By Harry Awurumibe, Editor, Abuja Bureau
Veteran strikers and co-captains, Megan Rapinoe and Alex Morgan as well as reliable defender, Carli Lloyd are among the 23 players Head Coach of United States Women’s National Team (USWNT), Vlatko Andonovski has selected for for the ‘2021 Summer Series’ bill for Texas next month.
Prompt News reports that the USWNT roster features 19 National Women’s Soccer Leaque (NWSL) players and four from clubs in Europe for the Four Nation Tournament which will also feature Nigeria, Portugal and Jamaica. It will run from June 10 to 16.
The three Grade A matches will mark the final games before Andonovski and his staff choose the final Olympic Team roster for the delayed Tokyo 2020 Summer Games.
“These games and the few training sessions we’ll have are just more tests, more challenges and more learning opportunities, for the players and coaches,” said Andonovski.
“The three matches will certainly be important in the selection of the Olympic Team, but we are also focused on the big picture and the overall body of work the players have put together over the past year or so for the National Team and their clubs.
“During these games we’ll also focus on preparing for the Olympic group matches, so we need to balance all of that, as well as manage the overall physical load on the players”, he concluded.
According to the fixtures, USA’s three games of the ‘Summer Series’ begin with a match against Portugal on June 10 at BBVA Stadium in Houston with kick-off at 7:30 p.m. CT / 8:30 p.m. ET). It will be followed by another match with Jamaica on June 13, also at BBVA Stadium.
The USA will then travel to Austin to face Nigeria on June 16 at Q2 Stadium in what will be the first soccer match at the brand new, state-of-the-art venue. All the matches will be broadcast on FS1 at 8 p.m. CT / 9 p.m. ET and on ESPN2 at same time.
The ‘Summer Series’ is part of the USWNT preparation for the upcoming Tokyo 2020 Olympics where they will face Sweden (July 21 in Tokyo), New Zealand (July 24 in Saitama) and Australia (July 27 in Kashima) during group play.
THE FULL ROSTER:
Goalkeepers (3): Jane Campbell (Houston Dash), Adrianna Franch (Portland Thorns FC), Alyssa Naeher (Chicago Red Stars)
Defender (8): Alana Cook (Paris Saint-Germain, FRA), Abby Dahlkemper (Manchester City, ENG), Tierna Davidson (Chicago Red Stars), Crystal Dunn (Portland Thorns FC), Kelley O’Hara (Washington Spirit), Margaret Purce (NJ/NY Gotham FC), Becky Sauerbrunn (Portland Thorns FC), Emily Sonnett (Washington Spirit)
Midfielders (6): Lindsey Horan (Portland Thorns FC), Rose Lavelle (OL Reign), Catarina Macario (Olympique Lyonnais, FRA), Kristie Mewis (Houston Dash), Samantha Mewis (North Carolina Courage), Andi Sullivan (Washington Spirit)
Forwards (6): Carli Lloyd (NJ/NY Gotham FC), Alex Morgan (Orlando Pride), Christen Press (Manchester United, ENG), Megan Rapinoe (OL Reign), Sophia Smith (Portland Thorns FC), Lynn Williams (North Carolina Courage).
