Gold-Medalists U.S. Women Add Tour Stop In Glendale Dec. 1

Hope Solo, Alex Morgan, Abby Wambach and the golden girls of the U.S. women's national soccer team are headed to the Valley for a friendly against Ireland on Dec. 1, U.S. Soccer announced Thursday. It's another date on the team's Fan Tribute Tour sponsored by Panasonic.

This is great news for area soccer fans, of course, who provided a good turnout when the women played in Arizona last November. Ticket information and more can be found here; the match is set for 7:30 p.m. local time.

The Olympic semifinal win against Canada in London was one of the most memorable and thrilling soccer matches in U.S. soccer history and left quite an impression of many stateside. It propelled the Americans into the gold medal match that they won over Japan. Since then, the team has embarked on a tour of the nation to celebrate their achievement.

I'm all for any major soccer match in this area. But U.S. Soccer erred in scheduling this match on the same night as the MLS Cup, the championship match of domestic soccer in North America.

Soccer fans in these parts shouldn't have to choose which soccer match they want to see or attend. All eyes should be on one match or the other. But as it did last year, U.S. Soccer scheduled the women's team the same day as the MLS Cup.

As many people as possible need to be free to view the most important league match in this region. It's our country's league, and soccer fans should support it. But women's soccer also deserves support. Maybe because this area is not an MLS market, U.S. Soccer figured it wouldn't matter if the match conflicted with the MLS Cup.

I want to see both. I'm sure I'm not alone.