U.S. women's national team head coach Vlatko Andonovski named a 23-player roster ahead of two friendlies against Uzbekistan in April. The International window is the first since the team won the 2022 SheBelieves Cup in February.
The event will mark the first ever matches played between the two sides in their respective histories. Uzbekistan is ranked 48 in the world, and their current level of play has led to another young roster for Andonovski who is looking to further evaluate a younger generation of players. Seventeen of the 23 players were on this roster were part of the 2022 winning SheBelieves Cup team. There are no players who are making their first trip to a national team camp but Bella Bixby, Aubrey Kingsbury and Naomi Girma will all be looking for their first cap with the team.
The team will be without Tierna Davidson and Lynn Williams, as the two players recently sustained season ending injuries with their respective club teams in NWSL. Imani Dorsey and Abby Dahlkemper make their return to national team camps after injury.
Key players out due to injury
Davidson and Williams have been regular features in Andonovski's rosters since taking over the USWNT in 2019. Davidson sustained an ACL injury recently, and Williams injury is hamstring related. Both players will require surgery, and Andonovski has already been in contact with the two players.
"I had a chance to talk to them right after the injury happened. As of right now the way we look at it is not how much time until they get back, but we just look at every day is one day closer to getting back on the field, and that's the mentality. Everyday that goes by -- whether that is PT or rehab or whatever they do -- is just one day closer until they get back on the field. They're both great players. We're gonna miss them. They were very, very, valuable for our environment"
Continuity is the challenge
The U.S. will play two friendlies against Uzbekistan during the international window in April. Eyes will be on the USWNT attack as the number one ranked team in the world faces the 48th ranked team. When the matches were initially announced, scheduling conflicts and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic were cited as reason for a last minute change in the opponent for the April window.
Despite the difference in ranking, Andonovski is challenging his players with building on their performances and this group of players continues to get call ups to the senior level side.
"We're taking these games very serious and I know that the players look at this game as an opportunity to showcase themselves, to prove themselves, and to prove that they belong on this team." said Andonovski.
"We have a couple of objectives ahead of us and we're hoping to achieve those. One of those objective objectives is where there's a group of players that we want on the field in same time as much as possible. And we're gonna try to do that. We did that in SheBelieves Cup. We had players like Mal [Pugh] and Sof [Smith] and Cat [Macario] on the field together just so they can get on the same page [and] learn how to work with each other. We have certain relationships that we want to see, and we want to see them on the field as much as possible. There are certain tactical objectives that that we want to achieve."
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U.S. WOMEN'S NATIONAL TEAM ROSTER
GOALKEEPERS (3): Bella Bixby (Portland Thorns FC; 0 caps), Aubrey Kingsbury (Washington Spirit; 0), Alyssa Naeher (Chicago Red Stars; 79)
DEFENDERS (7): Alana Cook (OL Reign; 7 caps/0 goals), Abby Dahlkemper (San Diego Wave FC; 77/0), Imani Dorsey (NJ/NY Gotham FC; 1/0), Emily Fox (Racing Louisville FC; 11/0), Sofia Huerta (OL Reign; 10/0), Naomi Girma (San Diego Wave FC; 0/0), Kelley O'Hara (Washington Spirit; 150/2)
MIDFIELDERS (8): Lindsey Horan (Olympique Lyonnais, FRA; 108/25), Jaelin Howell (Racing Louisville FC; 4/0), Rose Lavelle (OL Reign; 69/18), Catarina Macario (Olympique Lyonnais, FRA; 15/5), Kristie Mewis (NJ/NY Gotham FC; 36/5), Samantha Mewis (Kansas City Current; 83/24), Ashley Sanchez (Washington Spirit; 5/0), Andi Sullivan (Washington Spirit; 25/2)
FORWARDS (5): Ashley Hatch (Washington Spirit; 6/3), Mallory Pugh (Chicago Red Stars; 70/21), Margaret Purce (NJ/NY Gotham FC; 12/2), Trinity Rodman (Washington Spirit; 2/0), Sophia Smith (Portland Thorns FC; 13/1)