CHICAGO (August 22, 2002) — U.S. Soccer has finalized the opponents, dates and venues for the 2002 edition of the Nike U.S. Women’s Cup, the most prestigious women’s event conducted by U.S. Soccer, and one of the most respected women’s tournaments in the world. The tournament, a four-team, six-game competition, will feature the U.S. Women’s National Team, as well as Australia, Italy and Russia.
"To have Italy, Russia and Australia in a pre-World Cup event on the East Coast in two WUSA cities, it just doesn't get any better as far as our preparation, our focus and getting our fans ready for our World Cup qualifying,” said U.S. head coach April Heinrichs. "It's great timing for us because the players are coming out of the WUSA season, they get a little bit of break and then we play these three teams that we haven't seen in quite a long time. It's a wonderful opportunity for us to get together for a two-week period."
In the tournament’s opening match, the U.S. will take on Russia at the Mitchel Athletic Complex, the home of the WUSA’s New York Power, on Sunday, Sept. 29 at 4 p.m. ET (TV broadcast to be determined). The match will mark the third time that the U.S. Women have played at the 10,102-seat, Uniondale, N.Y. venue, having played a pair of matches (a 5-0 win over Denmark and a 2-0 win over China) there in as part of the Goodwill Games in late July 1998.
Tickets for the tournament opener, which is presented by Philips Electronics, range in price levels from $22 to $55 and are available starting tomorrow (August 23) at 12 noon ET at all Ticketmaster outlets throughout the area (including The Wiz, Compact Disc World, Tower Records, HMV Record Stores and Filene’s) or by calling 631-888-9000 (Long Island) or 212-307-7171 (New York City). Tickets are also available on-line at www.ticketmaster.com and at www.ussoccer.com. Groups of 20 or more can call the New York Power at 1-866-769-7849.
From there, the tournament heads south to North Carolina, where the U.S. Women’s National Team will play two games as part of doubleheaders at the recently opened SAS Park, the home of the WUSA’s Carolina Courage, in Cary, N.C. The U.S. Women will take on Australia on Wednesday, Oct. 2 (presented by Chevy) at 7:30 p.m. ET live on ESPN2, and finish the tourney against Italy on Saturday, Oct. 6 at 2 p.m. ET live on ESPN2.
Although the U.S. women have previously played matches in Charlotte, Davidson and Greensboro, N.C., the two October doubleheaders will mark the team’s first-ever international games in the Raleigh-Durham area and the first time that the team has played at the 7,000-seat, state-of-the-art venue.
Tickets for the N.C. doubleheaders, which range in price from $18 to $55, are now available at all Ticketmaster outlets throughout the Carolinas (including Kroger, Hecht's and FYE), by calling 919-834-4000 or going on-line at www.ticketmaster.com. For groups of 20 or more, call 312-528-1249.
The U.S. has posted a 6-2-2 record in 2002, including a 4-0 win over Norway in the team’s most recent match in Blaine, Minn., on July 21. After the 2002 WUSA season concludes this weekend with the Founders Cup II on Saturday (Aug. 24) in Atlanta, the U.S. team will regroup 10 days later for a Sept. 8 match versus Scotland at Crew Stadium in Columbus, Ohio.
The U.S. Women will be using the 2002 Nike U.S. Women’s Cup as preparation for the 2002 CONCACAF Women’s Gold Cup, which is set to take place at four venues along the West Coast from Oct. 27-Nov. 9 and will serve as the region’s qualifying for the 2003 FIFA Women’s World Cup in China next summer.
The U.S. has a winning all-time record against all three of its U.S. Women’s Cup opponents, including a 13-0-0 mark over Australia in which the U.S. has outscored their Oceania counterpart 51-8. The U.S. is also undefeated against Russia, holding a 4-0-1 record and outscoring them 22-2.
The U.S. has a storied history with Italy, including the U.S. Women’s National Team’s first ever match, a 1-0 loss on August 18, 1985. The U.S. holds a narrow 5-4-0 edge in nine all-time meetings, having lost the first three times the two teams met from 1985-1988. The U.S. dominated all five match-ups in the 1990s and 2000, outscoring the Europeans 15-1, but Italy handed the U.S. a 1-0 loss in their last meeting in March 2001 in Reiti.
"The three styles are great for us,” said Heinrichs, of the competition that the three countries each present. “Australia is the hard, physical, aggressive team. Italy is a counter-attacking, bunkering team, and you have Russia, who is a very disciplined team, more like a Norway or a Sweden."
