Soccer has been held at nearly every Olympics held, missing only the first games in 1896 and again in 1932. The 1932 games in Los Angeles instead featured american football as a demonstration sport where some of the best American college players faced off in an exhibition. Women first got the chance to compete in 1996 when women’s soccer was added for the Atlanta Olympics. The soccer tournament in Rio will… not really be in Rio. With so many stadiums used just two summers ago for the World Cup the teams will be traveling across the country to play in five other cities in addition to Rio. That includes Manaus, a four hour flight from Rio in the Amazon. You don’t want to have to play in Manaus.
The US women qualified for the Olympics by winning the CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying Championship in February in Houston. The US men finished third CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying Championship in Salt Lake City and then lost a playoff to Colombia for an Olympic spot in March as they will miss the Olympics for the second straight edition.
The Team:
Unlike a World Cup team which would consist of 23 members the US Team is made up of just 18 women, a mix of veterans from the the last few Olympics and newcomers breaking into the team.
Seven of the 18 members were on the team in London and three were on the team in Beijing. Hope Solo is the oldest player on the team having turned 35 on Saturday while Mallory Pugh is the youngest by four years at just 18.
Links are to twitter accounts for the athletes.
US Women’s Soccer Team
GK – Alyssa Naeher
GK – Hope Solo**
DF – Whitney Engen
DF – Julie Johnston
DF – Meghan Klingenberg
DF – Ali Krieger
DF – Kelley O’Hara*
DF – Becky Sauerbrunn*
MF – Morgan Brian
MF – Crystal Dunn
MF – Tobin Heath**
MF – Carli Lloyd**
MF – Allie Long
MF – Megan Rapinoe*
FW – Lindsey Horan
MF – Alex Morgan*
FW – Christen Press
FW – Mallory Pugh
* – Was on team in 2012 (London)
** – Was on team in 2012 (London) & 2008 (Beijing)
Format:
The Women’s Soccer Tournament is made up of 12 teams divided into three groups. After round-robin play in each group all the teams that finish in 1st and 2nd and two of the 3rd place teams qualify for the Quarterfinals. At that point it is a regular knockout tournament. In the group stage it’s three points for a win, one for a draw with GD and GF used as tiebreakers before head-to-head results.
Schedule:
The US’s group consists of France and Colombia (both for the second straight Olympics) as well as New Zealand. As the defending World Cup and Olympic champions they are expected to win their group and would face a third place team that could be someone like China or Canada. The US starts in Belo Horizonte for their first two matches but does have to go to Manaus for their third match. Only two other teams (South Africa and Brazil) will face that long travel.
The US is ranked first in the world with France third, New Zealand 17th, and Colombia 24th.
Wednesday, August 3rd – 6 PM ET – New Zealand
Saturday, August 6th – 4 PM ET – France
Tuesday, August 9th – 6 PM ET – Colombia
Sunday, August 12th – Quarterfinals
Tuesday, August 16th – Semifinals
Sunday, August 19th – Medal Matches
Past Results:
The US Women are the three-time defending champs, along with winning a silver in 2000 and a gold in the Inaugural tournament in 1996. The only other team to win a gold medal is Norway. Japan and Canada won medals for the first time in 2012 while Brazil (two silvers), Germany (three bronze) and Norway (a gold and a bronze) are the only countries other than the US with multiple medals.