pugh and defender Kelley O’Hara, Ellis has found what works for the offense and how to keep the back-line strong and consistent.
“Honestly, it’s just another preparation game for us before qualifying so obviously, we want to try and win, but we’re looking to do a lot in preparation for that as a team. For me personally it’s just good to be back and get into the mix again.”
Following this match, they will face Chile again on Tuesday, August 4 in San Jose, CA. Tonight’s match against Chile will be streamed live on ESPN2 and will take place at 8 p.m. PST.
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