If you watched the United States Women’s National Team in the 2022 SheBelieves Cup this past week, you may have been left wondering who were all those new players on the USWNT? And where were all the national team stars we are used to seeing?
Among those not in attendance were Megan Rapinoe, Alex Morgan, Tobin Heath, Christen Press, Julie Ertz, Crystal Dunn, Sam Mewis, Lindsay Horan and Abby Dahlkemper. Some were left off due to injury (Horan & Dahlkemper), and Dunn is out for a bit because she is due to give birth to her first child in May (congrats!) but the rest were not rostered even though they were eligible to play.
So, are these players done? Are they off the team? Not at all. These USWNT veteran superstars were left off of the 2022 SheBelieves Cup roster because of the simple matter that coach Vlatko Andonovski wanted to be able to give maximum minutes to a new set of faces. He is already very familiar with the regulars, and given the fact that we are headed into a World Cup qualifying season (+ Olympic qualifying this year, they are overlapping due to Covid setbacks) he doesn’t have a lot of time to adequately assess the amazingly deep, boatload of talent that is the women’s game in the US.
Not a bad problem to have, but still an issue none the less. I’ll tell you this, after watching the new players on the USWNT play this week, I don’t envy Andonovski. He’s got a hard job cut out for him, figuring out how to mix the veterans and the new talent to create the best team possible heading into the upcoming World Cup qualifiers.
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Returning USWNT players get more playing time & play bigger roles
Another benefit to leaving the stars at home is that the other USWNT returners (players that have been rostered in previous years but haven’t seen much field time) had the opportunity to be featured more prominently and make a much larger impact on the game, starting and playing more minutes than ever before.
Here’s the list of returners that saw field time during the 2022 SheBelieves Cup Tierna Davidson (48 caps), Emily Sonnett (65 caps) Morgan Gautrat (88 caps), Rose Lavelle (69 caps), Kristie Mewis (36 caps), Andi Sullivan (25 caps), Mallory Pugh (70 caps) and Lynn Williams (47 caps).
New players on the USWNT getting first caps and extended minutes
Now let’s dive into all the newbies! These new players on the USWNT all have 15 appearances or less for the national team:
This Post Contains:
Alana Cook (7 Caps)
Emily Fox (11 Caps)
Ashley Hatch (6 Caps)
Jaelin Howell (4 Caps)
Sofia Huerta (10 Caps)
Catarina Macario (15 Caps)
Casey Murphy (4 Caps)
Margaret Purce (12 Caps)
Trinity Rodman (2 Caps)
Ashley Sanchez (5 Caps)
Sophia Smith (13 Caps)
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