U.S. U-17 Men's National Team and U.S. Women's National Team both to see action Thursday, Oct. 29

Both the U.S. Under-17 Men's National Team and the U.S. Women's National Team will take the field on Thursday, Oct. 29, in drastically different competitions. The U.S. U-17 MNT will face Malawi in the team's second Group E match of the 2009 FIFA U-17 World Cup, while the WNT faces Germany in an international friendly featuring the top two women's teams according to the FIFA Women's World Rankings. For a complete set of pre-game notes for each match, follow the link at the bottom of each set of truncated notes.

U.S. U-17 Men's National Team

FIFA U-17 World Cup

Kano, Nigeria

Oct. 28, 2009

TAKE TWO: The U.S. U-17 Men's National Team will be looking to make up ground in Group E at the 2009 FIFA U-17 World Cup when it takes on Malawi on Thursday, Oct. 29, at 4 p.m. local time (11 a.m. ET) in Kano, Nigeria, live on ESPNU. Following an opening game loss to Spain on Monday, the U.S. is currently in third place in the group, with the top 16 of 24 participating teams advancing to the knock-out phase. On Friday, the Americans will move to Ijebu-Ode to take on United Arab Emirates on Sunday, Nov. 1. The encounter is slated for 4 p.m. local time (10 a.m. ET) and will be broadcast live on ESPNU and Galavision. Fans can also follow on ussocer.com's MatchTracker and at twitter.com/ussoccer.

U.S. U-17 World Cup Schedule

Date           Opponent   Result / Kickoff (ET)       TV                               Venue

Oct. 26      Spain          2-1 L                              ESPNU/Galavision       Sani Abacha Stadium; Kano, Nigeria

Oct. 29      Malawi       4 p.m. (11 a.m.)              ESPNU                        Sani Abacha Stadium; Kano, Nigeria

Nov. 1       UAE          4 p.m. (10 a.m.)              ESPNU/Galavision       Gateway International; Ijebu-Ode, Nigeria

A LOOK AT THE GROUP: Group E continues on Oct. 29 with key matchups on tap. The two game one winners will duke it out on Thursday when UAE takes on Spain in a key second game, while the USA and Malawi will both be playing for the full three points to keep up with the front runners.

Group E Standings

Team    GP       W        L          T          GF       GA       GD       Pts.

UAE    1          1          0          0          2          0          +2        3

ESP     1          1          0          0          2          1          +1        3

USA    1          0          1          0          1          2          -1         0

MWI    1          0          1          0          0          2          -2         0

QUICK HITS:

• All 21 U.S. players are eligible to take the field against Malawi on Thursday.
• Defenders Zachary Herold and Eriq Zavaleta, along with midfielder Marlon Duran, earned cautions against Spain in the team's opener. Another yellow would result in a one-match suspension.
• Malawi's Kondwani Lufeyo and Gastin Simkonda were both sent off during Malawi's opening game against UAE, making them ineligible to take the field against the U.S.
• The United States enters Thursday's match with a 1-6-1 record against African teams at the FIFA U-17 World Cup.
• The U.S. recently faced fellow African qualifier Gambia twice during a 10-day training camp, earning 2-0 and 5-0 wins in September.
• Forward Jack McInerney's fourth-minute goal against Spain was his team-high 10th of the year.
• Overall, the American team is averaging two goals per game, having scored 36 in 18 internationals.
• Monday's loss to Spain was the second to the seven-time European champions this year, with the first coming on Feb. 18 in Madrid.
• Including the two 2-1 losses to Spain, the U.S. has lost only four of the 18 international matches it has played in 2009.
• Ten players on the U.S. roster have been in Residency since the Fall Semester of 2007: Andre Craven, Duran, Earl Edwards, Herold, Stefan Jerome, Perry Kitchen, Carlos Martinez, McInerney, Tyler Polak and Jared Watts.
• Only one player, midfielder William Packwood, is not based full time in U.S. Soccer's Residency Program in Bradenton, Fla. Packwood is based in England and plays in the Birmingham City academy.
• The U.S. defense has posted seven shutouts on the year, including two against fellow World Cup participant Gambia in the two most recent friendlies in September.
• The first three games for the Americans in Nigeria will all be played on an artificial surface, with two matches at Sani Abachi Stadium in Kano and one in Gateway International Stadium in Ijebu-Ode.
• Kano has also hosted the U.S. team at the FIFA U-20 World Cup, which was held in Nigeria in 1999.

Complete U-17 MNT Notes: http://www.ussoccer.com/News/U-17-MNT/2009/10/US-U17-MNT-Set-to-Face-Malawi.aspx

U.S. Women's National Team

Augsburg, Germany

Oct. 28, 2009

USA READY FOR CLASH WITH GERMANY AT SOLD-OUT IMPULS ARENA: After eight days of training in chilly Germany, the U.S. team is primed and ready for its clash with Germany at the newly opened Impuls Arena in Augsburg. The match between the top two teams in the current FIFA Women's World Rankings will kick off at 6 p.m. local time (1 p.m. ET) and fans can follow on ussoccer.com's MatchTracker. It will be the first meeting between the teams since January of 2007 making it 33 months between matches. Since that last game against Germany, which opened the USA's 2007 schedule, the Americans have lost just two matches and tied six while winning 58 games.

