Jill Ellis names USWNT roster for 2017 SheBelieves Cup
CHICAGO (Via U.S. Soccer) – U.S. Women’s National Team head coach Jill Ellis has named the 23-player roster for the 2017 SheBelieves Cup that will feature four of the world’s top teams in the USA, Germany, France and England playing in three doubleheader events at three different venues over a seven-day period.
England will open the tournament against France on March 1 in Chester, Pa. (4 p.m. ET; FOX Sports GO) followed by the USA against Germany (7 p.m. ET on FS1). All the teams will then travel to New Jersey where France will face Germany on Saturday, March 4 (2:15 p.m. ET; FOX Sports GO) followed by the USA taking on England (5 p.m. ET on FOX) at Red Bull Arena in Harrison. The tournament will finish on Tuesday, March 7, at the historic RFK Stadium in Washington, D.C. as Germany takes on England (4 p.m. ET; FOX Sports GO) and the USA faces France (7 p.m. ET on FS1).
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JILL ELLIS
“We’ve now had two camps together this year and I’ve seen some good things across the board. Now we’re looking to translate that into three games against fantastic opponents. We will be greatly tested and these are the moments where you learn the most about yourself which is exactly what we need right now.”
ROSTER BREAKDOWN
Ellis chose the roster after several days of training camp in Orlando, Fla., naming three goalkeepers, six defenders, eight midfielders and six forwards, but numerous players can play multiple positions. Seventeen of the players on the roster played in the inaugural edition of the SheBelieves Cup, including the scorers of all four of the USA’s goals at last year’s tournament: Alex Morgan (2), Crystal Dunn and Samantha Mewis.
Goalkeeper Jane Campbell, defender Casey Short, midfielders Rose Lavelle and Brianna Pinto and forwards Lynn Williams and Jessica McDonald all make their first SheBelieves Cup roster. Campbell, Pinto and Lavelle are all uncapped while Short and Williams both have four caps and McDonald has one.
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U.S. Women’s National Team 2017 SheBelieves Cup Roster
GOALKEEPERS (3): Jane Campbell (Houston Dash), Ashlyn Harris (Orlando Pride), Alyssa Naeher (Chicago Red Stars)
DEFENDERS (6): Julie Johnston (Chicago Red Stars), Ali Krieger (Orlando Pride), Kelley O’Hara (Sky Blue FC), Becky Sauerbrunn (FC Kansas City), Casey Short (Chicago Red Stars), Emily Sonnett (Portland Thorns FC)
MIDFIELDERS (8): Morgan Brian (Houston Dash), Tobin Heath (Portland Thorns FC), Lindsey Horan (Portland Thorns FC), Rose Lavelle (Boston Breakers), Carli Lloyd (Manchester City), Allie Long (Portland Thorns FC), Samantha Mewis (NC Courage), Brianna Pinto (CASL)
FORWARDS (6): Crystal Dunn (Chelsea Ladies FC), Jessica McDonald (NC Courage), Alex Morgan (Olympique Lyonnais), Christen Press (Chicago Red Stars), Mallory Pugh (UCLA), Lynn Williams (NC Courage)
Additional Notes:
- U.S. captain Carli Lloyd is the most capped player on the roster with 232 games played and is four goals away from becoming the sixth player in U.S. history to score 100 international goals.
- 2016 U.S. Soccer Female Player of the Year Tobin Heath comes into the tournament with 128 caps and 18 goals.
- Two other players have more than 100 caps in Alex Morgan (120) and Becky Sauerbrunn (119).
- Twelve players on the roster have 20 caps or less.
- Alex Morgan heads into the tournament with 73 career goals in 120 caps while Christen Press has 41 scores in 80 caps. Both are averaging more than a half a goal per game in their WNT careers.
- Nineteen players on the roster will enter NWSL pre-season camps in mid-March after the tournament.
- Alex Morgan and Crystal Dunn will join the U.S. team this weekend from France and England, where they have been playing for Olympique Lyonnais and Chelsea, respectively, while Carli Lloyd will head to Manchester City following the tournament.
- Mallory Pugh, who is in her first academic quarter at UCLA, is the only college player on the roster. Pugh, alongside Pinto, who is a high school junior, are the only amateur players on the roster.
- Pugh has not played for the senior National Team since the 2016 Olympics but spent the fall with the U-20 WNT and captained the USA at the 2016 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup.
- Sixteen-year-old Pinto was held over from the U.S. Under-23 WNT training camp in January and trained for several days with the senior team, becoming one of the youngest call-ups of the modern era of the U.S. Women’s National Team. She turns 17 on May 24. If Pinto gets her first cap, she will become the first player born in the new millennium and first player born after the 1999 Women’s World Cup to earn a senior team cap.
- Pinto was a starter in the center midfield for the USA at the 2016 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup in Jordan. She finished her U-17 international career with 20 caps and one goal.
- Forward Jessica McDonald was not in the pre-tournament camp in Orlando, Fla., but will join the team in Philadelphia.
- Defender Ali Krieger heads into the tournament with 96 career caps and could be the next U.S. player to hit 100.
- Rose Lavelle was the #1 pick in the 2016 NWSL Draft by the Boston Breakers while Campbell was taken 15th overall in the second round by the Houston Dash.
- Meghan Klingenberg, Amy Rodriguez and Sarah Killion are the three players who were at the pre-tournament camp who did not make the SheBelieves Cup roster. Klingenberg was in her first camp since last October after recovering from a back injury while Rodriguez was in her second camp since the birth of her second son last July.
