The U.S. Women’s National Team will seek to capture its first trophy of 2021 this February and also repeat as SheBelieves Cup winners on home soil.
USWNT head coach Vlatko Andonovski announced his 23-player roster for the annual tournament on Monday. Veterans Samantha Mewis, Alex Morgan, and Christen Press headlined the choices made by Andonovski while young players Catarina Macario and Sophia Smith have also been included.
Orlando’s Exploria Stadium will play host to the tournament, which will see Canada, Brazil, and Argentina join the USWNT in the four-team competition. The team also announced Emily Fox, Jaelin Howell, and Mallory Pugh as its training players for camp, pending no injuries happen in camp.
Andonovski’s squad will open play on February 18th against Canada before facing Brazil on February 21st and Argentina on the 24th. The team who claims the most points from its three matches will be crowned winners of the tournament.
“We will hit the ground running in Orlando with most of our roster and will get in some great work in the first part of camp before we start focusing on the games once all the European-based players arrive,” said Andonovski. “I think we made a lot of progress on and off the field during the January camp and games, so we’ll be looking to build on that for these three matches and we want to continue to test different players in tough environments.”
“Each game will present its own unique challenges and the matches are not only a step up in competition from January, but as I’ve said before, are extremely valuable as a test run for group play at the Olympics.”
Here’s a full breakdown of the roster:
GOALKEEPERS: Jane Campbell (Houston Dash; 4), Casey Murphy (North Carolina Courage; 0), Alyssa Naeher (Chicago Red Stars; 65)
DEFENDERS: Alana Cook (Paris Saint-Germain, FRA; 2/0), Abby Dahlkemper (Manchester City, ENG; 63/0), Tierna Davidson (Chicago Red Stars; 27/1), Crystal Dunn (Portland Thorns FC; 107/24), Kelley O’Hara (Washington Spirit; 133/2), Margaret Purce (Sky Blue FC; 4/1), Becky Sauerbrunn (Portland Thorns FC; 179/0), Emily Sonnett (Washington Spirit; 48/0)
MIDFIELDERS: Julie Ertz (Chicago Red Stars; 105/20), Lindsey Horan (Portland Thorns FC; 88/20), Rose Lavelle (Manchester City, ENG; 48/13), Catarina Macario (Olympique Lyonnais, FRA; 2/1), Kristie Mewis (Houston Dash; 18/3), Samantha Mewis (Manchester City, ENG; 70/21)
FORWARDS: Carli Lloyd (Sky Blue FC; 296/123), Alex Morgan (Orlando Pride; 170/107), Christen Press (Manchester United, ENG; 139/58), Megan Rapinoe (OL Reign; 170/54), Sophia Smith (Portland Thorns FC; 1/0), Lynn Williams (North Carolina Courage; 31/10)
Training Players: Emily Fox (Racing Louisville FC; 4/0), Jaelin Howell (Florida State; 1/0), Mallory Pugh (Chicago Red Stars; 63/18)