If you’re a national powerhouse, you can never take a day off.
Members of Florida State’s soccer team are proving that.
In preparation for the start of the 2010 fall season, a handful of players from FSU continue to gain valuable experience at the international level by competing with their respective national teams.
Four members of the Seminoles were called in to camp with the U.S. U-20 National team in Carson, Calif., as the team continues to prepare for the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup.
Toni Pressley, Tiffany McCarty, Casey Short and Kelsey Wys attended camp on the West Coast and during their time, the U.S. faced off against Ajax, a women’s club team, as well as the U.S. U-18 National team.
The U-20 squad also discovered the opposition they’ll face in the upcoming World Cup beginning in July in Germany. The U.S. squad was drawn into Group D along with Ghana, Switzerland and Korea Republic.
The Red, White and Blue will open the tournament Wednesday, July 14, against Ghana, continue their group play with a game against Switzerland on July 17 and then wrap up play against Korea Republic on July 21.
In continuing preparation for the tournament, U.S. head coach Jill Ellis held three more training camps before heading to Germany. The U.S. team trained at The Home Depot Center in Carson as well as at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, Calif., in mid-May. In their travels across the Atlantic the U.S. continued to train, doing so in some pre-World Cup exhibitions in Bielefeld, Germany, which will host the USA’s final group match this summer.
The U.S. fell in both contests—first to Japan, 2-1 after a late-game winner and then 3-1 against a dominant German team that was out in front 2-0 within just 17 minutes of opening the game.
Sophomore Tori Huster was called in to camp with the U-23 National team for the first time in her career. Camp was held at Oregon State University in late April, as Huster was part of a 24-player pool. During her week of training, the U-23 National team faced off against Oregon State and the University of Portland. Huster got the start in both matches and played all 90 minutes against Portland.
Internationals Ines Jaurena and newcomer Tuija Hyyrynen were away from their FSU teammates while competing oversees for their home countries.
Jaurena participated with the French U-19 squad in the UEFA Championships. The team went 2-0-1 in route to finishing in first place as Jaurena played in all three games for her country.
Hyyrynen, meanwhile, represented her country of Finland with the Full National team as they are attempting to qualify for the Women’s World Cup that will take place in the summer of 2011. Hyyrynen played in all four qualifying games, including the most recent game against Italy.
Going into the game, both teams had undefeated records in qualifying and it stayed that way after the two fought to a 1-1 draw. The tie put Italy in first place with 16 points and Finland close behind with 13 points.