USA women will play Chile in final tuneup matches for Concacaf qualifiers

• by Ridge Mahoney  @ridgemax, Jun 12, 2018

Not many teams have never played the USA women, but such an opponent will face the Americans twice in California during their final preparations for the Concacaf World Cup qualifying tournament.

U.S. Soccer announced Monday it has scheduled matches against Chile for Aug. 31 at StubHub Center in Carson and Sept. 4 at Avaya Stadium in San Jose. The games precede the Concacaf qualifiers to be played in Cary, N.C. Oct. 4.-17, and will follow the Tournament of Nations series against Japan, Australia and Brazil in late July and early August.

Chile will be the 52nd national team to play the USA since the women's program was launched in 1985. The Americans have previously played only three national teams from South America: Brazil, Colombia, and Argentina.

In April, Chile hosted the Copa América Femenina and clinched a berth in the 2019 Women's World Cup by finishing second behind fellow qualifier Brazil. A 4-0 defeat of Argentina in front of a raucous crowd in La Serena secured a spot in France. It is one of eight nations (in a 24-team field) to have qualified and will be competing in its first WWC.

“It's exciting for the players and staff to face a new opponent,” said head coach Jill Ellis in a U.S. Soccer press release. “Chile hosted the Under-20 Women's World Cup in 2008 and clearly that event positively impacted the current generation, because they've qualified for France. It will be great preparation to play a South American team as we head into a final preparation phase for our own qualification this October."

The U.S. women defeated China, 1-0, on Saturday in the first of two friendlies. The nations meet again Tuesday in Cleveland.