Brazil is Coming!
In what is shaping up to be an amazing November if you are a soccer fan in Florida, US Soccer has just announced that The Brazil Women’s National Team will face Alex Morgan, Abby Wambach, Hope Solo and the rest of the USWNT in Orlando on November 10th.
The match will kick off at 3:30 p.m. ET and will be broadcast on NBC.
The meeting of the world’s top-ranked U.S. team against fourth-ranked Brazil marks the first match between the countries in the United States since 2008, when the USA pulled out a 1-0 victory in San Diego during the game in which Abby Wambach broke her leg. The teams have played three times since: in Beijing, China, at the 2008 Olympic gold medal game; in Dresden, Germany, during the historic 2011 FIFA Women’s World Cup quarterfinal; and in Chiba, Japan, during an international tournament in April 2012.
“Over the last several years, there’s been an intense rivalry between the two countries and a series of games that have been very tightly contested, highly competitive and of course extremely dramatic,” said U.S. head coach Tom Sermanni. “It will be a fantastic game to finish the year off.”
In support of the match, U.S. Soccer is working closely with the Orlando City Soccer Club, the reigning USL PRO champion, which played its matches at the Citrus Bowl for the past three seasons.
“Orlando City SC is thrilled to help bring the U.S. Women’s National Team to Orlando,” said Orlando City President Phil Rawlins. “Since our organization launched in 2011, our goal has been to grow the sport of soccer in Central Florida. Successfully hosting this match will be yet another step forward in Orlando City’s goal of being announced this year as the next Major League Soccer (MLS) Expansion Club.”
The match will be the USA’s first visit to Orlando and the Citrus Bowl since May 22, 1999, when the Americans also played Brazil. That 3-0 U.S. victory featured Mia Hamm scoring her 108th-career goal to break the international scoring record.
The U.S. Women have a historic bond with the Orlando, having staged Residency Training Camp there for the 1995 and 1999 FIFA Women’s World Cup tournaments, as well as the 1996 Olympics. The USA also played its first two Olympic matches at the Citrus Bowl in 1996, a 3-0 defeat of Denmark and a 2-1 victory against Sweden. The USA would go on to win the gold medal in the first Olympics in which women’s soccer was contested.
The WNT also played at the Citrus Bowl on Aug. 2, 1998, a 4-0 victory against Canada in what was the first match of a doubleheader with the third Major League Soccer All-Star Game.
Tickets for the Women’s National Team game go on sale to the public Thursday, Oct. 17, at 10 a.m. ET through ussoccer.com, by phone at 1-800-745-3000 and at all Ticketmaster ticket centers throughout Central Florida (including many Walmart locations), as well as the Amway Center ticket office (open Monday-Friday 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.) [Note: Tickets are not sold at the Florida Citrus Bowl except on the day of the event.]
Also coming to Florida is the Men’s National Team, which will be in Miami on November 16 for their match against Honduras.
The match will mark the first time Brazil’s National Team has played in Miami since the 2003 Gold Cup quarterfinals played at the Orange Bowl in front of 51,000 fans.
Brazil comes to the United States after winning the 2013 Confederations Cup on home soil in June with a 3-0 win over Spain in the final. Brazil is the only national team to win the FIFA World Cup five times and is currently led by new FC Barcelona signing, Neymar. Managed by 2002 World Cup winning coach Luis Felipe Scolari, the side also features Paris-Saint Germain defender Thiago Silva, FC Barcelona right-back Dani Alves, Chelsea defender David Luiz, Zenit St. Petersburg forward Hulk and Chelsea midfielder Oscar amongst numerous star players.
Tickets for the Men’s National Team, starting at $35, will be available to the general public beginning October 10th at 10:00am at Ticketmaster.com or by calling the stadium box office at 305-943-6311.