First Meeting Between USA-BEL in Women's Soccer is Set in LA

USA vs. Belgium
Date: April 7, 2019
Venue: Banc of California Stadium
Broadcast: ESPN2
Kickoff: 9 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. PT

Starting XI vs. Belgium: 1-Alyssa Naeher; 11-Ali Krieger, 4-Becky Sauerbrunn, 8-Julie Ertz, 12-Tierna Davidson; 9-Lindsey Horan, 3-Samantha Mewis, 19-Crystal Dunn; 22-Mallory Pugh, 10-Carli Lloyd (capt.), 23-Christen Press

Subs: 2-Emily Sonnett, 6-Andi Sullivan, 7-Abby Dahlkemper, 13-Alex Morgan, 17-Tobin Heath, 20-Allie Long, 24-Ashlyn Harris, 25-McCall Zerboni, 26-Jessica McDonald

Starting Lineup:

• Alyssa Naeher will earn cap No. 43 tonight. She started vs. Japan on Feb. 27 and then sat out the next two SheBelieves Cup games, against England and Brazil, due to a minor shoulder injury. She returned to the starting lineup vs. Australia on April 4 in Denver and recorded her first career assist on a towering punt that was finished by Mallory Pugh at the other end of the field.
• Ali Krieger makes her first appearance for the WNT since on April 6, 2017 vs. Russia in Houston. It is also Krieger’s first start for the USA since March 4, 2017 vs. England in Harrison, N.J. She will earn her 99th cap tonight.
• Becky Sauerbrunn will earn cap No. 155 tonight. It will be her sixth appearance and fifth start of the year.
• Julie Ertz makes her 79th international appearance. Tonight, she will start as a center back (where she played in the 2015 World Cup) instead of defensive midfielder, where she has been seeing the majority of her minutes. She has scored 18 career goals and will make her sixth start of 2019.
• Tierna Davidson makes her 19th career appearance for the U.S. WNT. Davidson is the third teenager since 2013 to earn a first cap for the WNT. Mallory Pugh (17 in 2016) and Lindsey Horan (19 in 2013) are the most recent teenagers to debut for the WNT.
• Lindsey Horan , who missed the 2019 SheBelieves Cup due to a minor quad injury, is back in the lineup for the second consecutive game after playing vs. Australia on April 4. She is making her fourth appearance and start of 2019. She has scored seven career goals and will earn her 66th cap tonight.
• Samantha Mewis plays in her 47th game for the U.S. WNT tonight. She has eight career goals and makes her second start of 2019. Mewis played her college soccer at UCLA.
• Crystal Dunn will start for the second time this year in the midfield, a position she plays for her NWSL club, but has been seeing most of her minutes at outside back. Dunn will earn her 82nd cap and will be looking to add to her 24 career goals.
• Mallory Pugh has scored three goals so far in 2019, tied for the team lead, and most recently bagged a spectacular brace on April 4 against Australia in front of her hometown crowd to up her career total to 15. It was the second two-goal game of her career.With her substitute performance against Australia on April 4, Pugh moved past Kristine Lilly into fourth all-time in caps (49) before the age of 21, fourth in starts (35) and third in goals (15), and with one more she'll tie Mia Hamm for second. She is tied for first in assists (14) before the age of 21 with Kristine Lilly. Tonight, she will earn cap 50, becoming the 56th player in U.S. WNT to earn 50 caps and the fourth youngest ever to 50 caps. This is her last game at age 20 as she turns 21 on April 29.
• Carli Lloyd will earn her 271st cap tonight. It will be her first start for the WNT since she was in the XI against Scotland on Nov. 13, 2018. She is in sole possession of fifth place on the all-time U.S. caps list and four games short of tying Julie Foudy for fourth.With 105 goals, she is now two away from tying Michelle Akers for fourth all-time on the U.S. goals list. After earning the assist on Mallory Pugh's goal against France on Jan. 19, Lloyd has 51 career assists and is in 9th place all-time, two behind eighth-place Shannon MacMillan.
• Los Angeles native Christen Press (Palos Verdes Estates, Calif.)will earn cap No. 113 tonight in front of her hometown crowd and will be looking to add to her 47 career goals and 24 career assists. She is tied for 11th place on the all-time WNT goals list. She averages 0.42 goals per game and 0.69 goals per every 90 minutes she's on the field.
• Not dressing tonight: Adrianna Franch, Rose Lavelle, Megan Rapinoe and Casey Short.