US Women Face Sweden In Omaha Tuesday July 13th

Alie Krieger, FFC Frankfurt

CHICAGO (June 28, 2010) – U.S. Women’s National Team head coach Pia Sundhage has called up 24 players for the USA’s two matches against Sweden taking place on July 13 in Omaha, Neb. at Creighton University’s Morrison Stadium, live on ESPN2 at 8 p.m. CT, and on July 17 at Rentschler Field in East Hartford, Conn., live on Fox Soccer Channel at 6:30 p.m. CT.

Tickets for both matches start at $18 and are on sale through ussoccer.com, by phone at 1-800-745-3000 and at all Ticketmaster ticket centers throughout the local areas. Groups of 20 or more can obtain an order form at ussoccer.com or call 312-528-1290.

The USA and Sweden, home country of U.S. head coach Pia Sundhage, have met three times since Sundhage took over the helm of the U.S. team, with the USA winning twice and tying once. The draw came in the championship game of the 2009 Algarve Cup in Portugal, a match in which the USA eventually fell after penalty kicks.

“Sweden is one of the world’s high-ranked teams and we have not played very well against them the last couple of times, so that will inspire our players to play well,” said Sundhage. “It is always good to play against a top European team and defensively it will be good to see how we do against the fast and clever players that Sweden has up top. We also get to play two games, so some players who maybe have not gotten to play 90 minutes in a while for the national team may get to play an entire game.”

Twenty-two of the 24 players called up come from WPS; the exceptions being forward Alex Morgan, a rising senior at California, and FFC Frankfurt defender Ali Krieger, the only foreign-based player currently in the U.S. WNT player pool. Against Germany in May, Krieger played her first match for the USA since January of 2008. Krieger is a graduate of Penn State where she won 4 straight Big Ten titles while playing for Ann Cook (Glendale), a Penn State Assistant.