Jun 03, 2011,
5:04 PM ET
SOCCER
More than 60,000 flag-waving spectators at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass., and a national TV audience will be watching Saturday, when the U.S. men’s national soccer team takes on 2010 FIFA World Cup champion Spain in a friendly.
“A great opportunity for us against the top team in the world,” said U.S. team captain and defender Carlos Bocanegra, a two-time MLS Defender of the Year.
Interest is high for the game, which will be played at the home of the NFL’s New England Patriots. Ticket sales have already set a New England record for an appearance by the national team. The U.S. has never previously played Spain in the United States.
The international friendly is the final preparation for the U.S. team before it takes on Canada in its opening game of the CONCACAF Gold Cup on Tuesday at Ford Field in Detroit.
The U.S. has defeated Spain just once in four meetings, but that victory two years ago halted a 35-game unbeaten streak by Spain and sent the Americans to the championship game of the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup.
“This is a friendly and the meaning isn’t quite the same, but it’s still a big game,” said U.S. defender Jonathan Spector, who played in the 2009 upset of Spain.
A late roster addition is midfielder Alejandro Bedoya, who had seven caps with the U.S. last year. He was summoned to camp after Benny Felihaber injured his ankle on May 28 while playing for the MLS’s New England Revolution in a 1-0 loss to the Los Angeles Galaxy.
TV: ESPN, Univision, 4:30 p.m. ET Saturday
U.S. Women’s National Team vs. Mexico, June 5, Harrison, N.J.
The U.S. women’s national team will meet Mexico in its 2011 FIFA Women’s World Cup Send-Off Match Sunday at Red Bull Arena in Harrison, N.J. The game will be a rematch of a 2010 CONCACAF World Cup Qualifying Tournament in which Mexico defeated the U.S. for the first time ever to earn an automatic berth to the World Cup.
The game will be a homecoming for U.S. captain Christie Rampone, who is from Point Pleasant, N.J. Coach Pia Sundhage has 22 players available for the game, and a recent anterior-cruciate ligament injury to two-time Olympian Lindsay Tarpley resulted in midfielder Kelley O‘Hara being brought to camp.
Before the game, five-time Women’s World Cup player Kristine Lilly will be honored. She retired in January. Lilly has a world-record 352 career caps and no other woman has appeared in five World Cups.
TV: ESPN2, Univision, 2 p.m. ET Sunday
BASKETBALL
USA U19 Women’s Natonal Team vs. Brazil, June 5, Lake Buena Vista, Fla.
Fifteen finalists vying for spots on the 12-member USA Basketball U19 Women’s National Team began training camp Wednesday at UCF in Orlando, Fla. The team will face Brazil in an international exhibition game Sunday at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Lake Buena Vista, Fla., as a part of the ESPN RISE Girls Showcase. The squad will play for a world title in the FIBA U19 World Championships for Women on July 21-31 in Chile. Jennifer Rizzotti of the University of Hartford (Conn.) is head coach.
“I’m going to be the glue,” roster candidate and University of Tennessee signee Cierra Burdick of told usabasketball.com. “Hopefully the coaches realize that and keep me on the squad.”
Among the other roster finalists are Bolingbrook, Ill., High School teammates Morgan Tuck (Connecticut commit) and Ariel Massengale (Tennessee signee), who led Bolingbrook to three consecutive Illinois Class 4A championships and played on last summer’s U.S. U17 world championship squad. The final roster will be announced after the Brazil game. Team USA and Brazil are also scheduled to scrimmage Friday night.
TV: ESPNU, 12:30 p.m. ET Sunday
Webcast: ESPN3.com
Also in basketball:
USA U16 Women’s National Team training camp, June 3-11, Colorado Springs, Colo.
