Kansas City Current Sends Two Players to U.S. Women’s National Team for November Friendlies
October 31, 2022 – National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) – Kansas City Current News Release
KANSAS CITY – U.S. Women’s National Team (USWNT) head coach Vlatko Andonovski has named a 24-player BioSteel Training Camp Roster for the two home friendly matches in November against Germany. Included on the roster are Kansas City Current players Adrianna ‘AD’ Franch and Hailie Mace.
Franch has 10 caps for the USWNT, including the 2020 Tokyo Olympics where she made two appearances. She comes into this camp fresh off an incredible season for the Current that saw her lead the team to the NWSL Championship match and set records for clean sheets (5) and saves (66).
Mace is headed to USWNT camp for the third straight time. She has seven career appearances for the U.S., including appearances in the past four games the U.S. has played. She was also a major factor in the Current’s run to the NWSL Championship match.
The USA finishes its 2022 schedule against the UEFA Women’s Euro runners-up on Thursday, Nov. 10 at DRV PNK Stadium in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. (6 p.m. CT on FS1) and on Sunday, Nov. 13 at Red Bull Arena in Harrison, N.J. (4 p.m. CT on ESPN).
The matches bring together two of the top-three ranked teams in the world with the Americans currently ranked first and Germany third.
“These are the kinds of games that help our World Cup preparation in many ways and these 180 minutes to end our schedule this year are going to be extremely valuable for the players and coaches,” said Andonovski. “It will be good to get some players back on the roster and we’re all expecting these games to be very competitive and entertaining for fans.”
U.S. Women’s National Team Roster by Position (Club) – November Friendlies vs. Germany:
GOALKEEPERS (3):Adrianna Franch (Kansas City Current), Casey Murphy (North Carolina Courage), Alyssa Naeher (Chicago Red Stars)
DEFENDERS (7):Alana Cook (OL Reign), Crystal Dunn (Portland Thorns FC), Emily Fox (Racing Louisville FC), Naomi Girma (San Diego Wave FC), Sofia Huerta (OL Reign),Hailie Mace (Kansas City Current), Becky Sauerbrunn (Portland Thorns FC)
MIDFIELDERS (7):Sam Coffey (Portland Thorns FC), Lindsey Horan (Olympique Lyon, FRA), Taylor Kornieck (San Diego Wave FC), Rose Lavelle (OL Reign), Kristie Mewis (NJ/NY Gotham FC), Ashley Sanchez (Washington Spirit), Andi Sullivan (Washington Spirit)
FORWARDS (7):Ashley Hatch (Washington Spirit), Alex Morgan (San Diego Wave FC), Mallory Pugh (Chicago Red Stars), Megan Rapinoe (OL Reign), Trinity Rodman (Washington Spirit), Sophia Smith (Portland Thorns FC), Alyssa Thompson (Total Futbol Academy)
At the end of July, Germany made an impressive run to the title game of the 2022 UEFA Women’s Euro but fell in overtime to host England, 2-1, in front of a record crowd at Wembley Stadium. Midfielder Lina Magull scored Germany’s lone goal in the final, which was played without star forward Alexandra Popp. Popp was injured during warmups and could not add to her six tournament goals, which tied for most in the competition.
Germany boasts some of the top young players in the world and several world class veterans, including Popp, who is expected to be on the Germany roster, setting up two compelling games to end the USWNT’s 2022 schedule of matches.
On October 22, the USA learned its group opponents and path through the tournament at the Final Draw for the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup. The USA was drawn into Group E where it will face Vietnam (Eden Park in Auckland, New Zealand), Netherlands (Wellington Regional Stadium in Wellington, New Zealand) and the Group A Playoff Winner (Eden Park).
The USA will get some offensive firepower back on this roster in the form of NWSL MVP nominees Mallory Pugh (11 goals in NWSL) and Alex Morgan (15 goals), both of whom missed the October European tour. Morgan enters the November FIFA window with 198 international appearances and is on the verge of becoming just the 13th player in USWNT history to amass 200 caps.
Midfielder Taylor Kornieck, who was unavailable for selection for the European tour due to an ankle injury, also returns to the roster. Defender Emily Fox, who played only 22 minutes in Europe, returns, as does 2021 Olympic bronze medalist and 2019 World Cup winner Adrianna Franch, who has enjoyed a stellar season with the Kansas City Current in helping the club to the 2022 NWSL Championship Game.
The roster includes three NWSL end-of-season award winners in Morgan (San Diego Wave FC), the Golden Boot winner, Most Valuable Player Sophia Smith (Portland Thorns FC) and Rookie of the Year and Defender of the Year Naomi Girma (San Diego Wave FC). Smith also won the MVP of the NWSL Championship Game after scoring to help lead the Thorns to their third NWSL title.
