USWNT head coach Vlatko Andronovski names national team roster

By Jennifer Edwards
Copyright 2020 All Rights Reserved

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS (January 6, 2020) New head coach Vlatko Andronovski released his roster for the United States National Women’s Soccer team on December 27. There were almost no surprises among the players and die-hard fans. The one surprise came in the call-up of Sophia Smith, a junior at Stanford University. She is in place of Alex Morgan who is currently out due to pregnancy. 

This roster showcases many of the household names from the Women’s World Cup tournament played over the past summer. While this sounds like a solid plan going into the Olympic qualifying happening in the next month, this team is an aging team. They will have to rely on their veteran players such as Megan Rapinoe, Julie Ertz and Becky Sauerbrunn. With very few newcomers or younger returners to the team. Margaret Purce, a defender for the NWSL Portland Thorns; Casey Short, both have been in training camp before; Andy Sullivan, a midfielder for the NSWL Washington Spirit; and Lynn Williams, a forward for the NWSL North Carolina Courage have made the trip to Tampa, Florida for training camp. Jane Campbell, a veteran USWNT goalkeeper and keeper for the NWSL Houston Dash was also named to the camp as one of the four goalkeepers. This number can be expected to drop to three before the final roster is named. 

The coaching staff has seen some major changes in addition to the new head coach. Milan Ivanovic was appointed to technical staff as well. Dawn Scott, the High Performance Coach for the USWNT for the past nine years has stepped down and a new replacement has yet to be announced. It remains to be seen how these coaching changes will affect how the US team tackles the game on the world stage. It is expected that the on-field set up will probably change to better suit the new head coach and the players will have to adapt to that. With only a few newcomers, it is expected to change seamlessly. While a new head coach traditionally brings sweeping changes, it seems that Andonovski is keeping his cards close to the vest and playing it safe for the Olympics. 

There is a lot in store for the USWNT. The fans have a lot of amazing soccer to see in the Olympic qualifting happening at BBVA Compass Stadium beginning on January 28, when they take on Haiti and the play against Costa Rica.