TRIATHLON
ITU World Championship Series, June 4-5, Madrid, Spain
Jarrod Shoemaker and Laura Bennett, who are both 2008 Olympians, will lead a group of seven U.S. Olympic hopeful triathletes into the second stop on the World Championship Series in which 2012 Olympic points can be earned. Shoemaker placed sixth in the ITU Monterrey World Cup on May 8. The U.S. entries for Saturday’s men’s competition also include Greg Bennett, a 2004 Olympian for Australia. His wife, Laura Bennett, who finished sixth in the series-opening event in Sydney, leads the U.S. women in the race Sunday. Making her World Championship Series debut Sunday will be 2010 USA Triathlon Rookie of the Year Gwen Jorgensen, a former standout swimmer and runner at the University of Wisconsin.
TRACK AND FIELD
Prefontaine Classic, June 3-4, Eugene, Ore.
Walter Dix, who earned a bronze medal at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, will compete in the 200-meter dash and four of the world’s top 10 sprinters in the 100 will be among the male athletes competing Saturday in the Prefontaine Classic at the University of Oregon in Eugene, Ore. In the women’s 100, Olympic gold medalist Shelly-Ann Fraser of Jamaica will face a field that includes World Championships silver medalist Lauryn Williams of the United States. The event kicks off Friday with the women’s 5,000-meter race and the men’s 10,000 meters.
TV: 2:30-4 p.m. ET Saturday, NBC
VOLLEYBALL
FIVB World League, USA vs. Puerto Rico, June 3-4, San Juan, Puerto Rico
The U.S. men’s national volleyball team, ranked fifth in the world, heads into its second weekend of play in the FIVB World League with a 1-1 record. Outside hitter Reid Priddy scored 17 points on 15 kills and was named the match MVP following a 25-22, 25-19, 37-35 win Saturday over Poland. The U.S. will play Puerto Rico on Friday and Saturday at Roberto Clemente Coliseum in San Juan, then head to Brazil to play the Brazilians next week.
The U.S. has won 22 of 23 matches against Puerto Rico since 1981. “They’re a good team and have played together a long time. This will be the first measuring stick against them for Olympic qualifying,” Priddy said on his interview show, The NET Live.
BEACH VOLLEYBALL
Swatch World Tour, Beijing Grand Slam, June 6-11, Beijing.
Beach volleyball returns to Beijing, beginning Monday, for the first time since the city hosted the 2008 Olympic Games. U.S. men’s pair Phil Dalhausser and Todd Rogers, gold medalists in 2008, are the top seeds for the Grand Slam. Women’s competition in the Grand Slam tournament also begins with qualification rounds Monday. Among the U.S. women teams: Two-time Olympic gold medalists Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh.
TEAM HANDBALL
Pan Am Games “Second Chance” Tournament, June 3-5, Guatemala City, Guatemala
The USA Team Handball Men’s National Team will play Uruguay on Saturday and Guatemala on Sunday in the Pan Am Games “Second Chance” Tournament. The overall winner of the three-team tournament (Uruguay plays Guatemala on Friday) advances to the 2011 Pan American Games in Guadalajara, Mexico, the first step toward securing a berth for the London 2012 Olympic Games. An overtime loss to Canada in December prevented the U.S. from gaining a Pan Am berth at that time. Twelve of the 16 U.S. players have been playing internationally and three of them played for the U.S. in 2003 when the Americans defeated Uruguay for a bronze medal in the Pan Am Games.
FENCING
Men’s Foil, Grand Prix, June 3-4, St. Petersburg, Russia
Women’s Foil, World Cup, June 5-7, St. Petersburg, Russia
The U.S. Men’s Foil Team, which earned 28 world-ranking points toward the London 2012 Olympic Games with a seventh-place finish in the Seoul Foil World Cup in May, will compete in a Grand Prix event Friday and Saturday in St. Petersburg, Russia. Seventeen-year-old Alexander Massialas made history in Seoul, becoming the youngest medalist in the tournament by winning a bronze medal. After the men’s competition is over, a women’s foil world event will be held Sunday through Tuesday in St. Petersburg.
Also in fencing:
Men’s Epee, Grand Prix, June 4-5, Berne, Switzerland
Men’s Sabre, Grand Prix, June 4-5, Varsovie, Poland
WATER POLO
Kirishi Cup, Team USA women vs. Russia, June 4, Kirishi, Russia
The U.S. women’s national team will play the last of five Kirishi Cup matches Saturday in Kirishi, Russia, against host nation Russia. Team USA was unbeaten its first two matches, defeating Hungary and tying Austria. The Americans lost their third match, 11-9 to Greece on Thursday. The U.S. was to play Kazakhstan on Friday.
