The most recent match against New Zealand was a 4-0 victory in April 2015 in St. Louis.
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The women launch the entire Olympic competition on August 3 with the men opening on August 4. From there, the U.S.travel almost 1,600 miles to Manaus to face Colombia on August 9. “We have a lot of quality players who can take this team very far in the tournament”, the ex-Insurance goalkeeper said.
The Olympic tournaments feature a total of 58 matches, with 32 for the men, and 26 for the women being played in Belo Horizonte, Brasilia, Manaus, Salvador, Sao Paulo plus both the Olympic Stadium (formerly Estadio Havelange) and Maracana in Rio de Janeiro.
Group A hosts Brazil, Iraq, Denmark and South Africa, while Group C has Fiji Islands, Korea Republic, Germany and defending champions Mexico.
The U.S. women are bidding to become the first team to win a World Cup and an Olympic gold medal in successive years. Dunga would not guarantee that superstar Neymar would be included in the team, as the Brazilian Football Federation continues to work with FC Barcelona to release the player for the tournament.
“The reality now is to try to fix up good games prior to the event.to make sure that we get the type of games we need with the opponents we have in our group stage”, Canada coach John Herdman told The Canadian Press.
Germany and France are the Americans’ top two challengers in the tournament, so the draw isn’t ideal. but it won’t be too bad if they can top their group.
The Lady Yanks were drawn into Group G – which is actually just the third of three women’s groups … don’t ask – with France, New Zealand and Colombia.
Taribo also believes that with the right preparations, the U-23 team can compete among the best at the Olympics.
The top two in each of the four groups advance to the quarterfinals starting on August 13. For some, it will be the final chance to lock down quota spots in the Rio Olympic Games. Facing a third place team, then likely Sweden or Brazil in the semifinals before a tough final is not only managable – it’s relatively easy.
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The finals will be played 19th (Womens) and 20th (Mens) of August 2016.
