It started with an innocuous phone call from the Hawaii Tourism Authority near the start of the year.

Would the U.S. Women’s National Team be interested in playing soccer all the way out in the middle of the Pacific?

There wasn’t laughter on the other end of the phone, but a pinch of interest — with a big caveat. The only way to make it happen was the U.S. winning the FIFA Women’s World Cup, something that hadn’t happened since 1999. Then, the team would embark on a 10-stop victory tour, and sites for "friendlies" against international competition would be in demand.

Lo and behold, America defeated Japan 5-2 in a rousing World Cup final on July 5.

"After they won, I picked up the phone and called them, they remembered me and discussions started in earnest," said Michael Story, HTA’s sports manager.

After what Story described as plenty of collaboration within the HTA and with other parties, the victory tour is coming to Aloha Stadium on Dec. 6: Team USA vs. Trinidad and Tobago. It will be the inaugural stop in the 50th State for the national team.

"It is above and beyond comprehension when it comes to an opportunity for Hawaii soccer fans, and just Hawaii residents in general," said University of Hawaii soccer coach Michele Nagamine, who served on a small committee with the HTA and Stadium Authority to hammer out arrangements.

Ticket sales are pending but could begin as soon as next week. Story said the attendance goal is 30,000, or roughly the stadium’s lower bowl.

The stars of the World Cup — Carli Lloyd, Alex Morgan, Hope Solo, Abby Wambach and many of the rest — are expected to play in the Hawaii game, just as they have in routs of Costa Rica and Haiti so far on the tour.

The combined score of the four tour friendlies to date is 28-2. Lloyd, the Golden Ball winner at the World Cup, has eight of the goals. Hawaii’s date will be part of a four-game, 11-day stretch to cap the victory tour.

The Aloha Stadium Authority, UH athletic director David Matlin, Nagamine, HPU soccer coach Gina Brewer and others contributed in making the game happen.

When negotiations started, the stadium was actually reserved Dec. 5 for the possibility of UH playing in the Mountain West football championship game. It’s since been cleared.

"They need a clean field, and when you have football on the day before it, it becomes a little more complicated," Story said. "So David was extremely gracious and he tried the best he could to work with us within his guidelines."

The last international soccer event held at Aloha Stadium was the Hawaiian Islands Invitational in 2012, featuring the Colorado Rapids of Major League Soccer and teams of men’s pro leagues in South Korea, Japan and Australia. Prior to that, the Pan-Pacific Championship of 2008 featured David Beckham and the Los Angeles Galaxy, Brian Ching and the Houston Dynamo, and clubs from Japan and Australia.

The artificial turf and limited width of the Aloha Stadium field has been an obstacle to annual soccer events, but in this instance was not a deal-breaker.

"You could say it was satisfactory for them to play a game like the one they are going to playing now," Story said. "That was a little bit of a sticking point when we were trying to get the game with the national team … so there does have to be a little bit of give for the dimensions of the field. But it’s still within requirements. They’re able to play a competitive game and a legal game. So no issue on that side."

Story and Nagamine described a sense of elation when it finally came together in recent days.

"This is definitely an opportunity for our community in general, especially the soccer fans, to really experience something that could be once in a lifetime," Nagamine said.