The semifinals of the SheBelieves Cup will be played for the first time at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Saturday.
The U.S. will play Japan at 12:30 p.m., and Canada will play Brazil at 3:30 p.m. The U.S. match will be televised on TNT and truTV. It can be heard on the radio on 92.9 FM.
Defending champ: U.S.
FIFA world rankings
U.S.: 4th
Japan: 7th
Canada: 9th
Brazil: 10th
Managers
U.S.: Twila Kilgore (interim)
Japan: Futoshi Ikeda
Canada: Beverly Priestman
Brazil: Arthur Elias
Players to watch
U.S.: Striker Alex Morgan, midfielder Lindsey Horan, striker Jaedyn Shaw, forward Catarina Macario, and defender Emily Sonnett, who is from Marietta, and goalkeeper Jane Campbell, who is from Kennesaw.
Japan: Striker Hinata Miyazawa, who won the Golden Boot at last year’s World Cup, striker Maika Hamano, who plays at Chelsea, and midfielder Hina Sugita, who plays for the Portland Thorns in the NWSL.
Canada: Striker Adriana Leon, who was the top scorer at the Gold Cup and plays for Aston Villa, midfielder Olivia Smith, who was named the best young player at the Gold Cup and who plays for Sporting CP, and midfielder Jessie Fleming, who plays for Kansas City Current.
Brazil: Forwards Marta, who plays for Orlando, Cristiane and Jheniffer.
What was said
“I feel like we’re all just really eager to play this game here in Atlanta because it has been so long since we’ve been here. And we do have some great players who call Atlanta home or have grown up in Atlanta. So it’s great to be back here. We know that the fans are going to come and show up and be loud and give us a lot of energy. We see that with Atlanta United every week. So we want to see that on the women’s side as well.” – Alex Morgan
“We’re anticipating a big crowd, which I think is going to be so exciting. But I think it’s going to be a really competitive game, I think it’s going to be a very interesting matchup where we’re different teams, but I think that will compete against each other in an exciting way.” – Sam Coffey
“Japan is an amazing team. They’re technical, they’re tactical. They’re one of the best teams in the world. We have to bring our best. We know that and it’ll be an exciting game, and hopefully, a really fun game for the fans to watch. Hopefully, we’ll put on a good performance and be able to show this big crowd in Atlanta what we can do and what we can do against a really good opponent.” – Abby Dahlkemper
“They’re (Japan) dangerous ... but that’s exactly what we want. These are the type of challenges we love. Our team’s really excited to get on the field and test some of the things that we’ve been working on.” – Kilgore
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