US Women to Play Summer Series in Texas Ahead of Olympics

The U.S. women's national team will play Portugal, Jamaica and Nigeria during a five-match Summer Series next month in Texas.

U.S. coach Vlatko Andonovski will use the matches as a final evaluation before he names an 18-player Olympic roster. The United States also plans to play two as-yet unannounced Tokyo sendoff matches in July.

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Andonovski said in a video conference with reporters Thursday that he plans to call up 24 players for the Texas matches.

“It is very important that we start synchronizing our lines and the players that are going to play together, or we believe are going to play the majority of the minutes, in the Olympics,” he said. “So we’re going to try to get some of those players a little bit more minutes, but there will be players that we’re probably going to have to see one last time before we announce the roster as well.”

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The Summer Series is not a tournament and no standings will be kept. The matches will be treated as friendlies, with the United States and Nigeria each playing three matches, and Portugal and Jamaica playing two apiece. The United States is the only team in the group headed to the Tokyo Games this summer.

Four matches will be played on June 10 and June 13 in Houston. The new Q2 Stadium in Austin will host a match June 16 between the U.S. and Nigeria, the first time the two teams have met outside an international competition.

The game will also be the first soccer match held at Q2, the home of Major League Soccer expansion club Austin FC. Austin FC will play its first game in the stadium three days later.