U.S. Under-16 Women’s Youth National Team Wins UEFA Friendship Tournament in Turkey, Besting Paraguay 4-2 in a Penalty Shootout

RIVA, Turkey (April 18, 2024) – The U.S. Under-16 Women’s National Team battled to a 0-0 tie through regulation time against Paraguay in the championship game of the UEFA Women’s U-16 Friendship Tournament before prevailing in penalty kicks, 4-2.

The USA, which had scored 25 goals through its three group games, by far the most of any country in the eight-team tournament, out-shot Paraguay 15-2 but couldn’t find the net through 90 minutes, forcing the match to go directly to penalty kicks.

The USA then made its first four penalty kicks as Charlee Siria, Reese Canada, Jordan Hill and Jaiden Rodriguez all converted while Paraguay missed two kicks, giving the USA the tournament title.

Hill and Ashlyn Anderson each scored five times in the tournament to lead the team. Micayla Johnson, Ella Kral and Jaiden Rodriguez each had three goals.

Players born on or after Jan. 1, 2008, are age-eligible for this U-16 WYNT cycle. For this tournament, U.S. head coach Patchy Toledo selected all 2008-birth year players. All players in the U-16 WYNT pool are age-eligible for this year’s FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup, set for October/November in the Dominican Republic.

-U.S. Under-16 Women’s Youth National Team Match Report-

Match: United States Under-16 Women’s Youth National Team vs. Paraguay
Date: April 18, 2024
Competition: UEFA Women’s U-16 Friendship Tournament  
Venue: 1 Nolu Saha; Riva, Turkey
Weather: 58 degrees, cloudy

Scoring Summary:   1          2          F          PK
USA                             0          0          0          4         
PAR                             0          0          0          2

Penalty Summary:
USA: Siria (Goal), Canada (Goal), Hill (Goal), Rodriguez (Goal)
PAR: N/A

Lineups:
USA: 1-Evan O'Steen (12-Josie Biehl, 46), 2-Sydney Schmidt, 5-London Young (15-Vienna Whipple, 46), 14-Marlee Raymond (4-Pearl Cecil, 55), 3-Sierra Dupre (13-Cali O'Neill, 55); 18-Addison Feldman (10-Jaiden Rodriguez, 35), 6-Rylie Morse (16-Reese Canada, 46), 8-Scottie Antonucci (Capt.) (20-Charlee Siria, 67); 17-Jordan Hill, 19-Ashlyn Anderson (9-Peyton Marinos, 46), 11-Micayla Johnson (7-Ella Kral, 55)
Substitutes Not Used: None
Head Coach: Patchy Toledo

PAR: 1-Tamara Amarilla. 3-Erika Figueredo, 4-Camila Martinez, 5-Luz Benitez, 6-Maite Mussi, 7-Kiara Florentin, 8-Florencia Caceres, 9-Alison Bareiro (Capt.), 11-Claudia Martinez, 15-Cinthai Casco, 17-Denisse Leiva
Subs not available
Substitutes: 2-Barbara Olmedo, 10-Maria Felipetti, 12-Kamila Benitez, 13-Gabriela Mendoza, 14-Katia Caballero, 16-Fiorela Aquino, 18-Liz Martinez, 19-Jermajhony Gonzalez, 20-Nicoly Golin
Head Coach: Epifania Benitez

Stats Summary: USA / PAR
Shots: 15 / 2
Shots on Goal: 6 / 1
Saves: 1 / 6
Corner Kicks: 6 / 2
Fouls: 9 / 10
Offside: 7 / 2

Misconduct Summary:
PAR -- Florencia Caceres (Caution)              16^th minute
PAR -- Denisse Leiva (Caution)                     61

Officials:
Referee: M. Alperen Güçyetmez
1^st Assistant Referee: Esra Arikboğa
2^nd Assistant Referee: Tuğçe Bayik Kamali
4^th Official: Yusuf Burak Özyüzer