U.S. WNT 2016 Schedule Date Match Time TV Feb 10 USA vs. Costa Rica 7:30 p.m. NBC Live Extra Feb 13 USA vs. Mexico 3 p.m. NBC Live Extra Feb 13 USA vs Mexico 8:30 p.m. Replay NBCSN Feb 15 USA vs. Puerto Rico 7:30 p.m. NBCSN & NBC Live Extra

The road to Rio for the United States Women’s National Team officially begins Wednesday, February 10th in Frisco Texas in an eight team CONCACAF tournament. For those not familiar with this, it stands for the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football. The teams are in two sets; group A consists of United States, Puerto Rico, Mexico and Costa Rica while group B includes Guatemala, Trinidad & Tobago, Canada and Guyana.

The top two teams will go to Rio this summer and while I do expect the U.S. to win and advance, here are my three other teams who have respectable chances of qualifying:

Costa Rica: Led by the youngest manager in women’s football at the National level, Amelia Valverde has a very talented but young squad, as the oldest player on the roster is Captain Shirley Cruz at age 31 and the youngest is 16 year old Gloriana Villalobos. They have a strong offense, but they are known for having a weak defense, so which one will prevail? Cruz plays her football at the top club in France, Paris Saint-Germain, and she will be a key player throughout the tournament. A crafty midfielder who brings that essential veteran experience, Cruz needs to perform well for her country to advance. Another player Costa Rica will rely on is forward Raquel Rodriguez, the recent Penn St graduate and NCAA Champion was picked second overall in the 2015 NWSL College Draft by Sky Blue FC. She has shown tremendous composure in big moments, namely this past summer when she scored the first goal in the programs history of the World Cup and in the NCAA championship in December where she scored the game winner. Based on what I have seen over the past year and how creative they have proven to be, I have Costa Rica seriously challenging the United States for group A.

Mexico: Also in group A, the man in control for Mexico is Leonardo Cuellar, and in his tenure they have qualified for three World Cups (out of a possible five) and qualified for one Olympics (out of a possible four). Mexico is the only team in the last 14 years to have the same head coach, which I feel is a disadvantage for the team as they have not shown the necessary growth to succeed with other National teams. One of the most consistent players for Mexico was 24 year old forward Charlyn Corral, who appeared in 33 games while scoring 18 goals. After their terrible 2015 World Cup showing, she commented on Cuellar’s time, saying that Mexico was in need of new ideas and called for the end of his reign. Looking at the program as a whole and what little they have accomplished, I agreed with Corral. Now, Corral has been left off the Olympic Qualifying roster and has decided to retire from international football. This is both sad and upsetting for a federation who seems to be stuck in their ways. The upside for Mexico is they still have players such as goalkeeper Cecilia Santiago, who already has 43 appearances at age 21 and was the youngest goalkeeper ever to appear in a World Cup in 2011 at age 16. Midfielder Monica Ocampo is another player who brings quality experience with 77 appearances and adding 14 goals. With all of these factors, I feel Mexico could still put on a decent group performance.

Canada: The way I see it, Canada being in group B, they should have no problem finishing atop the group. Leading the way is one of the more polarizing managers in all of football is John Herdman, who is looking to evolve on both sides of the ball. By bringing in six forwards to compete, it’s clear he is on a mission offensively to improve from last summer’s less than satisfying World Cup, when they could muster just four goals in five games. Focusing on youth at the same time, Herdman brought in seven players under the age of 20, the youngest being Deanne Rose at 16, while Jessie Fleming and Gabrielle Carle are 17. Of course plenty of veteran leadership is still intact with Goalkeeper Erin McLeod, defender Rhian Wilkinson, midfielder Diana Matheson, midfielder Sophie Schmidt, forward Melissa Tancredi and legendary forward Christine Sinclair. I expect Canada to not only perform well, but do it in convincing fashion. By no means is that a knock on the other teams in group B, but given the reputation and fair expectations put on this team by Herdman and the media alike, it’s time to start displaying true results. This team has all the right tools and players in place; so it’s absolutely no excuses to have a poor showing this tournament.

How to watch via a statement from U.S. Soccer: “All 15 tournament matches available via online stream through NBC Live Extra; USA matches vs. Mexico & Puerto Rica to air on NBCSN; Both semifinals and tournament final will be broadcast on NBCSN”.