- USA face England in SheBelieves Cup opener on Thursday night
- Americans defeated Lionesses in World Cup semi-final last year
- Tweet Bryan at @BryanAGraham or email him
USA and England are set to kick off in about 10 minutes. Our Suzanne Wrack is on the ground in Orlando and checks in with the following dispatch:
In the fading light of downtown Orlando fans have begun to flow into the purple seats of the Exploria Stadium. A healthy smattering of fans braved the heat for the earlier fixture between Spain and Japan. The floodlights are on for the big one. This is the first meeting of the US and England since their World Cup semi-final encounter. There was a huge roar as the USWNT players entered the pitch to warm up. The big shock is that once again Megan Rapinoe sits this tie out. Then, it was with a hamstring strain. This time the forward is not injured but the US are being careful with the veteran star.
Neville has stuck to his guns in blooding young talent with Leah Williamson and Georgia Stanway in and 19-year-old Lauren Hemp making her first start. Beth England misses out on a start, presumably because she played in the intense Continental Cup final at the weekend … then again, so did Millie Bright and Williamson.
Here’s a look at tonight’s teams. Megan Rapinoe will start out on the bench for the world champions, while rising Manchester City star Lauren Hemp gets her first start for the Lionesses in a signpost of Phil Neville’s youth movement.
Written by Bryan Armen Graham
This news first appeared on https://www.theguardian.com/football/live/2020/mar/05/shebelieves-cup-uswnt-v-england-live under the title “SheBelieves Cup: USA v England – live!”. Bolchha Nepal is not responsible or affiliated towards the opinion expressed in this news article.
