Tag: Friendlies

Jill Ellis Releases Roster for June Friendlies

Posted on by RJ Allen

The 21-players named to the roster will travel to Europe for a June 8th match against Sweden in Gothenburg and a June 11th match against Norway in Sandefjord.

GOALKEEPERS (2): Alyssa Naeher (Chicago Red Stars), Abby Smith (Boston Breakers)

DEFENDERS (7): Abby Dahlkemper (NC Courage), Julie Ertz (Chicago Red Stars), Jaelene Hinkle (NC Courage), Meghan Klingenberg (Portland Thorns FC), Kelley O’Hara (Sky Blue FC), Becky Sauerbrunn (FC Kansas City), Casey Short (Chicago Red Stars)

MIDFIELDERS (7): Morgan Brian (Houston Dash), Lindsey Horan (Portland Thorns FC), Rose Lavelle (Boston Breakers), Carli Lloyd (Houston Dash/Manchester City), Allie Long (Portland Thorns FC), Samantha Mewis (NC Courage), Megan Rapinoe (Seattle Reign FC)

FORWARDS (5): Crystal Dunn (Chelsea FC), Sydney Leroux (FC Kansas City), Alex Morgan (Orlando Pride/Olympique Lyonnais), Christen Press (Chicago Red Stars), Mallory Pugh (Washington Spirit)

A few interesting points to talk about in Ellis’s choices.

The most obvious place to start is the goalkeeper position, where due to Ashlyn Harris’s Week 6 injury, may have undergone a last-minute shakeup. While it’s no surprise that Alyssa Naeher has been called up–she’s been the de facto #1 since Hope Solo’s termination in late 2016, Abby Smith getting her first call-up to the Senior team was a little unexpected. Unless, of course, you’ve been watching her play this season with her club team, where she has 22 saves for the season already, and a 1.0 GAA. Some might have expected to see Houston Dash’s Jane Campbell on the roster, but she’s been playing backup for Lydia Williams so far this season (minus her unfortunate debut against Seattle in Week 2), while Smith has been out on the line every week and keeping her team in the top half of the table.

Jaelene Hinkle  makes her return to the USWNT after several months without being called-up. Hinkle, who was allocated for the 2016 season, did not make the roster for Rio and has struggled with injuries in the meantime. But after winning the 2016 NWSL championship with the WNY Flash, and making the move to North Carolina, she has been looking fit and ready to compete at the highest level again. The question will be: can she bring her excellent club performance to the international pitch, and elevate it further? It’s not often players get second chances at this level, so hopefully Hinkle will be able to make the most of it.

The biggest news on the roster, though, is Sydney Leroux’s long-awaited return to international play. After taking off 2016 to give birth to her first child, Leroux has been working non-stop to return both for club (making her first start with FC Kansas City and netting her first goal for the Blues in their opening weekend game) and country. And no better time than the present. Leroux has always been a wildcard on the attack, and that’s something the US has been lacking since the World Cup. The closest anyone has come to making the kind of commotion on the field that Syd the Kid has been capable of in the past is Houston’s Kealia Ohai, who doesn’t appear on the roster for these games.

For all the discussion that will take place over this roster (who made it, who didn’t, who should have, who shouldn’t have) all-in-all, it’s well-balanced and strong. Full of experience and energy. And I can’t wait to see how they all come together on the field for the US’s first friendlies overseas since before the 2015 World Cup.

The matches will be aired on US television. The June 8th game against Sweden can be seen at 1:30pm ET on ESPN2 and UDN, and the June 11th game against Norway will air at 1:00pm ET on Fox.

As always, Backline Soccer will be here to break down the games in our weekly podcast, so make sure you tune in.

Around the World of WoSo: Lloyd to City, Kemme and Huth out for Germany

Posted on by RJ Allen

Lloyd bleeds blue:

United States midfielder and two-time FIFA Women’s Player of the Year Carli Lloyd has decided to call Manchester City home for the next four months. Lloyd is expected to be reunited with her Houston Dash club in June, meaning she will miss the first two months of the NWSL season.

This is the first time the two-time Olympic Gold medalist will be playing internationally at the club level. In her first interview for City, Lloyd expressed that one of the biggest draws to playing in Europe was the possibility of competing in the FA Cup and the Champions League. I certainly can’t blame her for wanting that experience and she has the right to finally choose where she wants to go.

