Carli, Mitzy and Barnie Come Home

The U.S. team has quite a few Philadelphia connections, which should pump up the crowd tonight. Midfielder Carli Lloyd, who scored the winning goal in the 2008 gold medal match, hails from Delran, New Jersey, just 25 minutes from downtown Philly. Lloyd got major coverage in the Philly papers after her Olympic heroics. U.S. goalkeeper Nicole Barnhart is a Pennsylvania native, hailing from Gilbertsville, not far from Philly. Defender Heather Mitts played three seasons for the Philadelphia Charge in the WUSA and lives in Philly part of the year. U.S. head coach Pia Sundhage coached two seasons with the Charge as an asst. under Mark Krikorian before she took the head coaching job for the Boston Breakers. No word if any of the players have had a cheesesteak yet, but we can tell you that the chicken pizza steak at Tony Luke's is quite delicious.