Rampone Out for Canada Matches

U.S. captain Christie Rampone underwent emergency abdominal surgery early this morning in Rochester, N.Y., where the USA is preparing to face Canada on Sunday at 3 p.m. live on ESPN and will not be available for that match, or the July 22 clash with Canada in Charleston, S.C. (Live on Fox Soccer Channel at 8 p.m. ET). Rampone is fine, resting and may leave the hospital later today. It is undetermined how long she will be sidelined. Rampone has played every minute of all five WNT matches so far this year and led the team in minutes played in 2008, setting a U.S. record for most minutes played in a calendar year with 3,066. U.S. head coach Pia Sundhage will not replace Rampone and the USA will head into the two matches against Canada with a roster of 20 players.