U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team Qualifies for 2011 World Cup

The U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team has qualified for the 2011 Women’s World Cup with a 1-0 victory Saturday against the Italian team.

Amy Rodriguez scored the game’s only goal at Toyota Park in Brideview, Illinois. The U.S. team won the two-match playoff series with a 2-0 aggregate lead over Italy.

This was the first time the U.S. Women’s National Team competed in a World Cup qualifying playoff. On four previous occasions, the Americans directly advanced from the CONCACAF (North, Central America and Caribbean) region qualifying tournament.

The 2011 Women’s World Cup starts June 26 in Germany, the home of the reigning word champions.

Some information in this story was provided by AP.