USWNT Set For Clash With Colombia In Colorado

With less than two weeks until the start of qualifying for the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup and 2024 Olympics, the U.S. Women’s National Team will face Colombia in a pair of warm-up friendlies, the first of which takes place on Saturday, June 25 at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City, Colorado at 7:30 p.m. ET/5:30 p.m. MT on FS1, in a match presented by Allstate.

Saturday’s match against Colombia marks the USWNT’s first action since facing Uzbekistan twice in early April and provide a valuable opportunity for preparation prior to the team’s departure to Monterrey, Mexico for the 2022 Concacaf W Championship.

Following the match in Colorado, the USA will close out its two-game set with Colombia in Sandy, Utah. The teams will meet at Rio Tinto Stadium, home of Major League Soccer’s Real Salt Lake with kickoff slated for 10 p.m. ET / 8 p.m. MT on ESPN.

Fans will also be able to follow the action via Twitter (@USWNT), Instagram (@USWNT), Facebook and the official U.S. Soccer App.

USWNT DETAILED ROSTER BY POSITION (CLUB; CAPS/GOALS)

 

GOALKEEPERS (3): Aubrey Kingsbury (Washington Spirit; 1), Casey Murphy (North Carolina Courage; 4), Alyssa Naeher (Chicago Red Stars; 80)

 

DEFENDERS (8): Alana Cook (OL Reign; 9/0), Emily Fox (Racing Louisville FC; 13/0), Naomi Girma (San Diego Wave FC; 1/0), Sofia Huerta (OL Reign; 12/0), Kelley O’Hara (Washington Spirit; 152/2), Carson Pickett (North Carolina Courage; 0/0), Becky Sauerbrunn (Portland Thorns FC; 202/0), Emily Sonnett (Washington Spirit; 65/0)

 

MIDFIELDERS (8): Sam Coffey (Portland Thorns FC; 0/0), Lindsey Horan (Olympique Lyon, FRA; 109/25), Jaelin Howell (Racing Louisville: 5/1), Taylor Kornieck (San Diego Wave FC; 0/0), Rose Lavelle (OL Reign; 71/20), Kristie Mewis (NJ/NY Gotham FC; 38/5), Ashley Sanchez (Washington Spirit; 7/2), Andi Sullivan (Washington Spirit; 27/3)

 

FORWARDS (7): Ashley Hatch (Washington Spirit; 8/4), Alex Morgan (San Diego Wave FC; 190/115), Mallory Pugh (Chicago Red Stars; 72/23), Midge Purce (NJ/NY Gotham FC; 14/3), Megan Rapinoe (OL Reign; 187/62), Trinity Rodman (Washington Spirit; 3/1), Sophia Smith (Portland Thorns FC; 15/4)

 

Head coach Vlakto Andonovksi named a 26-player roster for these two games vs. Colombia and a 23-player roster the Concacaf W Championship. Veterans and World Cup champions Alex Morgan and Megan Rapinoe return to the roster for their first action with the USWNT since October of 2021. Team captain Becky Sauerbrunn and experienced defender Emily Sonnett also return to the roster having missed the USA’s April matches due to injury. Other new faces on the 26-player squad include midfielder Taylor Kornieck, who was named to the 23-player qualifying roster and is in the midst of her first-ever call-up to the senior National Team. Defender Carson Pickett and midfielder Sam Coffey also earned their first USWNT call-ups and could make their international debuts in the matches against Colombia. Twenty-three players will suit up for each of the two matches.

 

2022 USWNT Media Guide

The 2021 U.S. Women’s National Team Media Guide is available for download. The Media Guide features all the history and statistic for the USWNT, as well as full bios on technical staff and the current top players, information on the USA’s Youth Women’s National Teams and general important information on U.S. Soccer.

INSIDE THE SERIES: USA VS. COLOMBIA

The upcoming games against Colombia will be the ninth and tenth meetings all-time between the two countries, with the USA holding a 7-0-1 record. Four of the previous eight meetings between the USA and Colombia have come at World Championship events with the teams playing twice at the World Cup and twice at the Olympics. The lone draw came during the group stage of the 2016 Summer Olympics, a 2-2 tie against Las Cafeteras on Aug. 9, 2016. Following that match in Manaus, Brazil, the teams met most recently for a pair of friendlies in January of 2021 in Orlando, Florida. Powered by a hat-trick from Samantha Mewis and a goal from older sister Kristie Mewis, the USA defeated Colombia 4-0 in the first of those two matches on Jan. 18. Three days later, Catarina Macario, who made her international debut in the Jan. 18 game, made her first career start and scored her first international goal in the third minute as the USA downed Colombia, 6-0, to close out the two-game set.

 

COLORADO HOMECOMING

There are four players on the roster who are Colorado natives, a remarkable 15% of the 26-player roster, in midfielder Lindsey Horan (Golden), forward Mallory Pugh (Highlands Ranch), forward Sophia Smith (Windsor) and midfielder Jaelin Howell (Windsor). Smith and Howell, who were childhood teammates, have never played for the USA in their home state. In addition, midfielder Taylor Kornieck was a standout player at the University of Colorado in Boulder. The USWNT has won six of its seven matches in Colorado with the last six being played at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park. There have been plenty of goals in those games, with the last five games in Commerce City seeing a combined 28 goals (19 for USWNT, 9 against and an average of 5.6 per match).

