Megan Rapinoe, Alex Morgan and Becky Sauerbrunn top the 23-player list launched by United States women’s national team president Flatko Andonovsky, which will compete in the CONCACAF W 2022 next month.
Andonovsky has also appointed three additional players who will be available for the upcoming two friendlies against Colombia. Game one will be played on June 25 at Dikes Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City, Colorado, and game two on June 28 at Rio Tinto Stadium in Sandy, Utah.
– Trinity Rodman: The future of American football has arrived
– Stream ESPN FC Daily on ESPN+ (US only)
– You don’t have ESPN? Get instant pass
“Since we were together last time in April, we’ve evaluated a lot of matches, hours of video and had extensive conversations between the coaching staff to come up with this 26-player roster for Colombia’s matches and the last 23 qualifying match,” Andonovsky said.
“As usual, the players don’t make these decisions easily, but we feel this is a roster that can achieve all of our goals over the four weeks we’ll be together for what we hope will be seven successful matches.”
Andonovsky’s pick list includes a new generation of American gamers, with young Washington Spirit duo Trinity Rodman and Ashley Hatch making the list. Only 10 of the 23 players on the CONCACAF W Championship roster have World Cup and Olympic qualification experience, a roster that includes mainstays like Lyon midfielder Lindsay Horan and OL Reign’s Rose Laville.
The list of notable absences is extensive. Sam Moyes continues to recover from a knee injury while Abby Dalkemper (ribs), Terna Davidson (knee) and Lynne Williams (hip) are also left out. Catarina Macario was recently sidelined after suffering an ACL tear, while Crystal Dunn remains unavailable after she gave birth to her son last month. Kristen Press also did not give his name. She sustained a knee injury with Angle City last weekend and later confirmed she had ruptured her ACL, but Andonovsky said she wouldn’t have included it even if she was otherwise healthy. Tobin Heath, who does not have a club, was also removed.
OL Reign’s Rapinoe and San Diego Wave’s Morgan return to USWNT for the first time since October 2021. The Portland Thorns Sauerbrunn and Emily Sonnett of the Washington Spirit are also back after missing their April friendlies. Sauerbronn missed the match with a knee injury, while a rib injury has been ruled out.
Rapinoe appeared in just four regular season games totaling 154 minutes, but Andonovsky said he and the player agreed last year that if Rapinoe was fit and healthy, he would be included. He added that Rapinoe has looked good in the recent sub-matches and that the experience has also been key.
“Obviously this is a young group that we include. There are a lot of young players. So her experience and going through trials, going through tough times at the top, her mentality, her winning mentality, her knowledge and understanding is very valuable to the group.”
These are the first full national team call-ups for brave North Carolina defender Carson Beckett, Portland Thorns quarterback Sam Covey and San Diego Wave midfielder Taylor Cornick. Beckett and Kofi are both on the substitution list, as is Racing Louisville’s midfielder Jaylene Howell.
After the two matches against Colombia, the US team will leave directly for Mexico to prepare for the CONCACAF W Championship, which will take place from July 4-18 and will be held in Monterrey.
The United States has been drawn into Group A, and will face Haiti on Monday, July 4th, followed by a match against Jamaica on July 7. The group stage ends with a match against Mexico on July 11. The match for third place and the championship takes place four days later.
The top two winners of each group after the four-way match will advance to the semi-finals while winning the World Cup berths. The third-placed team in each group will receive a place in the 10-team tournament between the confederations that will take place in February 2023 to determine the last three berths of the expanded 32-team stadium for the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup.
The winner of the tournament will receive an automatic berth for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, while the second and third place winners will play in September 2023 on the second and final Olympic berth for CONCACAF. The tournament winner and Olympic qualifier via the Qualifier Series will qualify directly for the new CONCACAF competition, the 2024 W Gold Cup.
Should there be any injuries that require changes to the CWC roster, Andonovsky can select any player from the USWNT’s initial roster of 59 players announced by CONCACAF on June 8. The first matches.
US squad:
goalkeepers: Aubrey Kingsbury (Washington Spirit), Casey Murphy (North Carolina Courage), Alyssa Naher (Chicago Red Stars)
Defenders: Alana Cook (OL Reign), Emily Fox (Racing Louisville FC), Naomi Girma (San Diego Wave), Sofia Huerta (OL Reign), Kelley O’Hara (Washington Spirit), Becky Sauerbrunn (Portland Thorns FC), Emily Sonnett ( Washington Spirit)
Midfielders: Lindsey Horan (Olympic Lyonnais), Taylor Cornick (San Diego Wave), Rose Laville (OL Reign), Christy Moyes (NJ/New York Gotham), Ashley Sanchez (Washington Spirit), Andy Sullivan (Washington Spirit)
Attackers: Ashley Hatch (Washington Spirit), Alex Morgan (San Diego Wave), Midge Pierce (NJ/New York Gotham), Mallory Poe (Chicago Red Stars), Megan Rapinoe (Ol Reign), Trinity Rodman (Washington Spirit), Sophia Smith ( Portland Thistles
More Stories
NFL Week 1 2024 Predictions, Today’s Picks: Expert provides accurate results for all 16 games
7 Big Deals We Want to See Before the NFL Season Opens
Fever star Kaitlyn Clark breaks WNBA rookie record for 3-pointers in game with Connecticut Sun