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Alex Morgan headlines USWNT squad to face Netherlands

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U.S. Women’s National Team head coach Vlatko Andonovski released the 23-woman squad of players that will travel to the Netherlands for their World Cup Final rematch on November 27.

The USWNT team will feature a healthy mix of experienced regulars and players hoping to earn their first cap with the senior team.

Headlining the regulars on the roster are the American stars that jumped the Atlantic Ocean to try their hands at the FA Women’s Super League in England this season. Alex Morgan will make her return to the national team for the first time since the birth of her daughter over the summer. She has a start and a substitute with Tottenham so far since her move to the WSL.

Rose Lavelle and Sam Mewis will join the squad in the Netherlands from Manchester City. Both have embedded themselves as regular starters for City in recent weeks, as have Tobin Heath and Christen Press with Manchester United, who will also be on the roster.

The NWSL will send a healthy contingent of players as well, highlighted by goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher, defenders Crystal Dunn and Kelley O’Hara, as well as midfielders Lindsey Horan and Julie Ertz. Sam Mewis’s older sister Kristie also makes her return to the USWNT squad after a breakout year that saw her pick up five assists in four games during the NWSL Fall Series.

Among the players looking to break into the team for the first time is the lone non-professional player in the roster, Stanford University midfielder Catarina Macario. The Brazil-born Macario was present at the team’s training camp in Colorado last month and is hoping for her first taste of USWNT game action next weekend. She missed her senior season in college thanks to COVID-19, but is using that as a chance to get early experience with her national team before she figures to be the top pick in January’s NWSL College Draft.

Also looking for her first cap is Portland Thorns forward Sophia Smith. Smith, aslo from Stanford, was the top pick in the 2020 NWSL Draft and immediately made an impact for the Thorns in the bizzarre 2020 campaign.

The November 27 match against the Netherlands will be the USWNT’s first game since March 11, when they defeated Japan 3-1 to win the 2020 SheBelieves Cup in Frisco, Texas and their first match against the Dutch since beating them 2-0 i the 2019 World Cup Final.

Here’s the full roster:

GOALKEEPERS (3): Aubrey Bledsoe (Washington Spirit), Jane Campbell (Houston Dash), Alyssa Naeher (Chicago Red Stars)

DEFENDERS (8): Alana Cook (Paris Saint-Germain, FRA), Abby Dahlkemper (NC Courage), Tierna Davidson (Chicago Red Stars), Crystal Dunn (Portland Thorns FC), Kelley O’Hara (Utah Royals FC), Margaret Purce (Sky Blue FC), Becky Sauerbrunn (Portland Thorns FC), Emily Sonnett (Orlando Pride)

MIDFIELDERS (6): Julie Ertz (Chicago Red Stars), Lindsey Horan (Portland Thorns FC), Rose Lavelle (Manchester City), Catarina Macario (Stanford), Kristie Mewis (Houston Dash), Samantha Mewis (Manchester City)

FORWARDS (6): Ashley Hatch (Washington Spirit), Tobin Heath (Manchester United), Alex Morgan (Tottenham Hotspur), Christen Press (Manchester United), Sophia Smith (Portland Thorns FC), Lynn Williams (NC Courage)

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