CANOE/KAYAK
U.S. Marathon Canoe/Kayak Team Trials, June 4-5, Raleigh, N.C.
Winners at the USA Marathon Canoe/Kayak Team Trials will represent the U.S. in the World Championships in Singapore in October. The Triangle Paddle Racing Club is hosting the event at Lake Crabtree County Park.
ROWING
Intercollegiate Rowing Association (IRA) National Championships, June 2-4, Camden, N.J.
The University of Washington, which includes the nation’s No. 1 ranking in men’s heavyweight, seeks its fifth consecutive team championship in the IRA National Championships being held through Saturday on Cooper River in Camden, N.J. Washington and defending men’s varsity eight champion California were among the teams advancing to Friday’s semifinals in the varsity eights.
SYNCHRONIZED SWIMMING
Brazil Open, June 3-5, Rio de Janiero, Brazil
Mary Killman and Lyssa Wallace, both synchronized swimmers from Texas, will represent the U.S. at the first-ever Brazil Open this weekend at the Julio de Lamare Aquatic Centre in Rio de Janiero. Killman and Wallace will compete in the duet competition Friday and Sunday, and Killman will also swim in the solo competition Friday and Saturday. There will be a team competition Saturday and Sunday. The USA Synchro team is made up of 12 swimmers.
SAILING
Sail for Gold, June 6-11, Weymouth, Great Britain
More than 50 members of the U.S. Sailing Team AlphaGraphics will compete in Sail for Gold, which is one of two selection events for the 2012 U.S. Olympic Team. More than 1,000 athletes from 62 nations are expected to compete in 10 Olympic classes. The venue is the same that will be used in the London 2012 Olympic Games. “This is the event that our athletes have been working toward all year,” said Kenneth Andreasen, USSTAG High Performance Director and head coach.
EQUESTRIAN
FEI Nations Cup, June 1-5, St. Gallen, Switzerland
The U.S. team was to be first into the competition arena Friday for the third leg of the FEI Nations Cup. The U.S. stood in seventh place following the second leg of competition two weeks ago in Rome. U.S. riders are Margie Engle, Rich Fellers, Ashlee Bond, Charlie Jayne and Christine McCrea.
CYCLING
Granichen Swiss Racer Bikes Cup, June 4-5, Granichen, Switzerland
Erica Zaveta (BMC MTB Development), who finished 29th in a UCI Mountain Bike World Cup event last week in Offenburg, Germany, will be one of four U.S. U23 elite women competing Saturday and Sunday at the Granichen Swiss Racer Bikes Cup in Switzerland. The other cyclists: Westley Geer, Kaila Hart and Heidi Kloser.
Also in cycling:
Tour of Berlin, June 1-4, Germany
CRCA Racing Series, June 5, New York City
GYMNASTICS
USA Gymnastics Open Championships, June 2-5, Lake Buena Vista, Fla.
More than 770 female gymnasts from 34 states are competing in this week’s USA Gymnastics Open Championships at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Disney World. The competition is a part of the ESPN RISE Girls Showcase.
Also in gymnastics:
Frivolten Cup, June 3-4, Herrlunga, Sweden
JUDO
USA Judo National Presidents Cup Championships, June 4-5, Vail, Colo.
Competition in senior, novice and master classes will be held Saturday and Sunday in the USA Judo National Presidents Cup Championships at Dobson Arena in Vail, Colo. The competition includes the Senior Shiai championships.
WRESTLING
Northeast Regional Championships, June 3, East Stroudsburg, Pa.
The Northeast Regional Championship tournament for Junior Cadet wrestlers, Girls Novice and Intermediate will be held Friday in East Stroudsburg, Pa. The Southern Plains Regionals were held Thursday in Hays, Kan.
Story courtesy Red Line Editorial, Inc. Paul D. Bowker is a freelance contributor for teamusa.org. This story was not subject to the approval of any National Governing Bodies.