 

SUCCESS ON HOME SOIL

The USA heads into Saturday’s match in Colorado on a 67-game home unbeaten streak, which includes 60 wins and seven draws. During this unbeaten streak, the USA has outscored its opponents 255-28, including a 125-4 margin during its last 29 matches at home, all but two of which have been wins save for a 0-0 draw with Korea Republic on Oct. 21 and a scoreless draw vs Czech Republic on Feb. 17. The match against South Korea ended the USA’s home winning streak at 22 consecutive games, the second-longest such streak in USWNT history. The USA's longest home winning streak was 23 games and spanned from April 1993 to February 1996.

PLAYING FOR PRIDE

As part of its “One Nation” social responsibility platform to promote diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging (DEIB), U.S. Soccer, with support from Volkswagen, has partnered with the You Can Play Project for the fourth consecutive year to celebrate LGBTQ+ Pride month during its friendly matches in June. The You Can Play Project is an organization dedicated to ensuring equality, respect and safety for all athletes, coaches and fans no matter their sexual orientation and/or gender identity.

 

The U.S. Women’s National Team will be wearing jerseys with rainbow-colored numbers in recognition of Pride Month for both matches against Colombia. Autographed authentic Pride jerseys will be auctioned off, with all proceeds going to You Can Play to help promote a safe and inclusive environment for the LGBTQ+ community. Fans can bid now at ussoccer.com/youcanplay and the auction will run through June 30. Last year, the campaign raised a record-breaking $85,000 to contribute to making sport safe and inclusive for LGBTQ+ athletes, coaches, referees and fans.

 

ROAD TO DOWN UNDER

Qualifying for the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup, which will be co-hosted in Australia and New Zealand, kicks off on July 4 at the 2022 Concacaf W Championship. Following the two matches against Colombia, the USA will depart directly to Mexico to prepare for the Concacaf W Championship, which will run from July 4-18 and will be played entirely in Monterrey. The tournament’s 16 matches will be split across two stadiums: Estadio Universitario and Estadio BBVA, the latter of which is one of Mexico’s three venues for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. The USA was drawn into Group A and will face Haiti on Monday, July 4 at 6 p.m. local (7 p.m. ET), Jamaica on Thursday, July 7 at 6 p.m. local (7 p.m. ET) and Mexico on Monday, July 11 at 9 p.m. local (10 p.m. ET). The Semifinals will take place on Thursday, July 14 with the Third-Place Match and Championship Game being held on Monday, July 18. All the matches of the tournament will be available in English on Paramount+ and in Spanish on TelevisaUnivision’s streaming service ViX. The USA’s opening match against Haiti will also be broadcast on CBS Sports Network.

 

The top two teams from each group will clinch a spot in the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup. Two more Concacaf representatives will advance to a 10-team intercontinental playoff tournament to determine the final teams in the expand 32-team field for 2023.  Along with qualifying for the World Cup, at conclusion of the Concacaf W Championship, the winning nation will also guarantee its place in the 2024 Paris Summer Olympic Games Women’s Football Tournament and the 2024 Concacaf W Gold Cup. The runner-up and the third-place nations will progress to a Concacaf Olympic play-in to be played in September of 2023. The winner of the play-in will also guarantee their place in the 2024 Paris Summer Olympic Games and the 2024 W Gold Cup

 

The USA is looking to qualify for its ninth consecutive FIFA Women’s World Cup, having played in every tournament since the competition’s inception in 1991 and winning a record four titles. The USA will also have the opportunity to qualify for an eighth consecutive Summer Olympics.

 

USA ROSTER NOTES

• The most capped player on the roster is Becky Sauerbrunn at 202, followed by Alex Morgan (190), Megan Rapinoe (187), Kelley O’Hara (152) and Lindsey Horan (109) while the least capped players are Trinity Rodman (3), Aubrey Kingsbury (1), Naomi Girma (1), Carson Pickett (0), Taylor Kornieck (0) and Sam Coffey (0).

• Fifteen players on the June friendlies roster have 15 caps for fewer: Sophia Smith, Sofia Huerta, Midge Purce, Emily Fox, Ashley Hatch, Alana Cook, Jaelin Howell, Ashley Sanchez, Casey Murphy, Rodman, Kingsbury, Girma, Pickett, Kornieck and Coffey.

• Becky Sauerbrunn is the oldest player on the roster (37 years old) while Rodman is the youngest (20) and was six years old when Sauerbrunn made her USWNT debut.

• Of the 26 players called in for the camp in June, seven are in their 30s while 10 players are age 25 or younger.

• Morgan is the top scorer on the roster with 115 career goals. Rapinoe has 62 and Lindsey Horan has 25. Pugh has 23 goals for the USWNT while Rose Lavelle has 20. No one else on the roster has more than five international goals (Kristie Mewis).

