U.S. women’s soccer team gets easy draw in World Cup qualifying

During this summer’s World Cup in Brazil, the U.S. men’s team was drawn into a group that included eventual champion Germany and Portugal, the No. 4 team in the world -- a pairing so tough it became known as the “Group of Death.”

Judged by those standards, the group the U.S. women’s team drew for next month’s World Cup qualifying could classify as the “Group of a Low Fever.” The Americans, who finished second in the last World Cup, will play Trinidad & Tobago, Guatemala and Haiti, needing to finish in the top two to advance to the semifinals.

Two teams will also advance from the other group -- one featuring Mexico, Costa Rica, Jamaica and Martinique -- with the winners of the semifinal matches and the third-place match advancing to next summer’s World Cup in Canada.

“An opponent at this point is an opponent standing between us and the World Cup,” U.S. Coach Jill Ellis said in a statement. “We will prepare for every team with the same respect, resolve and planning while making sure our focus is on our performance. We will approach every game with the intent of maximizing our points and getting to the semifinal.”

The U.S., ranked No. 1 in the world in the latest FIFA poll, will open the tournament Oct. 15 against unranked Trinidad & Tobago in Kansas City, Mo. It will play No. 76 Guatemala two days later in suburban Chicago before closing group play against 56th-ranked Haiti on Oct. 20 in Washington.

The semifinals are scheduled for Oct. 24 in Chester, Pa., followed by the championship and third-place games on Oct. 26 in the same location.

The regional qualifying tournament was originally scheduled to be held in Mexico but Mexico announced last spring it could not stage the event, forcing a move to the U.S.

In the last regional qualifying tournament in 2010, the U.S. was upset by Mexico and had to win a two-leg play-in against Italy to advance to the World Cup, where it lost to Japan on a penalty-shootout in the final.