Megan Rapinoe named to USWNT roster for SheBelieves Cup

OL Reign forward Megan Rapinoe has been named to Vlatko Andonovski’s 23-player United States Women’s National Team roster for the upcoming SheBelieves Cup. Several other players with Reign connections were also named to the roster. The tournament will take place Feb. 18-24 at Exploria Stadium in Orlando and will be broadcast on FS1.

“We will hit the ground running in Orlando with most of our roster and will get in some great work in the first part of camp before we start focusing on the games once all the European-based players arrive,” said Andonovski in a team release. “I think we made a lot of progress on and off the field during the January camp and games, so we’ll be looking to build on that for these three matches and we want to continue to test different players in tough environments. Each game will present its own unique challenges and the matches are not only a step up in competition from January, but as I’ve said before, are extremely valuable as a test run for group play at the Olympics.”

In addition to Rapinoe, former OL Reign goalkeeper Casey Murphy was named to the roster, along with 2020 Challenge Cup loanee Alana Cook of Paris-Saint Germain. Manchester City midfielder Rose Lavelle, whose NWSL rights are held by the Reign, was also called in.

Japan recently withdrew from the tournament due to concerns about Covid-19 and was replaced by Argentina. The other two teams taking part this year are Brazil and Canada. No OL Reign players were named to Pia Sundhage’s Brazil roster, while Canada’s pre-tournament training camp roster includes Reign midfielder Quinn.

Full roster by position (with caps and goals)

Goalkeepers (3): Jane Campbell (Houston Dash; 4), Casey Murphy (North Carolina Courage; 0), Alyssa Naeher (Chicago Red Stars; 65)

Defenders (8): Alana Cook (Paris Saint-Germain; 2/0), Abby Dahlkemper (Manchester City; 63/0), Tierna Davidson (Chicago Red Stars; 27/1), Crystal Dunn (Portland Thorns FC; 107/24), Kelley O’Hara (Washington Spirit; 133/2), Margaret Purce (Sky Blue FC; 4/1), Becky Sauerbrunn (Portland Thorns FC; 179/0), Emily Sonnett (Washington Spirit; 48/0)

Midfielders (6): Julie Ertz (Chicago Red Stars; 105/20), Lindsey Horan (Portland Thorns FC; 88/20), Rose Lavelle (Manchester City; 48/13), Catarina Macario (Olympique Lyonnais; 2/1), Kristie Mewis (Houston Dash; 18/3), Samantha Mewis (Manchester City; 70/21)

Forwards (6): Carli Lloyd (Sky Blue FC; 296/123), Alex Morgan (Orlando Pride; 170/107), Christen Press (Manchester United; 139/58), Megan Rapinoe (OL Reign; 170/54), Sophia Smith (Portland Thorns FC; 1/0), Lynn Williams (North Carolina Courage; 31/10)

Training Players: Emily Fox (Racing Louisville FC; 4/0), Jaelin Howell (Florida State; 1/0), Mallory Pugh (Chicago Red Stars; 63/18)