Head coach Jill Ellis has revealed her U.S. Women’s National Team roster for the CONCACAF Olympic qualifying tournament in February.
FIFA Women’s World Player of the Year Carli Lloyd headlines the list of 20 players, which also included are Hope Solo, Alex Morgan and 17-year-old Mallory Pugh. Sydney Leroux wasn’t named to Ellis’ roster because she is expecting her first child this year.
Meanwhile, Heather O’Reilly and Christie Rampone, who is out with an injury, are two more notable absences from the roster.
The 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro kick off in August, and only two qualification spots from the CONCACAF region are up for grabs. The USWNT will first play Costa Rica in the group stage of the competition on Feb. 10.
Here is the full USWNT roster:
Goalkeepers (3): Ashlyn Harris (Orlando Pride), Alyssa Naeher (Chicago Red Stars), Hope Solo (Seattle Reign FC)
Defenders (7): Jaelene Hinkle (Western New York Flash), Julie Johnston (Chicago Red Stars), Meghan Klingenberg (Portland Thorns FC), Ali Krieger (Washington Spirit), Kelley O’Hara (Sky Blue FC), Becky Sauerbrunn (FC Kansas City), Emily Sonnett (Portland Thorns FC)
Midfielders (5): Morgan Brian (Houston Dash), Tobin Heath (Portland Thorns FC), Lindsey Horan (Portland Thorns FC), Carli Lloyd (Houston Dash), Samantha Mewis (Western New York Flash)
Forwards (5): Crystal Dunn (Washington Spirit), Stephanie McCaffrey (Boston Breakers), Alex morgan (Orlando Pride), Christen Press (Chicago Red Stars), Mallory Pugh (Mountain Vista High School, Colorado)
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What do you think of the USWNT roster? Think this roster can win the gold in Rio?
Share your thoughts below.
I agree with Tinky Winky. Leaving Heather O’reilly off in favor of a 3rd goalie was a BIG mistake. She is a more physical right wing than Crystal Dunn and can make the GREAT
centering pass. She has always been up for the BIG Tournaments like when she lead the
USWNT U-20 Team to the World Cup Championship. With 2 other World Cup Qualifiers in our
bracket, this is not the time for experiments.
I think Pugh is the Julian Green of the WNT. She had a good game on Saturday (I was there) but 1 game does not an Olympian make!
I think it is a little different with the women. At seventeen she has all the physical gifts in terms of speed, strength, quickness, height, etc she is ever going to have . As result she could very well be as good as, if not better, than the other US forwards. Against Brazil’s U20s she dribbled the ball down the entire field past several players and scored. Brazil’s players couldn’t keep up with her even though she had the ball at her feet, and she also had no problem holding off bigger players. In contrast 17 and 18 male players like Green are still developing physically and may not be ready, physically, to make significant contributions at the mens international level.
I think not taking O’Reilly is a mistake. We could have gone with 2 goalies and included O’Reilly. Nobody but Solo ever plays anyway so why do we need 3?
Seems pretty clear that Ellis doesn’t rate HAO.
However, with Rapinoe out, this leaves Heath as the only viable service provider on CK and FKs.