March 9, 2010
© U.S. Soccer
U.S. Under-17 Women’s National Team
2010 CONCACAF Under-17 Women’s Championship
Alajuela, Costa Rica
PURA VIDA IN COSTA RICA: After three days of training in beautiful weather, the U.S. Under-17 Women’s National team is ready to begin its quest for a berth to the 2010 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup being held in September in Trinidad & Tobago. To do that, the U.S. team must finish in the top two at the CONCACAF U-17 Women’s Championships being played in Alajuela, Costa Rica, just outside of the capital of San Jose. All the matches will be played on artificial turf at Alejandro Morera Soto Stadium with the USA beginning the tournament against Haiti on Wednesday, March 10 at 6 p.m. ET. The match will be streamed live on CONCACAF.com but fans can also follow in real time via ussoccer.com’s MatchTracker. The U.S. will then face the Cayman Islands at 6 p.m. ET on Friday, March 12, and wrap up Group A play against the hosts Costa Rica at 9:30 p.m. ET on Sunday, March 14. The top two teams in each group will then cross over to play in the all-important semifinals on March 18 with the winners of those matches earning a berth to T&T. For a complete schedule, results and other information on the tournament and the U.S. U-17s, go to the CONCACAF U-17 Women’s Championship page on ussoccer.com.
WATCH ALL THE U-17 WNT QUALIFYING GAMES LIVE ON CONCACAF.COM: U.S. Soccer fans will have the opportunity to watch all of the U.S. Under-17 WNT games during the CONCACAF Women's Under-17 Championship in Costa Rica live via streaming video at CONCACAF.com. All of the matches at the CONCACAF U-20 Women’s Championship in January from Guatemala were also streamed live to very positive reviews, so this will be the second time a continental confederation has offered free comprehensive live coverage of a youth tournament online. The service is free with fans required to register on the site. All 16 games will be available live at CONCACAF.com's video portal, CONCACAF TV, and will also be viewable on-demand at the same location shortly after the conclusion of each match.
USA U-17 WNT ON FOX SOCCER CHANNEL: In addition to CONCACAF’s extensive online coverage of the tournament, the final two Group A matches for the USA will be shown on Fox Soccer Channel, both on a tape-delayed basis. The USA-Cayman Islands match on March 12 will air at 8 p.m. ET on a two-hour delay while the USA-Costa Rica clash on March 14 will air the following day (March 15) at 3 p.m. ET. Should the USA advance to the semifinal and/or final, those matches will also be shown on Fox Soccer Channel.
2010 CONCACAF U-17 Women’s Championship Group A Schedule
Date
Match
Time (ET)
TV
Venue
March 10
Haiti vs. United States
6 p.m.
CONCACAF.com
Alejandro Morera Soto Stadium, Alajuela
Costa Rica vs. Cayman Islands
8:30 p.m.
CONCACAF.com
Alejandro Morera Soto Stadium, Alajuela
March 12
United States vs. Cayman Islands
6 p.m.
CONCACAF.com (FSC, 8 p.m. taped delay)
Alejandro Morera Soto Stadium, Alajuela
Costa Rica vs. Haiti
8:30 p.m.
CONCACAF.com
Alejandro Morera Soto Stadium, Alajuela
March 14
Cayman Islands vs. Haiti
7 p.m.
CONCACAF.com
Alejandro Morera Soto Stadium, Alajuela
Costa Rica vs. United States
9:30 p.m.
