| From US Soccer
Communications
CHICAGO Ill.. — The U.S. Women’s National
Team’s highly anticipated “Fan Celebration Tour” will travel
through 10 American cities this Fall, beginning with a Sept. 25 match at
Frontier Field in Rochester, N.Y. The match in Rochester sold out on Saturday
just a few hours after tickets went on sale to the general public.
The tour was scheduled in the wake of the USA’s
emotional 2-1 Gold Medal overtime victory over Brazil at the 2004 Olympics
on Aug. 26 in Athens, Greece, which was a sweet return to the top of the
women’s soccer mountain for the U.S. WNT, who previously won the Olympic
Gold in the USA in 1996 and FIFA Women’s World Cup crowns in 1991 and
1999.
Following the sold-out kickoff match on Sept. 25 in
Rochester, the hometown of U.S. Olympic hero Abby Wambach, the tour will
immediately embark for the U.S. Women’s National Team’s first-ever
match in Western Pennsylvania as the city of Pittsburgh and Heinz Field host
the team on Wednesday, Sept. 29.
The team will travel west for the third scheduled match
on the tour, which is slated for PGE Park in Portland, Ore., on Oct. 3, site
of FIFA Women’s World Cup games in both 1999 and 2003. The tour then
proceeds rapidly through four cities in the Midwest: Cincinnati (Oct. 10
at Paul Brown Stadium), Kansas City (Oct. 16 at Arrowhead Stadium), Chicago
(Oct. 20 at Soldier Field) and Houston (Oct. 24 at Reliant Stadium).
The match in Cincinnati will be played more than 11
years after the team’s only previous visit to the city, a 7-0 victory
over Canada at Galbreath Field on June 12, 1993. The game in Kansas City
will be a doubleheader with the Kansas City Wizards, kicking off on Oct.
16 at 5 p.m. CT, just hours before the Wizards season finale against the
Los Angeles Galaxy.
Chicago, the home base for U.S. Soccer, has been a wonderful
venue for the U.S. in the past, hosting a thundering U.S. victory over Nigeria
during the 1999 Women’s World Cup and a friendly against Germany as
recently as 2001. The match on Oct. 23 will be the team’s first at Reliant
Stadium in Houston.
The first November date on the tour will see the U.S.
at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., on Nov. 3, a return to the venue
that kick-started the 1999 Women’s World Cup by hosting the
tournament’s sold-out opening game in front of 78,972 fans. A second
match during the month is slated for Nov. 6 at a venue to be named shortly.
The tour will conclude with a final match in December at a venue still to
be finalized.
As it becomes available, schedule and ticket information
for all 10 matches on the “Fan Celebration Tour” will be released
to registered fans at ussoccer.com. The public sale for tickets at Heinz
Field in Pittsburgh, PGE Park in Portland and Giants Stadium in New Jersey
will begin this Friday through ussoccer.com and local Ticketmaster outlets
in each market.
The entire “Fan Celebration Tour” marks one
final chance for the U.S. Women's National Team’s legion of diehard
supporters to see this group of special players on the international soccer
stage. The players and fans alike will be able to celebrate the U.S. legacy
that includes two Women's World Cup championships, two Gold Medal victories
and top three finishes in each of their seven FIFA world championship
events.
In addition to the celebrated retirements of Joy Fawcett,
Julie Foudy and Mia Hamm, the 2004 Gold Medal winners also include veteran
defender Brandi Chastain, midfielder Kristine Lilly and goalkeeper Briana
Scurry, as well as the USA’s new Gold Medal and FIFA Women’s World
Cup heroes: Wambach, Shannon Boxx, and Cat Reddick.
2004 “Fan Celebration Tour” Schedule
# Date Opponent Venue; City Kickoff (local)
1 Sat., Sept. 25 Iceland Frontier Field; Rochester,
N.Y. 7:30 p.m. ET
2 Wed., Sept. 29 Iceland Heinz Field; Pittsburgh, Pa.
7:30 p.m. ET
3 Sun., Oct. 3 New Zealand PGE Park; Portland, Ore.
5 p.m. PT
4 Sun., Oct. 10 New Zealand Paul Brown Stadium; Cincinnati,
Ohio TBD
5 Sat., Oct. 16 Mexico Arrowhead Stadium; Kansas City,
Mo. 5 p.m. CT
6 Wed., Oct. 20 Ireland Soldier Field; Chicago, Ill.
7:30 p.m. CT
7 Sat., Oct. 23 Ireland Reliant Stadium; Houston, Texas
7 p.m. CT
8 Wed., Nov. 3 Denmark Giants Stadium; East Rutherford,
N.J. 7:30 p.m. ET
9 Sat., Nov. 6 Denmark TBD TBD
10 TBD TBD TBD TBD
--ussoccer.com-- |
