US women head to New Zealand for January training camp

Posted November 02, 2022 7:00 am

By The Associated Press

United States' Trinity Rodman, left, and United States' Lindsey Horan react during the women's friendly soccer match between England and the US at Wembley stadium in London, Friday, Oct. 7, 2022. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth) The Associated Press

The U.S. women's national team will hold its traditional January training camp in New Zealand and play a pair of exhibition games against the island country's national team.

Both teams are preparing for next summer's World Cup, co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand. The U.S. women have won the last two World Cups, and four overall.

The matches against New Zealand are scheduled for Jan. 18 in Wellington and Jan. 21 in Auckland. The games will take place in the two stadiums that the United States will visit during the group stage of the World Cup.

'œWe will get some quality training time together and have two tough matches against a great opponent that is hosting the World Cup," U.S. coach Vlatko Andonovski said in a statement on Wednesday. "We also get to experience the long travel and familiarize ourselves with the host cities, the stadiums, the training grounds and the culture, and hopefully we'll play in front of some big crowds supporting the home team. It will be a great way to start the year.'ť

The U.S., No. 1 in the FIFA rankings, finishes the year with matches against Germany on Nov. 10 at Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and on Nov. 13 at Harrison, New Jersey. Its current two-game skid is its first in 5 1/2 years.

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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

United States' Sophia Smith celebrates with teammates after scoring her side's opening goal during the women's friendly soccer match between England and the US at Wembley stadium in London, Friday, Oct. 7, 2022. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth) The Associated Press

United States' Sophia Smith, left, celebrates with teammates after scoring her side's opening goal during the women's friendly soccer match between England and the US at Wembley stadium in London, Friday, Oct. 7, 2022. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth) The Associated Press

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