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Thanks for joining us tonight. I'm Chris Blakely. Have a great night everyone!

There's the final whistle of tonight's match. 1-1 draw in Seattle.

95'- This could be the final kick of the game. Rapinoe to take a corner for the US. Luciana collectes and puts it into play.

We are into out 4th minute of stoppage time here after we were only guaranteed a minimum of three minutes.

Brazilian player laying down on the pitch. Looked like she was about to get up, but then fell back down. Looks like they are trying to get out of Seattle with a 1-1 draw.

90' - Brazil Sub. Erika in. Monica out.

Three minutes of stoppage time indicated by the fourth official.

89' - USWNT just inches away from taking the lead. Rapinoe whips in a cross, but Morgan can't get her foot on it. Out for a goal kick.

86' - USWNT sub. Klingenburg out, O'Reilly in.

85' -Goooooaaaaallllllll USWNT!!!!! Klingenberg sends in a cross and Carli Lloyd keeps it just under the bar to level the score at 1-1. Five minutes to go in Seattle. Can they get another???

84'- Brazil sub. Christiane out, Beatriz in

82' - Cross for USWNT sent in by Rapinoe and cleared by Brazil.

79' - Lloyd gets her head on a cross, but sends it just wide.

23,603 is the announce attendance tonight. Largest crowd ever to watch the USWNT in the State of Washington.

74' -Mewis getting involved in the match as she runs through an opponent. You cant do that.

US living dangerously there. Sloppy passes are leading to chance for Brazil.

71' -USWNT sub. O'Hara out, Hinkle in. Dunn out, Mewis in

We are twenty minutes from the final whistle and Monica's goal way back in just the third minute is the only score so far.

69' - The USWNT first real chance of the night comes from Rapinoe. She takes her shot from about 10 yards out and somehow Luciana makes the save.

68' - For the third time tonight, we get to hear the"I believe chant".

66' - Rapinoe with a "hopeful" shot from 35 yards out. Way high and wide of goal.

65' - First card of the night goes to Rafaelle for her hard challenge into Lloyd.

65' - Lloyd and Rafaelle collide and both players are down. Looks like someone is getting a yellow card.

63' - That's the Alex Morgan we know and all love. She races through multiple defenders, but has the ball dispossed from her and out for a throw in.

61' -Free kick taken by Rapinoe. Ball sent into the box and Johnston gets her head to it, but shot way wide of goal.

60' -Shot taken by Tamires, but Solo there to make the easy save.

Kelley O'Hara is a BEAST!

55' - Cross sent in by Dunn, but Luciana is there to collect.

53' -Free kick for Brazil. As the kick was taken, the entire USWNT team stepped forward and about six Brazil players were in an offside position.

Balled played out wide and to the top of the 18 yard box again. Nothing comes of it, but the US is having issues clearing their end.

48' - First corner of the 2nd half goes to Brazil. Andressinha to take.

46' - Brazil sub. Zanotti in, Forminga Out/

46' - We are back underway in Seattle.

courtesy U.S. Soccer Facebook Page

In her final match, Shannon Boxx Spearman wore her married name on the back of her jersey.

We will back with you shortly for the second half from CenturyLink Field in Seattle.

That will do it for the first half. Brazil leads the USWNT 1-0 on a goal in the 3' minute by Monica.

One minute of stoppage time indicated by the fourth official.

45' - Cross sent in by Lloyd and Morgan gets on the end of it, but Luciana is there to send it out for a corner. Nothing comes of the corner and goes out for a goal kick.

She sends it near post, but Rapinoe was there to clear it way. Shot by Alves from about 40 yards just clears the bar.

43' - On the other end, Brazil earns their third corner of the night. Andressinha to take.

42' - Stop me if you have heard this before. Rapinoe to take a USWNT corner. Nothing good comes of it though. Brazil clears and looks to counter.

That will be the end of Shannon Boxx Spearman's soccer career as a professional. Tonight was her 195th CAP.

40' - USWNT first sub of the match. Boxx out, Heath in

38' -Shot by Klingenburg is a bit wide and never really threatened Luciana.

34' - Rapinoe takes another corner for the USWNT. Lloyd gets a head on it, but is unable to get her shot on frame.

32' Solo comes out and collects a shot/cross from Marta.

31' -Solo almost beat far post by Cristine. She got lucky on that one.

30' - American Outlaws doing their best to get the crowd into the match.

27' -Rapinoe takes the free kick and tries to be cute by playing a low ball to Johnston, but the AR flagged her for being offside.

26' - Rapinoe sends Lloyd through with a great ball, but she is flagged offside by the AR. That's the fourth offside call against the USWNT.

The US is having having trouble maintaining possession. If they want any chance at winning this game, they must fix that issue.

Balled played out to the top of the 18 and sent back in. US clears for the moment.

23' - Brazil getting their second corner of the night. Andressinha to take.

22'- Dangerous cross sent in by Marta, but nobody there to make the USWNT pay for their poor job at marking.

18' - Looked like Morgan was in on goal, but the AR correctly flagged her for being offside. The crowd disagreed harshly.

It was also the first time in two years that USWNT have conceded in a goal in the first 20 minutes of a match.

The goal in the third minute by Brazil was the earliest goal the USWNT had conceded in 2015.

15 minutes in and the USWNT still looking for that equalizing goal. Brazil up 1-0.

12' -Another corner for the USWNT. Sent in and cleared. On ball sent back in by Dunn, Morgan's header goes just wide of the post.

9' - Another corner for the USWNT sent in by Rapinoe. Cleared away by Brazil.

