Vlatko Andonovski calls in 26 players for USWNT camp ahead of SheBelieves Cup

CHICAGO – U.S. Women’s National Team head coach Vlatko Andonovski has named a 26-player training camp roster in preparation for the 2020 SheBelieves Cup, which features the top-ranked Americans, No. 6 England, No. 10 Japan and No. 13 Spain. All of the matches will be shown on ESPN networks.

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The U.S. team begins play in the SheBelieves Cup on Thursday, March 5 against England at Exploria Stadium in Orlando, Fla. (7 p.m. ET on ESPN2 and TUDN). Japan will kick off the tournament against Spain (4:15 p.m. ET on ESPN3) in the early game that day. All the teams will then travel to Red Bull Arena in Harrison, N.J., where the USA will play Spain on Sunday, March 8 (5 p.m. ET on ESPN and TUDN), following Japan vs. England (2:15 p.m. ET on ESPN3). The tournament will finish on Wednesday, March 11, at Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas, as England takes on Spain (4:15 p.m. CT on ESPN3) followed by the tournament finale, featuring the USA against Japan (7 p.m. CT on ESPNews and TUDN).

The training camp roster that will come together in Orlando for just over a week of training before the first game features all 20 players who helped the USA qualify for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and win the 2020 Concacaf Women’s Olympic Qualifying tournament last weekend, beating Mexico 4-0 in the semifinal and Canada 3-0 in the title game. Andonovski named six additional players, three of whom trained with the USA for a few days in advance of the Olympic qualifying tournament in defenders Margaret Purce and Casey Short and 2019 Women’s World Cup champion forward Mallory Pugh. Andonovski also named a fourth goalkeeper to the roster in Jane Campbell, as well as 2019 Women’s World Cup champion defender Tierna Davidson, and midfielder Jordan DiBiasi, who attended the USA’s Identification Training Camp last December. That was DiBiasi’s first senior USWNT call-up.

Andonovski will choose a final 23-player tournament roster for the SheBelieves Cup before the first game.

“As a team, we have lots of positive feelings coming out of Olympic Qualifying, but I think we all know that there’s still a lot of room for growth for this group and there’s no better way to continue that process than to play teams like England, Spain and Japan,” said Andonovski. “Our end goal is the Olympics, but we’re looking forward to a productive camp in Orlando and the challenge of playing three fantastic sides over the seven days. The rhythm of the SheBelieves Cup schedule directly matches what we will face in group play at the Olympics, and the value of getting a test run against this level of competition cannot be overstated.”

All four teams contesting the 2020 SheBelieves Cup made the knockout rounds of the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup last summer in France.

USWNT 2020 SheBelieves Cup Training Camp Roster Club; Caps/Goals)

GOALKEEPERS (4): Jane Campbell (Houston Dash; 3), Adrianna Franch (Portland Thorns FC; 3), Ashlyn Harris (Orlando Pride; 25), Alyssa Naeher (Chicago Red Stars; 61)

DEFENDERS (9): Abby Dahlkemper (North Carolina Courage; 58/0), Tierna Davidson (Chicago Red Stars; 25/1), Crystal Dunn (North Carolina Courage; 101/24), Ali Krieger (Orlando Pride; 107/1), Kelley O’Hara (Utah Royals FC; 129/2), Margaret Purce (Sky Blue FC; 1/0), Becky Sauerbrunn (Utah Royals FC; 174/0), Casey Short (Chicago Red Stars; 31/0), Emily Sonnett (Orlando Pride; 44/0)

MIDFIELDERS (6): Jordan DiBiasi (Washington Spirit), Julie Ertz (Chicago Red Stars; 99/19), Lindsey Horan (Portland Thorns FC; 83/18), Rose Lavelle (Washington Spirit; 42/12), Samantha Mewis (North Carolina Courage; 64/18), Andi Sullivan (Washington Spirit; 16/0)

FORWARDS (7): Tobin Heath (Portland Thorns FC; 165;33), Carli Lloyd (Sky Blue FC; 291/122), Jessica McDonald (North Carolina Courage; 17/4), Christen Press (Utah Royals FC; 134/56), Mallory Pugh (Sky Blue FC; 62/18), Megan Rapinoe (Reign FC; 165/51), Lynn Williams (North Carolina Courage; 25/9)

2020 SheBelieves Cup Schedule

Additional Notes:

• Each team is allowed six substitutes per game at the SheBelieves Cup.
• Should Julie Ertz play in the opening game against England, it will be her 100^th cap, making her the 40^thS. female player to hit the century mark.
• Carli Lloyd comes into the tournament with 291 caps and 122 goals, nine games shy of becoming just the third player in history to reach 300 caps (where she would join former teammates Kristine Lilly and Christine Rampone), and just eight goals behind Lilly for third all-time in goals in U.S. history.
• Several players will be working to represent the USA at their clubs’ home stadiums. Three players on the training camp roster play for the Orlando Pride in defender Ali Krieger, goalkeeper Ashlyn Harris and defender Emily Sonnett, and three more players play for Sky Blue FC in Carli Lloyd, Mallory Pugh and Margaret Purce.
• Crystal Dunn, who hails from Rockville Centre, N.Y., will be honored for her 100^th cap before the match against Spain on March 8 in Harrison, N.J. Dunn earned her 100^th cap in the USA’s semifinal victory against Mexico at the Concacaf Women’s Olympic Qualifying tournament.
• Becky Sauerbrunn’s next cap will be her 175^th, making her one of just 16 players in U.S. history to reach that mark, all of whom except for Carli Lloyd are retired.
• Lindsey Horan leads the USA in scoring this year after tallying six times during the Concacaf Women’s Olympic Qualifying tournament. Christen Press scored five goals in the tournament, which tied her with Carin Gabarra for 10^th on the USA’s all-time goal scoring list at 56.
• Seven other players scored in Olympic Qualifying, led by Samantha Mewis, who had four goals from two braces, and Lynn Williams, who found the net three times, including the game-winner in the title game against Canada.
• The tournament format for the SheBelieves Cup will be the same as the first four years. The winner will be determined by total points (three for a win, one for a draw), with the first tiebreaker being overall goal difference, followed by goals scored, then head-to-head result. If teams are still tied, the next tie-breaker will be the Fair Play ranking.
• All 26 players on the U.S. roster play in the NWSL. The roster features five NWSL No. 1 overall draft picks in Crystal Dunn (2014), Emily Sonnett (2016), Rose Lavelle (2017), Andi Sullivan (2018) and Tierna Davidson (2019).
• The tournament will mark the USA’s first meetings with England and Spain since last summer’s World Cup. The USA defeated Spain in the Round of 16 and England in the Semifinal, both by 2-1 scores.
• The USA’s most recent meeting with Japan was a 2-2 draw at the 2019 SheBelieves Cup. Before that, the teams met at the 2018 Tournament of Nations, in which the USA prevailed 4-2.
• England has played in each of the four previous SheBelieves Cup tournaments. This will be the second appearance for Japan, after participating last year, and the first for Spain.
• The USA’s first game against Spain in the history of its program was a 1-0 victory in Alicante, Spain in January of 2019. After the Round of 16 game in the World Cup and the meeting at the 2020 SheBelieves Cup, the teams will have played three times in 15 months. The USA is 2-0-0 all-time against Spain.
• Spain is currently atop its qualifying group for the 2021 UEFA Women’s Euro, having defeated Azerbaijan, 4-1, the Czech Republic, 5-1, while tying Poland 0-0 in Group D so far.
• England is hosting the 2021 UEFA Women’s Euro and thus is not participating in qualifying.
• As host, Japan’s berth to the 2020 Olympics is already secured. The USA is 28-1-8 all-time against Japan.
• At the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup, Japan finished second in Group D behind England but then lost 2-1 to eventual finalist Netherlands in the Round of 16. Spain finished second in Group B behind Germany and lost to the eventual champion United States, 2-1, in the Round of 16.
• England won Group D and then beat Cameroon, 3-0, in the Round of 16, downed Norway, 3-0, in the quarterfinal, and then fell to the USA, 2-1, in the Semifinal. England then lost to Sweden, 2-1, in the Third-Place match.
• The USA is 11-4-2 all-time against England. Six of the last seven matches, dating back to 2011, have been decided by one goal, with one 2-2 draw. The USA is 4-2-1 over those games, of which four have been 1-0 games, three wins for the USA and one for England.
• In the previous four editions of this tournament, no individual player has scored more than two goals in a tournament. Eight players have scored twice: Alex Morgan in 2016, Camille Abily of France in 2017, Ellen White of England and Eugénie Le Sommer of France in 2018, and Beth Mead of England, Yuka Momiki of Japan and Tobin Heath and Megan Rapinoe in 2019.
• Of the first 12 SheBelieves Cup matches over 2016 and 2017, 11 were decided by one or less goal, with just nine goals scored over the six games in both 2016 and 2017.
• In 2018, the teams combined for 16 goals and two matches saw three-goal margins of victory with England beating France 4-1, and France beating Germany 3-0.
• In 2019, the teams combined for 19 goals over the six matches with two ties, two one-goal wins, a two-goal win for Japan over Brazil (3-1) and a three-goal win for England over Japan (3-0).
• The U.S. WNT has played many games in the Orlando area (including two at the 1996 Olympics), but this will be just the second match at Exploria Stadium, home of the Orlando Pride of NWSL and Orlando City SC of MLS.
• The USA also played at Exploria Stadium during the 2018 SheBelieves Cup, a 1-0 win against England, which is also the USA’s opponent in Orlando for this year’s tournament.
• The USA is 2-1-2 all-time at Red Bull Arena, home of Sky Blue FC of NWSL and the New York Red Bulls of MLS, including two matches during the SheBelieves Cup, a 1-0 loss to England in 2017 and a 1-1 draw with France in 2018. The USA also famously defeated Korea Republic 5-0 on June 20, 2013, as Abby Wambach scored four goals in the first half and broke Mia Hamm’s all-time international scoring record.
• The USA is 9-0-0 at Toyota Stadium, home of FC Dallas of MLS. Those games included three Olympic Qualifying matches in 2016 and two World Cup qualifiers in 2018.