Kilgore names 26-man training camp roster for December friendlies against China in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida and Frisco, Texas

Chicago (November 20, 2023) – Twyla Kilgore, interim coach of the U.S. women’s national team, has named a 26-player training camp roster for the two December home friendlies against China, which will conclude the U.S. 2023 schedule.

The USA will take on the Steel Roses on December 2 at DRV PNK Stadium in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida (3 p.m. ET on TNT, Telemundo, Universo, Max and Peacock) and on December 5 at Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas (7 p.m. Central/8 p.m. ET on TruTV, Universo, Max and Peacock).

The USWNT heads into two matches against China with a 12W-4D-0L record in 2023 and will look to remain undefeated in regulation time during this calendar year.

China is the second most popular rival in US history (after Canada), and these will be the 59th matchup^y And 60^y Encounters between long-time enemies. While the USA and China used to meet often, sometimes several times a year, these matches will be the first between the two countries since the summer of 2018.

“As we move forward with the next steps, we need more opportunities to see players from our group in our unique national team environment, in both training and matches, so we can evaluate if and how they can contribute moving forward toward the Olympics.” said Kilgore, who selected the roster as part of the overall strategy and plan developed by US Soccer sporting director Matt Crocker with Kilgore and Emma Hayes, the newly appointed USWNT coach who will officially join the USWNT in May after concluding the season with her current club Chelsea. “We value those players who were recently in camps or played in the World Cup and were not selected for this list, and of course they are still part of our group, but we know what they bring on and off the field. At the same time, we also need to continue to evaluate players and bring them in in the right ways.” To give the team the best chance of success.

List of United States women’s national team by position (club, games/goals) – December friendlies against China

Goalkeepers (3): Gene Campbell (Houston Dash; 7), Aubrey Kingsbury (Washington Spirit, 1), Casey Murphy (North Carolina Courage, 16)

Defenders (7): Alana Cook (OL Reign; 29/1), Abby Dahlkemper (San Diego Wave FC; 79/0), Tierna Davidson (Chicago Red Stars; 50/1), Emily Fox (North Carolina Courage; 37/1), Naomi Girma (San Diego Wave FC; 24/0), Casey Krueger (Chicago Red Stars; 41/0), MA Vignola (Angel City; 1/0)

Midfielders (8): Corbin Albert (Paris Saint-Germain, France; 0/0), Sam Coffey (Portland Thorns; 5/0), Savannah DeMelo (Racing Louisville; 6/0), Lindsay Horan (Olympique Lyonnais, France; 137/30), Rose Lavelle ( OL Reign; 91/24), Olivia Moultrie (Portland Thorns FC; 0/0), Jenna Niggsunger (NJ/NY Gotham FC; 0/0), Emily Sunnett (OL Reign; 81/2)

Strikers (8): Mia Fishel (Chelsea, England; 2/1), Ashley Hatch (Washington Spirit, 21/5), Midge Burress (New Jersey/New York Gotham, 24/4), Trinity Rodman (Washington Spirit, 26/6), Jaden Shaw ( San Diego Wave FC; 2/1), Sophia Smith (Portland Thorns FC; 36/14), Alyssa Thompson (Angel City FC; 8/0), Lynn Williams (New Jersey/New York Gotham FC; 58/17 )

The list includes two midfielders – Jenna Nijsönger, the 2023 NWSL Rookie of the Year midfielder, and PSG’s Korbin Albert – who have been selected for the first full national team training camp.

The roster marks the return of veteran defender Abby Dahlkemper, who returned to the field after recovering from major back surgery to help the San Diego Wave win the 2023 NFL regular season title. Dahlkemper, who started on the 2019 Women’s World Cup-winning team, She has won 79 caps, but this is her first call-up since April 2022. Defender Tierna Davidsson, the youngest member of the 2019 World Cup champions, also returns after recovering from an injury. Facial injury sustained while playing NWSL. Davidson, who suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament in March 2022, was not part of the USA roster for the 2023 World Cup but returned to action with the USWNT in September 2023. Midfielder Rose Lavelle makes her first roster since the end of the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup. Cup after also overcoming injury.

