U.S. Soccer held a press conference Tuesday afternoon in downtown Orlando, with discussion surrounding the USWNT vs. Brazil friendly on Sunday, November 10 at the Florida Citrus Bowl. The game will be nationally broadcasted on NBC, further exposing Central Florida as a hotbed of soccer in the United States.

Orlando City President Phil Rawlins, USWNT Head Coach Tom Sermanni, Orlando Venues Executive Director Allen Johnson and City of Orlando Commissioner Samuel Ings all spoke at the panelled event, talking to local press about topics ranging from a potential Major League Soccer franchise in Orlando, the USA/Brazil friendly and much more.

“Orlando is a perfect soccer market,” Sermanni said Tuesday afternoon. “Orlando City has been successful with their crowds, which is a great indicator of how popular the game is here. It’s a great time to be a part of soccer in the State of Florida.”

Orlando City SC, along with its partners at Orlando Venues, helped bring the high-profile match to the Central Florida area. Tickets go on sale to the public on Thursday, Oct. 17, at 10 a.m. EST through ussoccer.com, by phone at 1-800-745-3000, at all Ticketmaster ticket centers throughout Central Florida (including many Walmart locations), and the Amway Center ticket office.

“Orlando will prevail as a fantastic location and venue for world class soccer,” Commissioner Ings said. “We are very happy to bring in the USWNT on November 10, and we are looking forward to what will be an exciting game.”

The press conference comes after the first of two vitally important public votes involving the Club. Last Monday, the City of Orlando Board of Commissioners voted unanimously (7-0 vote) to fund a new downtown soccer stadium that would be the future home of the Lions. The stadium is part of a 50/50 public-private partnership proposed by Orlando City Soccer Club – and which is crucial for the club to achieve its MLS aspirations.

The second required public vote will occur on October 22nd with the Orange County Board of Commissioners. A positive outcome from both votes would allow Orlando City to enter into final negotiations with MLS to award an expansion team.

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“It’s a prestigious event whenever you can bring in a national team to your city, and it’s our honor to host the US and Brazilian National Teams,” Rawlins said. “We’ve been working long and hard with the (United States Soccer) Federation to make this happen.

There’s no coincidence that the National Team hasn’t been back here in 14 years. The re-emergence of soccer in Central Florida has certainly played a huge role to bring the team back to Orlando. It’s the work we will continue to do moving forward, and it is just one of the marquee events we’ll have once we have a new, downtown stadium.”