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U.S. women Pursuit of Olympic gold starts Monday with training camp.(Tuesday, January 6, 2004) - The United States women will assemble Monday at the U.S. Soccer National Training Center at The Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif., to begin their pursuit of Olympic gold. A busy 2004 schedule was established to prepare the U.S. for the Summer Olympics in Greece, the women's tournament running from August 11-26. The Americans must qualify for the Olympics, a process that should not provide them much of a test. U.S. coach April Heinrichs summoned 27 players for next week's training camp and will choose 20 to travel to China for the Four Nations Tournament, an event that will feature three of the four semifinalists from the 2003 Women's World Cup. Since Heinrichs became coach, the U.S. women have taken third place in both the 2000 Summer Olympics and last year's Women's World Cup. In addition to China, a World Cup quarterfinal loser, WWC runnerup Sweden will be joined in the field by Canada which fell 3-1 to the U.S. in the Cup third-place match. The U.S. opens the Four Nations Tournament January 30 against Sweden, then meets China on February 1 and closes with Canada February 3. All six games in the round-robin event will be played in Shenzen, just north of Hong Kong. Of the 27 players invited to camp, 18 are from the U.S. Women's World Cup team. Striker Tiffeny Milbrett and defender Danielle Slaton are the two players from that roster not invited to the January camp. Legends Mia Hamm, Kristin Lilly, Julie Foudy, Brandi Chastain and Joy Fawcett will all be present. Following the Four Nations Tournament, the U.S. faces CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying Tournament February 25-March 7 in Costa Rica. The Americans and Canada are expected to qualify easily with a third team from North America, Central America and the Caribbean advancing to playoff for another Olympic berth. The U.S. will compete in the Algarve Cup March 14-20 in Portugal. The U.S. won the Four Nations Tournament last January 2003, defeating Norway and eventual Women's World Cup champion Germany, while falling to China, a loss that was avenged in the 2003 Algarve Cup championship game. The training roster includes two new names that belong to familiar faces. Christie Rampone (nee Pearce) and Kate Markgraf (nee Sobrero) have assumed their married names. The U.S. training camp roster: Goalkeepers (4): Jenni Branam (Placentia, Calif.), Briana Scurry (Dayton, Minn.), Kristen Luckenbill (Paoli, Pa.), Siri Mullinix (Greensboro, N.C.).
*-formerly Kate Sobrero
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