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US Soccer has been teasing a last set of friendlies for the USWNT before they depart for the Olympics and finally confirmed today that the team will play Japan on June 2 at Dick's Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City, Colorado.
The game is scheduled for 9 PM ET and will air live on FS1.
USA vs. Japan falls in an empty NWSL window; as promised, league scheduling should not overlap with any national team games this season. With NWSL off from May 30 to June 9, there will be at least one more game between the United States and Japan in that window.
In case you forgot, the United States faced Japan in the last Women's World Cup final, when Carli Lloyd decided she had had enough of anything resembling suspense and scored a decisive hat trick on the way to a 5-2 final scoreline. They also beat Japan in the last Olympics, and lost to them in the 2011 WWC. So there's some history there.
Interestingly enough, Japan won't be going to the Olympics this year as they fell apart in slightly astonishing manner during AFC qualifying. They lost to both Australia and China PR and only managed a tie with South Korea, with wins over Vietnam and North Korea not enough to boost them into the top two. Australia and China PR will represent the AFC's allotted slots at the Olympics and World Cup finalists and Olympic silver medalists Japan will be taking a long, hard look at their program, especially after the resignation of head coach Norio Sasaki.
These last friendlies will set the tone for the US before they leave for Rio. Jill Ellis should have her final roster of 18 by then and Japan, regardless of their struggles, will test the WNT's ability to break down a technical, passing team.