The FAWSL champions have brought in Lloyd in addition to an already intimidating roster which includes England’s star players Steph Houghton, Lucy Bronze, Jill Scott, and Karen Bardsley. Lloyd joins the high-profile list of USWNT stars making way to Europe, joining Crystal Dunn (Chelsea Ladies), Alex Morgan (Lyon), and Heather O’Reilly (Arsenal Ladies).

German pair out for SB Cup:

Two major players on Germany’s 2016 Olympic Gold medal team will not be making an appearance at the upcoming She Believes Cup. Tabea Kemme and Svenja Huth have 38 and 26 appearances respectively for Germany, and have scored two goals between them. When not repping their country on the international level, both play at Turbine Potsdam, one of the top teams in the German Bundesliga.

Kemme recently had surgery to repair a torn right meniscus and while Huth doesn’t have any major injuries, there is enough concern about the status of her right knee to keep her out of the SB Cup.  Replacements for the two are Verena Faißt (30 caps, three goals) of FC Bayern Munich and Hasret Kayikçi (one cap) of SC Freiburg.

While this is obviously not good news, Germany still has plenty of power on the roster. Some of the biggest names in the game that include Dzsenifer Marozsan, Anja Mittag, Alexandra Popp, Sara Dabritz and Josephine Henning. The German team took second in the 2016 inaugural She Believes Cup, and their roster this year features a majority of the same players.

The Gals in red:

The new 2017 USWNT kit has been revealed this past week, an all-red color scheme that has the latest campaign called #RedToToe. This new kit will make its debut at the #SheBelievesCup on March 1 when they face England in the opener. The Americans are the reigning champions of the tournament, which first took place last year.

The signature “1 Team, 1 Nation” motto is back on the inner sleeves while the staple “USA” remains on the back of the collar. At first glance I don’t mind the red look, but it looks so similar to the standar template of other countries, such as England and Portugal. I usually wait to hold off judgment until I see them on the players or in person. (Fun fact: each kit has been made from recycled plastic bottles, 16 to be exact.)

Matildas announce Algarve roster:

The 24th edition of the Portugal’s prestigious Algarve Cup will begin March 1 and conclude with the final on March 8. It remains highly competitive, even with the United States winning it a record 10 times. The Algarve cup has always attracted high-ranking teams like France, Germany, Sweden, Japan and Brazil, and continues to do so this year. The Matildas last competed in the Algarve in 1999, finishing fifth out of a possible eight, and they undoubtedly look to finish even higher in the 2017 edition.

Head coach Alen Stajcic has plenty of veterans to help lead this team. Clare Polkinghorne, Lisa De Vanna, Kyah Simon, Steph Catley, and Caitlin Foord have all been named to the roster. But don’t count out some of the talented youth he is bringing in, including Amy Harrison (nine caps), Gema Simon (five caps), Ellie Carpenter (five caps), Emma Checker (three caps), and Alex Chidiac (one cap).

The 2017 tournament will also feature last year’s champions, Canada, as well as Japan, Sweden, Denmark, Iceland, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Portugal, Russia, and China PR.

Jordan nets hat-trick:

Former Florida Gator and star forward Savannah Jordan had a professional debut to remember on Sunday. In the Scottish Women’s Premier League opener, Glasgow City FC took on Jeanfield Swifts and it was Savannah who shined the brightest.

In an eight goal rout, the newest member of City opened the scoring in the 30th minute, with a header that had no chance of being saved. Eight minutes later, after a goal by Abbi Grant, Jordan sent in an assit to Grant, who pushed the lead to three. Jordan had to use her head once again in the 45th minute off a corner from Leanne Ross. To complete her hat-trick in the 87th minute, Jordan once again found service off a corner to drive a powerful header home.

Glasgow has won the title for the last 10 years and this game showed they are already ready for whatever the season brings them.

USWNT book Russia in April:

The United States Women’s National team has confirmed that they will play Russia in a pair of friendlies in April. Both games will be played in Texas, with the April 6th game in Frisco’s Toyota Stadium in Frisco, to be televised by FS1. The second game is April 9th at BVAA Compass Stadium in Houston, the site of 2016’s NWSL Championship game, and will be aired on ESPN. The last time these two teams met was back in 2014.

The Russians are ranked 23rd in the world, and have never beat the Americans in the handful of times they’ve met. The USWNT have played in Texas 17 times and have never suffered a loss in the Lone Star State.

These will be the final international matches before the NWSL season kicks off the following week.