On Monday, Oct. 6 head coach Jill Ellis and the United States women’s national team announced its 20-player roster for the upcoming 2014 CONCACAF Women’s Championship. The event will take place from Oct. 15-26 throughout the United States with the final two rounds taking place at PPL Park on Oct. 24 and 26. The winner of the tournament, as well as the second and third place teams will automatically qualify for next year's FIFA Women’s World Cup in Canada.
Headlining the roster is three-time World Cup participant Abby Wambach. A dynamic goalscorer, Wambach, has scored a remarkable 170 goals in her 224 appearances all-time for the U.S. She’ll be joined on the roster by 10 players with World Cup qualifying experience including Heather O’Reilly, Christie Rampone, Carli Lloyd, Alex Morgan, Lauren Holiday, Ali Krieger, Megan Rapinoe, Amy Rodriguez, Becky Sauerbrunn and Hope Solo.
“It was a challenging decision but I feel very confident with the group we have picked,” Ellis said. “As far as players being in form, they’re going to help us through this qualification process.”
The United States will open qualification against Trinidad and Tobago on Oct. 15 at Sporting Park in Kansas City, Kan. The two teams are joined in Group A with Guatemala and Haiti, who also open on the same day at Sporting Park.
But all four teams will have plenty of traveling to do, as the group moves to Bridgeview, Ill., the home of the Chicago Fire, for the second round of games on Oct. 17. Here, the United States will play Guatemala. Finally, group play rounds up at RFK Stadium in Washington, D.C. on Oct. 20 as the U.S. will take on Haiti.
“I said this to players yesterday: there’s a lot of moving parts with just how we have to move around the country in a short period,” Ellis said. “So, there’s high focus on recovery.”
Coupled with a busy schedule – the U.S. could play five games in 12 days – and the task at hand to qualify for next year’s World Cup, Ellis carefully picked a roster almost completely split between veteran experience and younger legs. Of the 20 players, 14 participated in Olympic qualifying in 2012. And as mentioned earlier, 11 players have played in World Cup qualifiers before.
“The determining factor for me was to pick the best players,” Ellis said. “I mean age – it hasn’t played into my decision, but I think the younger players here warranted making this roster and have done very well in our training. So, I haven’t looked at birth years when I’ve done this, but I am obviously clear that we are pretty diverse and pretty invested in continuing our development process with this team.”
Some of the newer players include Morgan Brian and Christen Press, both of whom Ellis spoke at great length about. Brian is a 20-year-old midfielder attending the University of Virginia.
“Morgan is more of a natural 10,” Ellis said. “I think with what we have, as far as needs, and depth, I’ve talked to her about more of playing the 6 and the 8 role for us… I see her as an important piece moving forward. I think she’s going to have a tremendous career at this level.”
As for Press, an alternate at the Summer Olympics in 2012, this may be her time to crack the lineup.
“I think her quality – she’s very special,” Ellis said. “I think she’s done very well since I’ve taken over. My impressions of her, she’s a player that has great flexibility – meaning she’s good face-up, she can play out wide, she can play central, she can come off the line, she can make runs behind. I mean she’s very versatile. Very talented.”
Rounding out the tournament in Group B is Costa Rica, Jamaica, Martinque and Mexico. Those teams will also play in each of the aforementioned cities, but will do so a day after Group A. Both the first and second place teams out of each group will qualify for the semi-finals.
Those games will be held at PPL Park with a double-header on Oct. 24 starting at 4:30 p.m. The championship – as well as the third place match – will also take place at PPL Park on Sunday, Oct. 26, with the final slated for 6 p.m.
U.S. Women’s National Team Roster by Position:
GOALKEEPERS (2): Ashlyn Harris (Washington Spirit), Hope Solo (Seattle Reign FC)
DEFENDERS (7): Crystal Dunn (Washington Spirit), Whitney Engen (Houston Dash), Meghan Klingenberg (Houston Dash), Ali Krieger (Washington Spirit), Kelley O’Hara (Sky Blue FC), Christie Rampone (Sky Blue FC), Becky Sauerbrunn (FC Kansas City)
MIDFIELDERS (6): Morgan Brian (Virginia), Tobin Heath (Portland Thorns FC), Lauren Holiday (FC Kansas City), Carli Lloyd (WNY Flash), Heather O’Reilly (Boston Breakers), Megan Rapinoe (Seattle Reign FC)
FORWARDS (5): Sydney Leroux (Seattle Reign FC), Alex Morgan (Portland Thorns FC), Christen Press (Chicago Red Stars), Amy Rodriguez (FC Kansas City), Abby Wambach (WNY Flash)
