Megan Rapinoe, Julie Ertz, and Carli Lloyd headline Vlatko Andonovski’s 28-player U.S. Women’s National Team roster for an upcoming January camp.
The camp will run from Jan. 5-15 in Tampa, Fla and will be the final chance for players to impress Andonovski before a 20-player roster is named for the Concacaf Women’s Olympic Qualifying Tournament.
“The players are coming off their break, so I know everyone will be excited, rested, refreshed and ready to tackle our next goals, which are having a productive training camp and preparing for Olympic Qualifying,” Andonovski said. “A long-time strength of this team has been the internal competition on the training field and our coaching staff is looking forward to seeing that during camp as it will help us pick the best team to take to qualifying and try to earn our berth to Tokyo.”
22 out of 23 players from the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup winning roster have been included for January’s camp.
19-year-old forward Sophia Smith is the most surprising name on the list, being the youngest player in camp, the only uncapped player and the only non-professional. She is a rising junior at Stanford.
Smith joins Portland Thorns defender Margaret “Midge” Purce and Houston Dash goalkeeper Jane Campbell, as the three players who also attended the U.S. Women’s Identification Camp earlier this month in Florida.
The USWNT will begin its quest to qualify for the 2020 Olympics when they take on Haiti on Tuesday, Jan. 28. Group stage play resumes with a match against Panama on Jan. 31 before concluding against Costa Rica on Feb. 3. All three group games will be played at BBVA Stadium in Houston, Texas.
The semifinals and final of the Olympic Qualifying Tournament will be played on Feb. 7 and Feb. 9 respectively at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, Calif.
Here’s the entire Training Camp roster:
GOALKEEPERS: Jane Campbell, Adrianna Franch, Ashlyn Harris, Alyssa Naeher.
DEFENDERS: Abby Dahlkemper, Tierna Davidson, Crystal Dunn, Ali Krieger, Kelley O’Hara, Margaret Purce, Becky Sauerbrunn, Casey Short, Emily Sonnett.
MIDFIELDERS: Morgan Brian, Julie Ertz, Lindsey Horan, Rose Lavelle, Allie Long, Samantha Mewis, Andi Sullivan.
FORWARDS: Tobin Heath, Carli Lloyd, Jessica McDonald, Christen Press, Mallory Pugh, Megan Rapinoe, Sophia Smith, Lynn Williams.
The Olympics are NOT the best place to attempt to break in new talent, owing to the fact of small rosters and no weak teams. Accordingly, I will list my picks below based on proven talent in BIG and RECENT matches.
GK Naeher and Harris – No Question here.
D- Dahlkemper, Dunn, Krieger, O’Hara, Sauerbrunn, Sonnet & Short
M- Ertz, Horan, Lavelle, Mewis, Brian
F Heath, Lloyd, Press, Pugh, Rapinoe, Williams.
6 months ago, I would not have picked Morgan Brian. However in recent matches she
is beginning to regain some of the strength that made her the #1 Draft Pick in the NWSL.
Also, Lynn Williams never impressed me that much until they took her from a wing position
and moved her to Center Forward in recent victory tour matches. All of a sudden she began
to look like a Center Forward who could score goals what with her size. With Carli now the starting C/F, she needs a back-up and Lynn possesses the where-with-all to score from that position.