• Eleven different players have scored for the USWNT so far in 2022 – Catarina Macario (5), Mallory Pugh (5), Sophia Smith (3), Rose Lavelle (2), Ashley Hatch (2), Ashley Sanchez (2), Jaelin Howell (1), Kristie Mewis (1), Midge Purce (1), Trinity Rodman (1) and Andi Sullivan (1). The USA’s other four goals this year came via own goals.

• Ten different players have registered an assist for the USWNT so far in 2022, led by Pugh with five assists. Lavelle (3 assists), Alana Cook (2) and Sanchez (2) also have multiple assists on the year while Kelley O’Hara, Sofia Huerta, Purce, Hatch, Macario and Sullivan have on assist each.
• In total, 14 different players have been directly involved in goals for the USWNT this year, tallying either a goal or an assist.

• Defender Alana Cook leads the USA in total minutes played so far in 2022 with 414 minutes of action, followed by midfielder Andi Sullivan (364) and defender Emily Fox (351).

• Head coach Vlatko Andonovski is 32-2-6 in 40 games (two at the end of 2019, nine in 2020, 24 in 2021, and five so far in 2022).

• Of Andonovski’s first 38 games, 27 have been at home and 17 have been against teams ranked in the top-13 in the world.

• Thirteen different players have earned their first cap under Andonovski, nine of whom are on this roster.

• Through five games in 2022, the USWNT has had 17 goals scored by players under the age of 24. Over the course of 2019, 2020 and 2021 — a total of 57 games — the USWNT had a combined total of 10 goals scored by players under the age of 24.

• Eight of the 12 NWSL clubs have players on the roster with the Washington Spirit having seven, followed by OL Reign with four.

IN FOCUS: COLOMBIA | FIVE THINGS TO KNOW
Current FIFA World Ranking: 28

CONMEBOL Ranking: 2

FIFA Country Code: COL

2023 World Cup Qualifying: CONMEBOL qualifying begins in July

World Cup appearances: 2 (2011, 2015)

Best World Cup Finish: Round of 16 (2015)

Record vs. USA: 0-7-1

Last Meeting vs. USA: Jan. 21, 2021 (USA won, 6-0 in Orlando, FL)

Coach: Nelson Abadía (COL)

COLOMBIA WOMEN’S NATIONAL SOCCER TEAM ROSTER BY POSITION

 

Goalkeepers (3): 1-Catalina Perez (Real Betis, ESP), 12-Sandra Sepulveda (Hapoel Marmorek Rehovot FC, ISR), 13- Luz Katherine Tapia (Independiente Santa Fe)

 

Defenders (7): 2-Manuela Vanegas (Real Sociedad, ESP), 3-Daniela Arias (Pachuca, MEX), 14-Nancy Acosta (Independiente Santa Fe), 17-Carolina Arias (Deportivo Cali), 19-Jorelyn Carabali (Deportivo Cali), 20-Monica Ramos (Gremio, BRA), 22-Daniela Caracas (Espanyol, ESP)

 

Midfielders (8): 4-Diana Ospina (América de Cali), 5-Lorena Bedoya (Atlético Nacional), 6-Daniela Montoya (Atlético Junior), 7-Ana Gabriela Huertas (Independiente Santa Fe, 8-Angie Castañeda (CP. Caceres, ESP), 10-Leicy Santos (Atlético de Madrid, ESP), 16-Maria Morales (Deportivo Cali), 21-Liana Salazar (Corinthians, BRA)

 

Forwards (5): 9-Mayra Ramirez (Sporting Club de Huelva, ESP), 11-Catalina Usme (América de Cali), 15-Tatiana Ariza (Deportivo Cali), 18-Linda Caicedo (Deportivo Cali), 23-Elexa Bahr (Racing de Santander, ESP)

 

COLOMBIA ROSTER NOTES

• Eleven players on this Colombia roster, including goalkeeper Sandra Sepulveda and star forward Catalina Usme, were with the squad for the last meetings between these two teams in January of 2021 as international soccer emerged from the pandemic.

• These matches are key preparation games for Colombia before it hosts the South American Women’s World Cup qualifying tournament to be played from July 8-30 in three Colombia cities: Bucaramanga, Armenia and Cali.

• The tournament will provide three direct berths to the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Australia/New Zealand and two play-off spots in the 10 inter-continental playoff tournament, which will provide the final three teams for the World Cup.

• Colombia missed the 2019 Women’s World Cup but will be one of the favorites to earn one of South America’s three berths to 2023.

• Colombia, which is currently ranked 28^th in the world and second in South America behind Brazil, put in a fine performance at the 2015 FIFA World Cup, drawing 1-1 with Mexico, defeating world power France 2-0, and then falling to eventual Third-Place finisher England by a 2-1 score to complete group play. The four points were enough to earn Colombia a Round of 16 match with the USA and Las Cafeteras put up quite a fight against the eventual world champions before bowing out, 2-0.