NC Courage will defend international title on home turf
A season ago, the North Carolina Courage ran the show at the inaugural Women’s International Champions Cup, lifting the trophy at Hard Rock Stadium outside Miami. This August, the team will defend that title, this time on its home field.
Relevant Sports Group, which operates the International Champions Cup, announced Friday that the Courage will host this year’s version of the competition at WakeMed Soccer Park from Aug. 15-18, with Manchester City (England), Atlético de Madrid (Spain) and Olympique Lyonnais (France) also participating.
“We are honored to host the 2019 Women’s International Champions Cup,” Courage president and general manager Curt Johnson said in a statement released by the club. “WakeMed Soccer Park has a proven track record when hosting international events including last year’s Women’s World Cup qualifying tournament.
“This will be a great event with dozens of international stars returning from the World Cup. It will be a moment in time when all eyes of women’s soccer will be upon us, and the Courage will be able to measure up against some of the best women’s soccer clubs in the world.”
The two semifinal matches will be played on Thursday, Aug. 15, and the third-place and final matches will take place on Sunday, Aug. 18. ESPN will broadcast the matches and tickets go on sale later this spring. A Courage spokesperson said the semifinal pairings are yet to be determined.
Last July, the Courage, without several of its stars because of national team obligations, defeated Paris St. Germain in the semifinals and Lyon 1-0 in the final. Heather O’Reilly, a UNC alumna and former U.S. national team player, scored the game-winning goal to help the Courage earn the first of three trophies last season.
Courage head coach Paul Riley said Friday that the chance to host the competition is “amazing” and that he’s looking forward to the challenges his club will encounter.
“Being in the ICC again was one of our hopes going into the season,” Riley said. “To actually have it your own backyard is fabulous. And then to find out that Manchester City, Lyon and Atlético Madrid are coming as well … it’s a plus-plus for everybody. I think it’s great for our team because of the tactical end of it. Especially for me, I love the tactical end of it. They play a lot different than they play in our league.”
Riley said participating in last year’s competition and having a break from NWSL play was beneficial to his team on its journey to a league title, and he’s hoping for a similar effect this time around.
“This year, we’ll have everybody here, which we didn’t last year,” Riley said. “We’ll have a full roster to pick from – the World Cup will be over by that point. Having that factor plays into it, too, and it will be a nice break for us even though it’s home.”
Courage captain Abby Erceg called the opportunity to host the International Champions Cup a “testament to the work we did last year.”
“It is exciting obviously to have games like that in your hometown,” Erceg said. “You’re playing the best teams, the best players in the world, and you want to showcase that in front of your home fans.”
This story was originally published March 29, 2019 at 2:29 PM.