U.S. Women’s National Team interim head coach head coach Twila Kilgore has named her 27-player roster for two upcoming friendlies against South Africa.
Lindsey Horan, Rose Lavelle, and Trinity Rodman headlined Kilgore’s roster on Tuesday, ahead of matches on Sept. 21 and Sept. 24 respectively. Cincinnati’s TQL Stadium and Chicago’s Soldier Field will play host to the friendlies, which will serve as final matches for USWNT legends Megan Rapinoe and Julie Ertz.
Ertz’s final match will come in Cincinnati while Rapinoe’s will come in Chicago.
“As we continue the search for our new head coach, we felt it was best to call up all of World Cup players who are fit to play, while also bringing in some players that we believe can help us moving forward as we start our preparations for the Olympics next year,” said U.S. Soccer Sporting Director Matt Crocker.
“We’re looking forward to having the opportunity to honor the players who have decided to retire but also know these games are valuable as the first steps towards Paris. Once the new head coach comes in, that individual will assess the player pool and make roster decisions that will be focused on building a team for the future.”
Forwards Jaedyn Shaw and Mia Fishel are two players included that will be seeking their first caps with the USWNT. Fishel plays for English club Chelsea while Shaw plays for NWSL side San Diego Wave.
South Africa is coming off a positive performance at the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup, where it advanced out of Group G behind Sweden. The Banyana Banyana tied Argentina 2-2 before also claiming a 3-2 win over Italy in their final group stage match.
“The Olympics may seem like they are far away, but the amount of time that the players get with the National Team between now and Paris is not a lot, so we need to start that journey now,” said Kilgore. “No matter who the coach is, or which players get to wear the crest, the standards remain the same and everyone wants to excel, so we’ll be looking forward to putting together two good performances against a South Africa team that showed well at the World Cup.”
Here is a closer look at the full USWNT roster:
GOALKEEPERS: Aubrey Kingsbury (Washington Spirit), Casey Murphy (North Carolina Courage), Alyssa Naeher (Chicago Red Stars)
DEFENDERS: Alana Cook (OL Reign), Tierna Davidson (Chicago Red Stars), Crystal Dunn (Portland Thorns FC), Emily Fox (North Carolina Courage), Naomi Girma (San Diego Wave FC), Sofia Huerta (OL Reign), Casey Krueger (Chicago Red Stars), Kelley O’Hara (NJ/NY Gotham FC), Emily Sonnett (OL Reign)
MIDFIELDERS: Sam Coffey (Portland Thorns FC), Savannah DeMelo (Racing Louisville FC), Julie Ertz (Unattached), Lindsey Horan (Olympique Lyon, FRA), Rose Lavelle (OL Reign), Ashley Sanchez (Washington Spirit), Andi Sullivan (Washington Spirit)
FORWARDS: Mia Fishel (Chelsea FC, ENG), Ashley Hatch (Washington Spirit), Alex Morgan (San Diego Wave FC), Megan Rapinoe (OL Reign), Trinity Rodman (Washington Spirit), Jaedyn Shaw (San Diego Wave FC), Alyssa Thompson (Angel City FC), Lynn Williams (NJ/NY Gotham FC)
Not a fan of send off games for national team players, let the clubs do that. Or find some other way. There are too few games, and playing time so precious. The olympics are next year? Are we going to wait until after that to turn over the roster then? It should have been done three years ago.
Three best attackers in the pool are injured Smith, Macario, and Swanson. Hopefully, Sanchez and Thompson actually get to play in roles their comfortable in. I’d be happy if Alex plays if we are actually letting her do what she does well instead of trying to make her a hold up forward.
I find it hard to see what AM does well anymore. During the WC she had open chances on goal and flubbed every one of them, it was hard to watch, and actually her being a hold up FWD is what is keeping her on the field bc she can’t dribble past people like she used to and her lack of technical ability does not allow her to create space to shoot on goal!
Does this mean there is not more new talent in the pipeline for a callup than the two strikers? These feel more like sendoff games for Ertz and Rapinoe. One sure hopes the permanent coach has a different mindset on developing new talent.
Meet the new team, same as the old team.
Macario and Swanson are the big names but that they’re hurt. This window seems to be about celebrating Rapinoe, Ertz and O’Hara. Hopefully we get some answers on when the next coach will be hired during the window.