The ninth annual SheBelieves Cup appears a little bit totally different this 12 months. The U.S. ladies’s nationwide crew will sq. off in opposition to Japan to open the event on Saturday in Atlanta, GA the place a record-setting crowd for a ladies’s soccer pleasant is anticipated to attend with 48,452 tickets already offered. The USWNT will host Brazil, Canada, and Japan, however will solely face two of the groups because the 4 squads compete for the title. 

As a substitute of the standard round-robin fashion event, the competitors will start Saturday with a semifinal spherical, after which conclude on Tuesday with a third-place match and closing. Group USA will open the occasion in opposition to Japan and face both Brazil or Canada within the subsequent spherical. 

Saturday will mark the fortieth all-time assembly between Japan and USA, and the fourth SheBelieves Cup matchup between the 2 sides. It is the second most typical matchup within the event, trailing USA-England with 5 conferences. The USWNT leads the all-time collection in opposition to Japan a with 30W-1L-8D file, they usually’re unbeaten within the final 12 conferences in opposition to Japan, together with the 2012 Olympic closing and the 2015 FIFA Ladies’s World Cup closing. 

Here is what to know concerning the upcoming match:

Viewing data

• Date: Saturday, April 6| Time: 12:30 p.m. ET
• Place: Mercedes-Benz Stadium — Atlanta, Georgia
• TV: TNT
• Stream: MAX

What they’re saying

Interim head coach Twila Kilgore on dealing with Japan: “We have seen them play a five-back in opposition to us the final time we performed them. They constructed with three for lots of the World Cup. Just lately, they’ve been constructing with 4. One thing that makes them a problem is that they do all of these issues nicely. In order we work via what we anticipate, what we’ll do, our what-if situations — what we name it inside our crew — there’s a big number of issues to cowl. They usually’re harmful, and all these issues, however that is precisely what we would like. These are the kind of challenges we love. Our crew is basically excited to step on the sector and check among the issues that we have been engaged on in opposition to a very formidable opponent.”

Storylines

USWNT: The group is in good kind after their 20204 Concacaf W Gold Cup win in March. SheBelieves Cup comes only a month later, with groups and new challenges, together with some controversy round Korbin Albert’s social media interactions with anti-LGBTQ+ content material throughout her private accounts. 

She issued an apology on Instagram after former USWNT participant Megan Rapinoe criticized Albert’s exercise and Rapinoe’s assertion was shared by a number of present and former USWNT gamers. So far as crew chemistry, captain Lindsey Horan and Alex Morgan addressed the scenario saying there are ongoing crew discussions and that these would stay inside. Interim head coach Twila Kilgore has additionally emphasised the gamers’ sentiments.

Tactically, Kilgore and the squad will possible work on ball development and adaptableness, so search for the crew to try to do extra with the ball since Japan is comfy with and with out it.  

Japan: Head coach Futoshi Ikeda is bringing a younger core to the event, with 14 gamers on the roster from final 12 months’s SheBelieves Cup event. The 23-player squad options only one participant over the age of 30, 33-year-old defender Saki Kumaga, and 12 gamers below the age of 25, with three youngsters — defender Rion Ishikawa, midfielder Aoba Fujino and ahead Maika Hamano.

The crew has already certified for the 2024 Paris Olympics and can also be utilizing SheBelieves as a possibility for Olympic analysis with the Summer time Video games simply 4 months away. American followers will likely be acquainted with Hina Sugita who performs membership soccer with Portland Thorns FC, and there are additionally six gamers within the squad enjoying in England. 

The group will current a scientific problem in opposition to america with their tactical consciousness and comfortability on either side of the ball. 

Prediction

Search for this one to be a extra methodical chess match as each squads attempt to determine one another out. Choose: USWNT 1, Japan 1, USA advance on penalties.