CONCACAF.com (FSC, 3 p.m. ET March 15 taped delay)
Alejandro Morera Soto Stadium, Alajuela
GOING FOR CONCACAF GOLD, AGAIN: The U.S. Under-17 Women’s National Team won the first CONCACAF U-17 Women’s Championship two years ago in Trinidad & Tobago, rolling through the first round with a 6-0 victory against Costa Rica, a 9-0 win against El Salvador and a 9-1 win against T&T. The USA defeated Mexico, 1-0, in the semifinal on a late goal from Crystal Dunn to earn its berth to the Women’s World Cup, then downed Costa Rica (a surprise winner over Canada in the other semifinal) by a 4-1 score to take the regional title. Amazingly, 14 different U.S. players scored during the tournament, including a combined 17 goals from current U.S. U-20 Women’s National Team players Samantha Mewis, Kristie Mewis, Courtney Verloo, Vicki DiMartino, Amber Brooks and Dunn. Current U.S. U-17 midfielder Morgan Brian, who is the only holdover from the the team that triumphed in T&T, also had a goal, scoring against El Salvador.
U.S. Under-17 Women’s National Team Roster By Position
GOALKEEPERS (3): Bryane Heaberlin (Clearwater Chargers; St. Petersburg, Fla.), Abby Smith (Dallas Texans; Dallas, Texas), Caroline Stanley (KCFC Alliance; Kansas City, Mo.)
DEFENDERS (5): Olivia Brannon (Michigan Jags; Troy, Mich.), Abby Dahlkemper (MVLA Avalanche; Menlo Park, Calif.), Jaelene Hinkle (Real Colorado; Denver, Colo.), Laura Liedle (San Diego Surf; San Diego, Calif.), Cari Roccaro (Albertson Fury; East Islip, N.Y.)
MIDFIELDERS (7): Morgan Brian (Ponte Vedra Storm; St. Simons Island, Ga.), Kaysie Clark (KC Select Scream; Liberty, Mo.), Alex Doll (Bethesda SC; Bethesda, Md.), Isabel Farrell (Crossfire; Bellevue, Wash.), Cassie Pecht (Baltimore Bays; Mechanicsburg, Pa.), Kaili Torres (Ponte Vedra Storm; Orange Park, Fla.), Clarissa Wedemeyer (Dallas Texans; Colleyville, Texas)
FORWARDS (5): Jennifer Gonzalez (Arsenal FC; Alta Loma, Calif.), Lindsey Horan (Colorado Rush; Golden, Colo.), Havana Solaun (KYX Kicks Elite; Gainesville, Fla.), Taylor Smith (Solar Red; Ft. Worth, Texas), Ashley Spivey (Baltimore Soccer Bays; Baltimore, Md.)
U.S. U-17 WNT Quick Hits
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Midfielder Morgan Brian is the most capped player at the U-17 level on the roster, having played 12 international matches and scored seven goals.
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Aside from Brian, only two players have scored more than once in a U-17 international match, that being midfielder Kaysie Clark and forward Lindsey Horan, who have two goals each.
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The only two players on the roster who have not been capped at the international level are forwards Jennifer Gonzalez and Taylor Smith.
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The U.S. roster features players from 11 different states, including three each from youth soccer hotbeds Florida, California and Texas.
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Eighteen different youth clubs are represented with Brian and Kaili Torres both playing for the Ponte Vedra Storm and Clarissa Wedemeyer and Abby Smith who are both Dallas Texans.
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The U.S. features a tall side with eight players 5-feet, 7-inches or above.
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The U.S. U-17s are 4-0-0 in 2010, having defeated Germany’s U-17s twice and the U-16s once during a camp in Florida in early February and beat the University of Miami 3-0 during a camp in Florida in late February.
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In 2009, the U-17s went 7-2-2 overall and 4-2-1 in international matches. Brian led the team in scoring last year with six goals.
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The U.S. has already had to deal with injuries as potential starting flank midfielder Caprice Dydasco out of Hawaii tore her ACL during the last training camp, forcing her to miss the qualifying tournament and, if the USA qualifies, the World Cup as well.