The list includes two players who made their first caps and scored their first WNT goals this fall: 19-year-old forward Jaden Shaw, who hails from Frisco, Texas and will enjoy a homecoming during the second match, and striker Mia Fishel. , who scored a thrilling goal in her hometown of San Diego on October 29 in a 3-0 win over Colombia, the same game in which Shaw scored her first goal.

the tickets

Tickets for both matches are on sale at ussoccer.com. For groups of 20 or more fans, they can also order online at ussoccer.com. Members of the Coaches Circle and Presidents Circle who support the US Soccer Development Fund can receive one-on-one customer support and concierge services for their ticketing needs. Click here Or contact [email protected] for more information.

Additional notes:

• The list is stacked with NFL award winners, led by NFL Defender of the Year Naomi Girma, who won for the second year in a row, as well as Rookie of the Year Nighsonger and Goalie of the Year Jane Campbell.

• There are six NWSL Best Smith also won the Golden Boot as the league’s top scorer, scoring 11 goals in 17 regular season matches.

• Defenders Nighswonger, Emily Fox and MA Vignola, midfielder Savannah DeMelo and forwards Ashley Hatch and Trinity Rodman are the best second-teamers in the NWSL.

• The United States’ last two matches against China were 1-0 and 2-1 wins in June of 2018 in Sandy, Utah and Cleveland, Ohio, respectively.

• Campbell, who scored a career-high eight times for the Houston Dash, returns to the roster for the first time since November 2021, when she was in training camp in Australia but did not play in either game on the trip. . Her last match was on October 26, 2021, against South Korea. She has four shutouts in her seven games with USA.

• Thirteen players called up to this camp were on the U.S. roster for the 2023 Women’s World Cup and five — Dahlkemper, Davidson, Horan, Lavelle and Sunnett — were on the 2019 Women’s World Cup Champions roster.

• Twenty-three of the 26 players called up for this camp are competing domestically in the NFL with Lindsay Horan (Olympique Lyonnais, France), Mia Fishel (Chelsea, England) and Corbin Albert (Paris Saint-Germain, France), a former Notre Dame player. The star lady signed directly with Paris Saint-Germain out of college, as she is the only player currently with clubs outside the USA.

• Albert’s call-up includes four players in this training camp who played in the 2022 U-20 Women’s World Cup in Costa Rica, along with Olivia Moultrie, Jayden Shaw and Alyssa Thompson.

• Moultrie, Shaw and Thompson were all on the team that won the 2018 CONCACAF Girls U15 Championship in Bradenton, Florida.

• The list includes three teenagers: Moultrie (18 years old), Shaw (19 years old) and Thompson (19 years old), in addition to nine players born after the historic 1999 Women’s World Cup, which will celebrate its 25th anniversary.^y Anniversary next year.

• Ten different NWSL clubs are represented on this list. NWSL champions NJ/NY Gotham FC, Washington Spirit, OL Reign, San Diego Wave, and Portland Thorns FC have three players each.

• Jenna Niggsunger, the fourth pick in the 2023 NWSL Draft out of Florida State, appeared in 20 games for Gotham while playing more than 1,500 minutes in her first professional season. She scored three goals, tied for second among all juniors. Nighswonger played for the USA Women’s National Youth Team at the U16, U17, U18, U20, and U23 levels. She helped the United States win the 2020 CONCACAF U-20 Women’s Championship, starting all six matches, but the World Cup for that age group was canceled due to the global pandemic, so she never played in a Youth World Cup.

• Corbin Albert, who has been called up for the first time, has experience with the U15, U17 and U20 national youth teams. She has six U-20 caps and one goal. Two of those matches came at the 2022 U-20 Women’s World Cup in Costa Rica. Albert had two more seasons of eligibility at Notre Dame when she signed with Paris Saint-Germain in January 2023. Since then, she has played in 17 games with the Parisian club, including 10 games during the second half of last season and the start of this season. . Of those 17 matches, 12 were in the league, three in the Champions League and two in the French Cup, including last year’s final in which PSG fell to Lindsay Horan’s Olympique Lyonnais, 2-1.

• China had difficulty scoring goals in the 2023 Women’s World Cup, falling to Denmark 1-0, beating Haiti 1-0, and then losing to England 6-1, finishing third in Group D and failing to qualify. Progressing. Racing Louisville’s Wang Shuang scored both goals for China in Australia.

• China will miss the 2024 Paris Olympics after finishing third in Group B during the second round of Asian qualifying for the Women’s Olympic Games. Despite hosting the group in Xiamen, China lost to North Korea 2-1, beat Thailand 3-0, and then tied with South Korea 1-1, in a match it needed to win.