The Nike U.S. Women’s Cup has been staged eight times since its debut in 1994, including last year’s abandoned event which was scheduled to end the weekend after the tragic events of Sept. 11. The U.S. has amassed an amazing 21-0-0 record across the eight tournaments winning all seven championships against opponents like Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Germany, Italy and Norway.
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1994 2002 Nike U.S. Women’s Cup Schedule
Sun., Sept. 29, 2002
USA vs. Russia Mitchel Athletic Complex; 4 p.m. ET / TV TBD
Uniondale, N.Y.
Wed., Oct. 2, 2002
Italy vs. Russia SAS Park; Cary, N.C. 5 p.m. ET
USA vs. Australia 7:30 p.m. ET / espn2
Sun., Oct. 6, 2002
Australia vs. Russia SAS Park; Cary, N.C. 11:30 a.m. ET
USA vs. Italy 2 p.m. ET / espn2
Wed., Oct. 9, 2002
Australia vs. Italy SAS Park; Cary, N.C. 7:30 p.m. ET
Nike U.S. Women's Cup History
The 2001 Nike U.S. Women's Cup returned to its four-team round-robin format, with matches scheduled for Chicago, Columbus and Kansas City. Unfortunately, because of the tragic events of Sept. 11, the event was canceled at the half-way point, with just three of six matches being played. After Germany had opened tournament play with a 1-0 victory over Japan on Sept. 7, the USA and China greeted the 10,235 spectators at Chicago's Soldier Field with convincing victories on Sept. 9 as the Americans topped Germany 4-1 and the Chinese blanked Japan 3-0. With the ill-fated tournament prepared to resume on Sept. 11, the world was stunned by the tragic events across America and the teams were left stranded in Ohio, before they (and a nation) could eventually return to their families and a normal routine.
In 2000, the Nike U.S. Women's Cup was adjusted to accommodate the U.S. Women's National Team's hectic schedule. Instead of the normal round-robin tournament, the event was played as two doubleheaders in one venue, Civic Stadium in Portland, where the U.S. Women dominated their two opponents with a 12-0 goal
advantage, including an 8-0 rout of Mexico and a 4-0 blanking of Canada.
After winning the 1999 FIFA Women's World Cup, the USA set out to three Midwestern cities to defend their Nike U.S. Women's Cup perfection. The U.S. continued their dominance in the tournament, scoring more goals, 15, than Brazil, Finland, and South Korea, combined (13).
Nike U.S. Women's Cup '98 was held in four East-coast venues, with the U.S. Women continuing their undefeated run by soundly beating three 1999 Women's World Cup qualifying teams — Mexico (9-0), Russia (4-0) and Brazil (3-0). Mia Hamm scored four goals in the tournament, including the 100th of her career against Russia on Sept. 18, 1998, in front of a capacity crowd at Frontier Field in Rochester, N.Y.
During U.S. Women's Cup '97, the U.S. squad held true to form once again to defeat Canada (4-0), Australia (9-1) and upstart European power Italy (2-0). Of the USA's 15 goals scored in the tournament, Hamm scored six and assisted on another.
The U.S. won U.S. Women's Cup '96 without allowing a goal, while scoring 11 against Canada (6-0), Japan (4-0) and China (1-0). As it usually does, the tournament came down to the final match — against China on May 18, 1996 — in the first-ever live national telecast of a U.S. Women's National Team match.
Just months after the U.S. Women dropped a heartbreaking 1-0 semifinal result to Norway at the Women's World Cup, the two teams would face off again at U.S. Women's Cup '95. Unfortunately for Australia and Chinese Taipei, two relative newcomers who rounded out the field, the U.S. and Norway were on a crash course to meet in the tournament's final match. Together, the U.S. and Norway defeated Australia and Chinese Taipei by a combined score of 27-3, setting up a final showdown at Washington, D.C.'s RFK Stadium on Aug. 6. After ending 90 minutes of regulation tied at 1-1, U.S. substitute Tammy Pearman, playing in her first international match for the U.S., scored the "golden goal" to give the U.S. a 2-1 victory.
The original U.S. Women's Cup was competed in 1994 as the Chiquita Cup, which was organized by the U.S. Youth Soccer's Region I (East). The U.S. claimed the inaugural tournament against competition that could only be labeled, the best of the best: China, Germany and Norway. After hard-fought victories over Germany (2-1) and China (1-0), the U.S. lashed out on rival Norway, 4-1, in a match played in Worcester, Mass. The tournament was a fitting preview of the 1995 Women's World Cup in Sweden, with all four competitors advancing to the final four in Sweden.
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