BREAKING IT DOWN IN COSTA RICA: The 2010 CONCACAF Under-17 Women’s Championship is an eight-team tournament that will send just two nations to Trinidad & Tobago. Two years ago, CONCACAF sent three countries to New Zealand, but because this time around a CONCACAF country is hosting the Women’s World Cup and thus gets an automatic berth, only two spots are available through this tournament. The 16-game competition will consist of two groups of four teams each with the top two finishers after group play advancing to the semifinals. The group winners will play the runners-up from the opposite group on March 18, with the championship and third-place matches set for March 20. Both semifinal matches and the tournament final will be televised on a delayed basis by Fox Soccer Channel and all matches will be streamed live at CONCACAF.com.
EL ESTADIO DEL MAGO DEL BALON: All the matches will be played at Alejandro Morera Soto Stadium, which seats just less than 18,000. The stadium is home to the first division club LD Alajuelense and was named after perhaps the best and most important player in Costa Rican history who played for Alajuelense and FC Barcelona. During his playing days from 1925-1947, Soto was known as “El Mago del Balon,” or “The Wizard of the Ball,” for his superior skills with the soccer ball.
UP FIRST, MATCH WITH MEANING AGAINST HAITI: The first opponent for the U.S. U-17 WNT is Haiti, which has come to Costa Rica despite the tremendous adversity back in their country after the January 12 earthquake. You can read some thoughts from the U.S. players and head coach Kazbek Tambi on Haiti’s unexpected and inspirational participation in the tournament, but all the U.S. players know there is an important match to play. Haiti qualified for this tournament by finishing first in its group during the Caribbean first round qualifying. Haiti started its qualifying campaign with a 24-0 victory (that is not a typo) against the British Virgin Islands, defeated the Bahamas 5-0 and then defeated the Cayman Islands 1-0. Roselord Borgella scored eight goals vs. BVI, Iyves-Laure Jean scored five and Hayana Jean-Francois scored four as Haiti started scoring in the 20th minute and didn’t stop until the 90th. Bordello and Francois combined for three of the five vs. Bahamas with Yolande Merone scoring the other two while Merone scored the lone goal vs. the Caymans in the 58th minute. The USA faced Haiti in qualifying for the 2002 FIFA U-19 Women’s World Cup in a match played in T&T and came away with a 5-0 victory. The full U.S. WNT has faced Haiti twice, both in qualifying tournaments, and the most recent actually took place in Costa Rica. The USA defeated Haiti 10-0 back in 1991 during a qualifying tournament for the 1991 FIFA Women’s World Cup in a match that was played in Port-au-Prince and then again during qualifying for the 2004 Olympics, an 8-0 win in Heredia, Costa Rica.
Haiti U-17 WNT Roster By Position
GOALKEEPERS (2): 1-Alexandra Coby, 30-Madeline Delice;
DEFENDERS (5): 3-Sobonie Derosin, 4-Marie-Carmelle Jeudi, 5-Roseline Yacinthe, 8-Gerthrude Saint-Jacques, 17-Nahomie Francois
MIDFIELDERS (10): 2-Belise Casseus, 6-Jean-Baptiste Dieunise, 9-Sindy Jeune, 10-Hayana Jean-Francois, 11-Clorene Rateau, 12-Elucie Breneus, 14-Melissa Peirre-Louis, 16-Rosemonde Rejoui, 18-Roselord Borgella, 20-Clarette Rateau
FORWARDS (3): 13-Yvrose Gervil, 15-Yves-Laure Jean, 21-Yolande Merone
FROGS AND BLOGS: You can catch up with the U.S. U-17 WNT through the U.S. YNT Blog and find out why the mascot for the tournament is pretty to look at, but you wouldn’t want to touch one. The YNT Blog will feature photos from training and any off the field exploits that merit a mention as the young Americans try to qualify for the 2010 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup.
QUESTIONS FOR KAZ: U.S. Under-17 head coach Kazbek Tambi is coaching in his second CONCACAF U-17 Women’s Championships after leading the team to the title during the inaugural tournament two years ago in T&T. Tambi talks about putting his team together for this cycle and previews the tournament in this Q&A on ussoccer.com.
FUENTE Y FOTO : USSOCCER.COM
