Republic of Ireland women to face world champions USA in California friendly
Tuesday 9 July 2019 15:46, UK
The Republic of Ireland Women's side have announced they will play a friendly match against newly-crowned World Cup winners USA in California.
The USA are embarking on a five-game victory tour and they will take on Ireland at the Rose Bowl in California on August 3.
Ireland will be looking to claim victory in their opponents' first game on home soil after they beat the Netherlands 2-0 in the World Cup final on Sunday, becoming just the second team to retain the trophy.
Speaking about the chance to test themselves against the champions, Ireland captain Katie McCabe said: "It's a great opportunity for us to be asked to go over to play the USA.
"It will be great preparation for us to test ourselves against the best in the world ahead of our European Championships campaign."
Ireland's qualification campaign for the 2021 European Championships gets underway in Tallaght against Montenegro on September 3.
FAI General Manager Noel Mooney believes the opportunity to play against Jill Ellis's side will be a fantastic experience for the squad and that it will help their development.
He said: "To play the greatest team in women's international football in the Rose Bowl in front of a huge crowd is going to be a great test for our team but we have confidence that Ireland can compete well and hopefully dampen the party mood there a little with a big performance and result.
"Playing the USA, back-to-back FIFA World Cup winners, is quite a game for us and will hopefully be a help in our aim of competing ourselves in the UEFA European Championships in England in 2021."
