Being able to wear the U.S. crest and represent your country playing the sport you love is an honor and the opportunity of a lifetime. The U.S. U-20 women’s national team is currently competing in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, at the CONCACAF Women’s U-20 Championship with a spot at the 2020 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup on the line.
The support and admiration for women’s football has grown immensely around the world. The rise of women in sports has progressed over the years, and it’s amazing to see current professionals stepping up and taking a stand for the game they love to create a more prosperous future for aspiring athletes.
The nominations for the BBC Women's Footballer of the Year 2020 have been revealed and the nominees are standouts for both country and club. The five contenders were chosen by a group of experts including coaches, players administrators and journalists. Voting is done by the public and closes on Monday, March 2.
The BBC Women's Footballer of the Year nominees are:
As if Kelley O'Hara wasn’t already likable enough.
A beloved USWNT superstar, Kelley O'Hara always brings a smile to those around her. A two-time World Cup champion, she’ll be going for her second Olympic gold medal this summer, the U.S. having just qualified with a win over Mexico on Friday.
Jill Ellis will make an appearance at her old stomping grounds on Saturday, May 16, at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in Memorial Stadium as the 2020 commencement speaker.
Ellis was the USWNT head coach for five years when she won two FIFA Women’s World Cups, two FIFA World Coach of the Year honors and coached 132 USWNT games, which is the most of any coach. She also has the most wins in U.S. soccer history and is the only person to win consecutive Women’s World Cups.
The USWNT and Panama will play under Friday night lights in Houston in attempts to qualify for the Olympics. The USWNT is riding a 24-game winning streak and has scored two or more goals in 21 of those games. It will look to continue its hot streak when it faces Panama to continue Group A play on Friday at 8:30 p.m. ET at BBVA Stadium in Houston. The match can be viewed on Fox Sports Plus and TUDN XTRA 4, as well as streamed on FoxSports.com with an FS1-level login.
Michelle Akers began her career at Shorecrest High School outside of Seattle where she was a three-time All-American. It wasn’t until she attended the University of Central Florida when her career took off, where she became a four-time All-American and all-time leading goal scorer in UCF history. In 1988-89 Akers was named UCF’s Athlete of the Year and became the first woman to receive the Hermann Trophy.
The Super Bowl is around the corner, a time when all Americans gather around a TV to shovel nachos into their mouths while drinking copious amounts of beer, all under the guise of watching that abating sport called American football. Of course, all anyone really cares about, besides the food and beer, is the commercials, and we got our nacho-covered hands on the latest 2020 Budweiser Super Bowl ad on Thursday.
Wendie Renard, one of the best center backs in the game, has lost a major trophy, apparently stolen from her suitcase on a train.
Megan Rapinoe’s remarkable 2019 didn’t come to a close without one more television appearance. Rapinoe made a cameo in a Dec. 22 episode of “The L Word: Generation Q” as a guest on the show “Alice,” talking about everything from locker room celebrations to her own coming out story.