Hope Solo returns to full national team duty with these friendlies against South Korea. (Photo copyright Meg Linehan for The Equalizer.)
FOXBORO, MASS. — The U.S. women’s national team trained at Gillette Stadium in front of a smattering of fans ahead of tomorrow’s match against South Korea.
While the friendly against South Korea isn’t a crucial international date, these two weeks of training will give head coach Tom Sermanni important time to assess his players. Hope Solo is also making her return to full national team duty. The Equalizer spoke with her earlier this week about coming back from wrist surgery.
Solo’s return isn’t the only storyline of the game. Kristie Mewis of Hanson, Mass. can also make her home state debut in tomorrow’s game. Additionally, the team will wear Boston Strong patches on their jerseys in honor of the victims of the Boston Marathon Bombings. The jerseys will be auctioned off for charity after the game.
With the team’s return to the U.S., so comes a renewed focus on Wambach’s goal scoring and closing in on Mia Hamm’s record. Wambach isn’t really interested in records right now, though. “I’m sure I’m going to be glad to be done with it,” she said today. “You know, I’m excited for people to not talk about it as much.”
Wambach then stressed she wants the focus on the strength of the team, and indeed, she had spent much of her own time with the media highlighting the accomplishments of fellow strikers Alex Morgan and Sydney Leroux.
Alex Morgan, Ali Krieger, and Abby Wambach spoke with media before this morning’s practice on a number of topics. All three spoke about the setting of the game, the Boston Strong patches, and how it was important for the team and U.S. Soccer to give back to the city of Boston.