7'- Corner number two of the night for the USWNT. Ball sent near post by Rapinoe, but ball was cleared away for an eventual corner.

Rapinoe send it in, but Luciana is able to clear it away from goal.

6' - United States earn their first corner of the night.

It appeared Sauerbrunn was beat in the air. Not something you see happen every often.

3' - Goal Brazil. Cross sent in by Andressinha and scored by Monica

3' - We have our first corner of the match as Marta's cross deflects of Johnston.

Just a few seconds into the game and we already have our first stoppage. Brazil player down on the pitch.

1' - USWNT kick the ball off and we are underway here in Seattle. USWNT going North to South.

Shannon Boxx Spearman will be given a commemorative jersey for her last match being tonight.

Here they come!

Teams will be walking out shortly. USWNT Head Coach Jill Ellis is walking to the bench.

The teams are running off the field, warmups are over. Just under 15 minutes until kickoff.

The USWNT lineup looks like a 4-5-1, but will more than likely play as a 4-4-1-1.

25 minutes to kick and the stands are slowly filling in. Keyword being slowly.

If you want to talk about the game, feel free to tweet me @TheRealCBlakely.

No surprise that Shannon Boxx is the Captain tonight for USWNT. It is her final game of course.

USWNT Starting XI Solo; Klingenberg, Johnston, Sauerbrunn, O'Hara; Boxx (C), Brian, Rapinoe, Lloyd, Dunn; Morgan

Brazil Starting XI Luciana; Fabiana, Monica, Poliana; Andressinha, Alves, Marta (C), Formiga; Cristiane

The lineups have been announced. Stay tune.

The match will be broadcasted on ESPN2.

Regardless, 22-year-old defender Jaelene Hinkie, 22-year-old defender Emily Sonnett and 30-year-old Bayern Munich defender Gina Lewandowski (no relation to Robert, the male striker setting the world alight with Bayern’s men’s team at the moment) have all been summoned by Ellis and will be hoping to make their debuts this evening.

The Olympic rules stipulate that teams may bring rosters of no more than 19 players, four fewer than were allowed at the World Cup. Yes, there have been three player retirements since the World Cup concluded, but that still leaves Ellis in the awkward position of having to cut a player from last summer’s roster for next year even if she chooses not to bring in any new players.

For these two matches against Brazil, USWNT manager Jill Ellis has called in a number of players who will be hoping to receive their first caps during this evening’s match. It’s not expected that the roster at next summer’s Olympics will look hugely different than the one which went to Canada this past summer, but all coaches indulge in some sort of experimentation following a World Cup run. However, Ellis has done it less than most managers on the men’s side would, because her Olympic Squad will have to be smaller than that which won the Women’s World Cup.

Boxx will be making her 195th and final appearance tonight. The 38-year-old has had an incredible career, scoring 27 goals, winning the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup, and gold medals at the 2004, 2008 and 2012 Olympics. She has been an integral part of the women’s national team set up in this country for nearly two decades now, and will be dearly missed.

However, they will likely find it difficult going against the USWNT on Wednesday evening. Not only because the Americans are the best side in the world, but because they will be attempting to give one of their finest ever players a fitting send-off. Although three members of the USWNT WWC squad have announced their retirements since the end of the tournament (Lori Chalupny, Lauren Holliday and Shannon Boxx), Wednesday has been confirmed as Boxx’s final appearance for the Red, White and Blue.

There is no better chance for them to start turning things around than by beating the reigning world champions at home. These two sides will be squaring off against each other again on October 25th; if Brazil can get a result in one or both matches, they will give themselves a huge confidence boost as they keep building towards next summer.

While this match may feel largely unimportant in the grand scheme of things, both teams have a number of things to play for. Brazil are coming into this match off a thoroughly disappointing Women’s World Cup; although they made it through the Group Stage comfortably, they crashed out during the Round of 16 against Australia. Although Brazil have produced some incredible footballers, they have never won a Women’s World Cup. They came third in 1999 and second in 2007, but have regressed since losing to Germany in the final of the 2007 World Cup. They went out to the United States in the quarterfinals in 2011, and seem to have regressed as a women’s footballing nation. With Rio de Janeiro set to host the Olympics next summer, the Brazilians have a fair bit of soul searching to do if they want to medal next summer.

Seattle is one of the few cities in the country which boasts both an MLS team and a team in the NWSL. Not only will tonight’s match be played at the home of MLS Seattle Sounders, who consistently draw the largest crowds in the league, but the Seattle Reign are back-to-back winners of the NWSL Shield, the regular season championship in the league. Although the Reign play at the significantly smaller Memorial Stadium rather than CenturyLink, they are still one of the most recognizable clubs in the NWSL with players such as Megan Rapinoe and Hope Solo of the USWNT.

This evening’s match is the fifth of the USWNT’s post-World Cup victory tour. The tour, organized in order for the team to be able to tour the country and be seen by more members of their adoring public, will encompass ten matches played all across the nation. This evening, it comes to Seattle, one of the cities in this country which vies to be known as “Soccer City, USA”.

Hello and welcome to VAVEL USA’s live coverage of tonight’s friendly between the United States Women’s National Team and Brazil live from CenturyLink Field in Seattle, Washington. My name is Chris Blakely, and I’m thrilled to be bringing you all this match. We’ve got plenty of time until kick-off, so sit back, relax, and let me walk you all through the build-up to this match.

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About the author
Chris Blakely
Chris is an American sports journalist based out of Seattle, Washington. Co-Editor of the soccer section of VAVEL USA. He also is the leading editor of VAVEL USA's NWSL section.