USWNT to play 2 friendlies next month in Europe
The United States women’s national team will travel to Europe for the April FIFA window to face Sweden and another unnamed opponent.
The match against Sweden will take place April 10, kicking off at 1 p.m. ET with a live broadcast on FOX. The second match is scheduled for April 13.
Fans will not be admitted to the match in Sweden.
The timing of the international window could cause the Orlando Pride to miss up to three players for the start of the NWSL Challenge Cup. Captains Ashlyn Harris and Ali Krieger and star striker Alex Morgan were allocated for 2021. All three players are vying for places on the Olympic roster.
The Challenge Cup begins April 9 and the final is slated for May 8.
Ranked No. 5 in the FIFA table, Sweden will provide a challenging opponent for the Americans as coach Vlatko Andonovski continues to prepare his final roster for the Tokyo Olympics. The teams last faced off in Andonovski’s first match as head coach in 2019, which resulted in a 3-2 win for the Americans.
Andonovski hasn’t lost a match as the U.S. head coach, most recently leading the team to a sweep of the SheBelieves Cup. The Americans outscored opponents 9-0 in the tournament.
“We want to play as many of the top teams as possible to prepare for the Olympics, and Sweden certainly falls into that category,” Andonovski said. “They are proven winners, have tremendously athletic players, are led by an excellent coach and are tactically savvy and experienced. We need as many tests as possible like the ones we’ll face at the Olympics and these games in Europe will give us that.”