Lineup Notes: USA-South Africa Meet to Kickoff Send-Off Series

USA vs. South Africa
Date: May 12, 2019
Venue: Levi’s Stadium
Broadcast: FOX
Kickoff: 4:30 p.m. ET / 1:30 p.m. PT

Starting XI vs. South Africa: 1-Alyssa Naeher; 5-Kelley O’Hara, 7-Abby Dahlkemper, 4-Becky Sauerbrunn, 19-Crystal Dunn; 8-Julie Ertz, 3-Samantha Mewis, 16-Rose Lavelle; 17-Tobin Heath, 13-Alex Morgan (capt.), 23-Christen Press

Subs: 2-Mallory Pugh, 6-Morgan Brian, 9-Lindsey Horan, 10-Carli Lloyd, 11-Ali Krieger, 12-Tierna Davidson, 14-Emily Sonnett, 15-Megan Rapinoe, 18-Ashlyn Harris, 20-Allie Long, 21-Adrianna Franch, 22-Jessica McDonald

Starting Lineup:

• Alyssa Naeher will earn cap No. 44 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. She earned her 22nd career shutout vs. Belgium on April 7.
• Kelley O’Hara returns to the field today after last playing at the 2019 SheBelieves Cup vs. Brazil on March 5. She has been coming back to full fitness from some ankle irritation and missed both April friendlies. Today will mark her 116th career cap.
• Abby Dahlkemper has played the full 90 in five of seven games this year, coming off at the very end of the Australia match on April 4, and coming on at halftime of the April 7 game vs. Belgium. She will earn cap Np. 38 today and make her eighth appearance of 2019.
• Becky Sauerbrunn will earn cap No. 156 vs. South Africa. It will be her seventh appearance and sixth start of the year.
• Crystal Dunn , who has consistently shown her excellent attacking abilities from outside back, has 24 career international goals and will earn cap No. 83rd today. She has started every game this year so far.
• Julie Ertz makes her 80th international appearance. She has scored 18 career goals and will make her seventh start of 2019.
• Samantha Mewis plays in her 48th game for the U.S. WNT tonight. She makes her third start of 2019. Mewis scored vs. Belgium on April 7 to up her career total to nine goals.
• Rose Lavelle will reach the quarter of a century of caps today, earning her 25th. Out of her 25 games, 20 have been starts. She has scored six career goals.
• Tobin Heath has scored three goals this year to up her international goals total to 28. She’ll earn her 148th cap today and is in 22nd place on the USA’s all-time caps list. Heath has scored 10 goals in her last 15 matches and eight in her last 10. The 10 goals represent 36% of her career total.
• Alex Morgan scored her historic 100th career goal on April 4 vs. Australia. She also scored against Belgium on April 7 and now has 101 career goals in 160 caps. Today marks cap No. 161 for Morgan. At age 29, she is in sixth place on the USA’s all-time goal list, moving ahead of Tiffeny Milbrett. Morgan has scored 28 goals over her last 33 WNT matches, a span that runs from the end of 2017. During that 28-goal streak, she has scored on about a quarter of her shots, scoring nine goals with her right foot, 15 with her left, three with her head and one with her chest. The 28 goals have included six braces and one hat trick. She will make her eighth appearance of 2019 today and will captain the USA.
• Christen Press will earn cap No. 114 tonight. She has 47 international goals and 27 career assists, after earning three of those vs. Belgium on April 7. She is tied for 11th place on the all-time WNT goals list. She averages 0.42 goals per game and 0.74 goals per every 90 minutes she’s on the field.
• All 23 player on the USA’s 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup roster will dress today. The jersey numbers they’re wearing are their World Cup numbers.