U.S. Soccer canceled the women's national team match Sunday against Trinidad & Tobago due to concerns over the quality of the turf, The Washington Post reports. The friendly, set to be played at Honolulu's Aloha Stadium, was part of the World Cup champs' Victory Tour. ESPN reporter Julie Foudy, a two-time World Cup winner herself, explains:
"I think the training grounds that we were given and the playing surface of the stadium were horrible," forward Alex Morgan told Fox Sports. "I think it's hard because no one's really going to protect us but ourselves. So we're put in a very hard position because obviously we want to play in front of these fans and we want to train before the game, but injuries happen when you don't protect yourself and when you're not protected from those higher up from you."
The players may be on particularly high alert for injuries right now, since star midfielder Megan Rapinoe tore her ACL while training Friday — just months before the Olympics.
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As Deadspin pointed out, this is far from the first time the women's team has taken issue with artificial turf fields, which are considered more dangerous for players than natural grass. In fact, despite backlash from players, the 2015 World Cup was played on turf, something the men's teams are not typically subjected to.
Follow Foudy's reporting for more on how U.S. Soccer vets fields. Julie Kliegman
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