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If you thought the WNT would lie idle in between big tournaments, or go more than a month without friendlies, you thought wrong (so far). The team is staying busy with two friendlies in October against Switzerland and now two friendlies announced for November against Romania.
Romania’s WNT is ranked #36 by FIFA and they’ve never played the US before. They’re currently in the middle of trying to qualify for the 2017 UEFA Euros and beat Ukriane 2-1 and Greece 4-0 in September.
Still, this isn’t exactly top tier competition for the WNT. On the other hand, top tier competition may not necessarily be what the team needs right now, depending on who gets called in for that November camp. We’ve already seen Jill Ellis shake up the roster with her October callups, essentially giving several veteran players like Alex Morgan and Julie Johnston an extended vacation while evaluating new names like Danielle Colaprico, Casey Short, and Kealia Ohai.
Continuing to call up the players who do well in October camp to help give them some consistency at the highest level and keep a closer eye on their development and potential integration into the senior squad is a good thing, and slowly dipping them into the water against Romania as opposed to blasting them with the fire hose that is France or Germany is a luxury the team can afford in the long preparatory period for 2019.
Game 1: Thursday, November 10:00 PM ET
Avaya Stadium, San Jose, California
ESPN2
Game 2: Sunday, November 13, 10:30 PM ET
StubHub Center, Carson, California
FS1