TICKETS
Tickets for both matches are on-sale viaussoccer.com. The match at Red Bull Arena is trending towards a capacity crowd with more than 24,000 tickets sold. Just over 3,000 tickets remain to be sold for the match at DVR PNK Stadium. For the match in Ft. Lauderdale only, groups of 20 or more are still available and fans can also order online atussoccer.com. Coaches Circle and Presidents Circle members supporting the U.S. Soccer Development Fund can receive individual customer support and concierge services for their ticketing needs. Click here or [email protected] more information.
Additional Notes:
This will mark the USWNT’s first visit to Ft. Lauderdale in 22 years and its first match at the current home of Major League Soccer’s Inter Miami CF.
These will be the USA’s first meetings with the two-time Women’s World Cup champions and eight-time European champions since the 2018 SheBelieves Cup, a 1-0 U.S. victory played in challenging weather conditions in Columbus, Ohio.
On Sept. 3, Germany qualified for the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup with a 3-0 victory over Turkey (followed by an 8-0 trouncing of Bulgaria on Sept. 6) and topped Group H in UEFA qualifying with a 9-0-1 record while scoring 47 goals and allowing five.
Germany was drawn into Group H at the recently conducted 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup Final Draw and will face Morocco, Colombia and Korea Republic in group play.
The USWNT’s history with Germany dates to the early years of the program when the teams met twice in 1991. The second of those 1991 meetings was the 5-2 victory for the Americans in the Women’s World Cup semifinal in China PR.
The USA and Germany have met 33 times, the most matches against any European team besides Norway and Sweden. The USA is 22-4-7 all-time vs. Germany.
The USA and Germany are the only countries that hold multiple Women’s World Cup titles, four for the USA (1991, 1999, 2015 and 2019) and two for Germany (2003 and 2007).
After missing the USA’s October European tour, Morgan returns to the USA roster in search of her 200th career cap and could reach the milestone if she appears in both matches again the Germans. Morgan is currently 13th in USWNT history with 198 caps and her 119 career goals – four of which have come against Germany – rank fifth in program history.
Seventeen-year-old forward Alyssa Thompson, who earned her first two caps on the European tour including a memorable debut in front of almost 80,000 fans at Wembley Stadium, gets her second call-up to the senior side.
Thompson played for the USA at the 2022 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup in Costa Rica in which she had a goal and an assist. Thompson has eight U-20 caps with four goals and is age-eligible for the 2024 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup.
The 17-year-old high school senior – who will turn 18 on Nov. 7 – plays club for the U-17 Total Futbol Academy boys’ team in MLS NEXT. She is the first player born in 2004 to appear for the USWNT.
Thompson’s call-up for the October European tour made her the youngest player to be called up for a full National Team camp since 16-year-old Sophia Smith was called up in April of 2017 for the training camp prior to matches against Russia in Texas.
Thompson’s younger sister Gisele, who is an outside back, played for the USA at the 2022 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup in India.
The match at Red Bull Arena, another jewel in the collection of MLS venues, will mark the USWNT’s eighth game at the home of the NWSL’s NJ/NY Gotham FC and MLS’ NY/NY Red Bulls. Of the USA’s last five matches at Red Bull Arena, three were sell-outs and two others fell just short, drawing 25,706 and 26,332.
Although this will be the first match for the USWNT at DRV PNK Stadium, the USA did play in Boca Raton, Fla. in 2012, 2014 and 2016.
The last time the USWNT played in Ft. Lauderdale was Feb. 6, 2000, at Lockhart Stadium, which was on the site where DRV PNK Stadium currently sits. The USA lost 3-2 to Norway that day.
The USA also played a match at Lockhart Stadium in January of 1999, a 6-0 win over Portugal in which Michelle Akers scored her 100th career goal and kick-started the run to the 1999 FIFA Women’s World Cup.
The U.S. roster features the top four American scorers in the NWSL during the 2022 regular season in Morgan (15), Sophia Smith (14), Pugh (11) and Ashley Hatch (9).
Twenty-two of the 24 players play in the NWSL and nine of the 12 NWSL clubs are represented on this roster, along with 2021-22 UEFA Women’s Champions League winners Olympique Lyon, which features 119-capped midfielder Lindsey Horan, and the Los Angeles youth club Total Futbol Academy.
The Washington Spirit, OL Reign and Portland Thorns FC lead the way with four players each on the roster.
Seven players on the roster were recently named to the NWSL Best XI First Team: Alana Cook (RGN), Naomi Girma (SD), Sofia Huerta (RGN), Sam Coffey (POR), Alex Morgan (SD), Mallory Pugh (CHI) and Sophia Smith (POR).
Five more players were named to the NWSL Best XI Second Team XI: Adrianna Franch (KC), Hailie Mace (KC), Becky Sauerbrunn (POR), Rose Lavelle (RGN) and Megan Rapinoe (RGN).
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