Fri May 16 14:24:30 2008

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U.S., Brazil to play twice before Olympics

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Chicago, IL (Sports Network) - The United States women's national team will face Brazil in July its final two matches before the 2008 Olympics.

The United States, which lost to Brazil 4-0 in the 2007 World Cup semifinals, hosts the two-game set on July 13 and July 16. The first match is in Commerce City, Colo., at Dick's Sporting Goods Park and the second is at the University of San Diego's Torero Stadium.

The two nations will meet in group play at the Peace Queen Cup in Suwon, South Korea on June 17. The USA last played Brazil in the United States less than a year ago, winning 2-0 at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J.

"It's always good to get great games before you go to the Olympics and what better team to play than Brazil," U.S. midfielder Shannon Boxx said. "It's always an exciting game playing Brazil so these will be good tests to give us confidence heading into the Olympics.

"Obviously, we didn't do well against them in the World Cup so it will be beneficial for our team to play them a few times beforehand in case we do meet them in China."

The Olympic soccer tournament is Aug. 6-24.