
The U.S. Women’s National Team will play two games against Mexico in July at Rentschler Field in preparation for the Olympics. (Photo courtesy U.S. Women’s National Team)
In preparation for the upcoming Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo, the United State women’s national soccer team will play a pair of games against Mexico at Rentschler Field in East Hartford on July 1 and July 5.
“These are games to work on the final details, to once again give our players a chance to play with their position groups and areas on the field and to make sure our fitness is in the right place heading into our pre-Olympic training camp,” said U.S. Women’s National Team head coach Vlatko Andonovski.
“Mexico is a team that has larger ambitions as it prepares for the run-up to the 2023 Women’s World Cup so we know they will give us two tough tests, which is what we need to continue to sharpen our team before we leave for Japan,” he said.
The American team will be comprised of their 18-woman Olympic squad. The Olympics will be July 23 through August 8 in Japan.
For both matches, tickets will be available at near full capacity for Pratt & Whitney Stadium at Rentschler Field. Ticketing information for both games will be released soon.
Trumbull native Alyssa Naeher, the starting goalie for the U.S. national team the past four years, is looking to make her second Olympic appearance.
The Americans have played seven matches at Rentschler Field, going 4-0-3. The most recent game was a 1-1 tie with Australia in July 2018. In 2004, the United States played a Send-Off Game against China at Rentschler Field before going to the Olympic Games in Athens where the Americans won their second gold medal.
The games against Mexico will be played at the same venue to enable a more efficient execution of U.S. Soccer’s COVID-19 protocols.
Once the two teams arrive in Connecticut, the players and staff members of the two teams will operate inside highly controlled environments for the duration of the two-game event.
Training and the matches will fall under the comprehensive U.S. Soccer Return to Play Protocols and Guidelines and in accordance with the Concacaf Return to Play Protocols. Everyone entering the controlled environment will be tested for COVID-19 before traveling, upon arrival and periodically thereafter. The teams will not begin full team training until the results of all arrival tests are confirmed.
The July 1 match will be on FS1 and TUDN with a 7 p.m. kickoff with the July 5 match broadcast on ESPN and TUDN beginning at 5 p.m.
Gerry deSimas, Jr., is the editor and founder of The Collinsville Press. He is an award-winning writer and has been covering sports in Connecticut and New England for more than 40 years. He was inducted into the New England High School Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2018.


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