April 11, 2003

CHICAGO - U.S. Women's National Team head coach April Heinrichs has named the 24-woman roster that will train for four days before facing Nigeria in an important Women's World Cup warm-up match at RFK Stadium in Washington D.C. Kickoff is at Noon ET and the match will be televised live on ESPN.

Heinrichs called in all 20 players that helped the USA win the prestigious Algarve Cup in Portugal last month, adding midfielder Jena Kluegel (Boston Breakers), forward Abby Wambach (Washington Freedom), defender Thori Bryan (San Jose CyberRays) and goalkeeper LaKeysia Beene (CyberRays). Heinrichs will choose a roster of 18 players to face perennial African champion Nigeria, which won the African Women's Championships late last year to earn a berth to the 2003 Women's World Cup.

The match serves as important Women's World Cup preparation for the U.S. women, who have drawn an African team - Nigeria - in first round play for the last two world championship events, the 1999 Women's World Cup and the 2000 Olympics. Those games were the only meetings in history between the USA and Nigeria. The USA faced Nigeria in the second game of the first round at the 1999 Women's World Cup, allowing a goal just seconds into the match before storming back for an historic 7-1 victory in front of a sold-out crowd at Soldier Field in Chicago. The two teams also met in the "Group of Death" at the 2000 Olympics, with the USA coming away with a 3-1 victory in Melbourne, Australia.

Following the game against Nigeria, the U.S. Women will face England in Birmingham, Ala., on May 17 (in a match being televised live on ESPN at 12 p.m. CT). The U.S. Women will also face South Korea in Salt Lake City, Utah, on June 14 (7 p.m. MT / 9 p.m. ET on ESPN2).

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