U.S. Women's National Team Roster

GOALKEEPERS (2): Nicole Barnhart (FC Gold Pride), Hope Solo (St. Louis Athletica)

DEFENDERS (6): Brittany Bock (Los Angeles Sol), Rachel Buehler (FC Gold Pride), Lori Chalupny (St. Louis Athletica), Amy LePeilbet (Boston Breakers), Heather Mitts (Philadelphia Independence), Cat Whitehill (Washington Freedom)

MIDFIELDERS (7): Yael Averbuch (Sky Blue FC), Shannon Boxx (Los Angeles Sol), Tobin Heath (UNC), Lori Lindsey (Philadelphia Independence), Carli Lloyd (Sky Blue FC), Heather O'Reilly (Sky Blue FC), Kacey White (Sky Blue FC)

FORWARDS (3): Ella Masar (Chicago Red Stars), Amy Rodriguez (Philadelphia Independence), Abby Wambach (Washington Freedom)

GERMANY HOSTS THE WORLD: The 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup will be held in Germany and the USA will get a good taste of the atmosphere that awaits them as a sold-out crowd is expected at Impuls Arena, which will serve as one of the nine venues for the sixth Women's World Cup. The two-time defending champions, hosting on their own soil, will be favorites to hoist a third consecutive trophy, but the Americans will hopefully have something to stay about that. There is no doubt, however, the Germans will run a fantastic Women's World Cup, scheduled for June 26-July 17, 2011, in nine cities: Augsburg, Berlin, Bochum, Dresden, Frankfurt, Leverkusen, Mönchengladbach, Sinsheim and Wolfsburg. The venues are spread out all over Germany. Almost all of the cities will host four matches, but unlike past Women's World Cups, there will be no doubleheaders. The largest stadium is in Berlin (74,244), which will host just the opening game featuring the Germans. The smallest stadium is in Bochum, which seats 23,691. The Women's World Cup Final will take place in Frankfurt (49,240) on July 17. The dates and venues for CONCACAF qualifying have yet to be determined, but the competition will likely be held at the end of 2010. Germany will also host the next FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup, taking place July 13-Aug. 1, 2010.

QUICK HITS:

• Of the 18 players on the roster for the match, just six played against Germany during the last meeting between the teams in January of 2007: Hope Solo, Heather Mitts, Cat Whitehill (who was the U.S. captain), Lori Chalupny , Carli Lloyd (who came off the bench) and Heather O'Reilly.
• The USA's 11 goals this year have been scored by nine different players. Only Shannon Boxx and Megan Rapinoe have two each.
• U.S. goalkeeper Solo has an all-time record of 64-5-9. Nicole Barnhart has never lost a match and is 12-0-1.
• O'Reilly's 25 goals put her 15th on the all-time list. Abby Wambach is tied for fourth all-time in U.S. history with her 100 goals. Along with Lindsay Tarpley (30 goals), they are the only three active U.S. National Team players in the top-15 all-time goal scorers.
• Since returning from her year-long rehabilitation from a knee injury suffered against Australia on April 27 of 2008, Mitts has made a run to and through the Olympics, the Achieve Your Gold Tour, the Algarve Cup and the most recent exhibitions that have seen her start 30 of the 32 games the USA has played.
• The USA has received five yellow cards this year, one each to Boxx, Rachel Buehler, Kendall Fletcher, Rapinoe and Angie Woznuk.
• Of the 193 players who have represented the United States Women's National Team, 80 have scored a goal.
• Heather O'Reilly leads the U.S. team in assists in 2009 with three.
• The USA had five players log 11 multiple-goal matches in 2008, but the USA has not had a player score more than one goal in a match in the last 16 matches. The last player to score more than one goal in a game was Angela Hucles against Japan in the Olympic semifinal on Aug. 18, 2008. The players who scored multiple goals were Amy Rodriguez, Tarpley (three times), Wambach (twice), Natasha Kai (three times) and Hucles.
• Since Pia Sundhage took over the U.S. team in the fall of 2007, she has given seven players their first-ever caps, but just two of them are on the roster for the Germany game. Sundhage's first-cappers are: Buehler, Tina DiMartino, Fletcher, Tobin Heath, Ali Krieger, Christine Nairn and Becky Sauerbrunn.
• The U.S. team has been shutout in a match just seven times in the last 100 international matches, but lost just three of those games. The USA tied Australia 0-0 in October of 2005, tied France 0-0 in January of 2006, tied Germany 0-0 in March of 2006 (in a game the USA lost in PKs in the Algarve Cup Final), tied Germany 0-0 in January of 2007, lost to Brazil 0-4 in the 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup Final, lost to Norway 0-2 in the first round of the 2008 Olympics and tied South Korea in November of 2008. By contrast, the USA has earned 66 shutouts in its last 100 matches.
• Since the end of the 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup, the USA is 41-1-4.

Complete WNT notes: http://www.ussoccer.com/News/Womens-National-Team/2009/10/US-WNT-Ready-To-Face-Germany-Thursday-Oct-29.aspx