CHICAGO (Jan. 26, 2016) - U.S. Women's National Team head
coach Jill Ellis named the 20 players who will represent the USA at the 2016
CONCACAF Women's Olympic Qualifying Championship running from Feb. 10-21 in
Frisco and Houston, Texas. The USA opens the tournament on Wednesday, Feb. 10
against Costa Rica (7:30 p.m. CT).
After opening Group A play against the Ticas, the USA
continues first round action against Mexico on Saturday, Feb. 13 (3 p.m. CT),
and finishes group play against Puerto Rico on Monday, Feb. 15 (7:30 p.m. CT).
Broadcast information for the tournament will be announced at a later
date.
The two venues for the competition are BBVA Compass Stadium,
home to the Houston Dash of the NWSL and the Houston Dynamo of MLS, and Toyota
Stadium, located in the Dallas suburb of Frisco and home to FC Dallas of MLS.
The round-robin stage of the tournament will be conducted
with three doubleheaders in each group. Group A will play doubleheaders at
Toyota Stadium on Feb. 10, 13 and 15 and Group B - which features Canada,
Guatemala, Trinidad & Tobago and Guyana - will play doubleheaders at BBVA
Compass Stadium on Feb. 11, 14 and 16. The all-important semifinal matches will
be held on Feb. 19 in Houston, with the winners qualifying for the 2016
Olympics in Brazil. The championship game on Feb. 21 will also be in Houston.
All 20 players selected were a part of the USA's 26-player
roster for January training camp that ended with a 5-0 victory against Ireland
on Jan. 23 in San Diego. The roster features three goalkeepers (a requirement
by tournament regulations) and 17 field players, which includes seven
defenders, five midfielders and five forwards, although many players on the roster
can play more than one position.
Thirteen of the 20 players chosen by Ellis were on the USA's
2015 FIFA Women's World Cup championship team and just seven players were on
the USA's roster for 2012 Olympic qualifying: goalkeeper Hope Solo, defenders Becky
Sauerbrunn, Kelley O'Hara and Ali Krieger, midfielders Carli Lloyd and Tobin
Heath and forward Alex Morgan. Solo, Heath and Lloyd are the only players on
the roster who also participated in qualifying for the 2008 Olympics.
"This was an exceptionally challenging roster to
select," said Ellis. "The players all worked and competed very hard
in the January camp and that made the final decisions extremely difficult. With
only 17 field players allowed on the roster, and minimal time in between
matches, I think we have one of the most versatile rosters ever for a
qualifying tournament. Most of the field players are capable of playing at
least two positions and as CONCACAF competitions generally present teams that
will sit low and get numbers behind the ball, it is important to have players
that can individually and collectively break teams down to create
chances."
U.S. Women's National Team Olympic Qualifying Roster By
Position:
GOALKEEPERS (3): Ashlyn Harris (Orlando Pride), Alyssa Naeher
(Chicago Red Stars), Hope Solo (Seattle Reign FC)
DEFENDERS (7): Jaelene Hinkle
(Western New York Flash), Julie Johnston (Chicago Red Stars), Meghan
Klingenberg (Portland Thorns FC), Ali Krieger (Washington Spirit), Kelley
O'Hara (Sky Blue FC), Becky Sauerbrunn (FC Kansas City), Emily Sonnett
(Portland Thorns FC)
MIDFIELDERS (5): Morgan Brian (Houston Dash), Tobin Heath
(Portland Thorns FC), Lindsey Horan (Portland Thorns FC), Carli Lloyd (Houston
Dash), Samantha Mewis (Western New York Flash)
FORWARDS (5): Crystal Dunn
(Washington Spirit), Stephanie McCaffrey (Boston Breakers), Alex Morgan
(Orlando Pride), Christen Press (Chicago Red Stars), Mallory Pugh (Real
Colorado)
The U.S. will attempt to qualify for a sixth consecutive
Olympic Games and win the CONCACAF Women's Olympic Qualifying event for the
fourth consecutive time. In 2012, the USA won the Olympic Qualifying tournament
in Vancouver, B.C. (at the same stadium where it would win the Women's World
Cup three years later) and then went on to win the gold medal in London.
In 2008, the USA won the Olympic Qualifying Tournament in
Mexico and went on to win gold in Beijing. In 2004, the U.S. won the tournament
in Costa Rica and went on to win gold in Athens, Greece. The U.S. qualified for
the 1996 Atlanta Games as host and for the 2000 Sydney Games as a top-seven
finisher at the 1999 FIFA Women's World Cup.
Seven teams have already qualified for the 12-team Olympic
Football Tournament: Brazil and Colombia from South America, France and Germany
from Europe by virtue of their finish at the 2015 Women's World Cup, New
Zealand from Oceania due to Papua New Guinea pulling out of the second leg of
qualifying, and South Africa and Zimbabwe from Africa. Two teams will qualify
from CONCACAF, Africa and Asia and one more will qualify from Europe after a
mini-tournament in March featuring Sweden, Netherlands, Norway and Switzerland.
Additional Notes:
• Carli Lloyd
has the most Olympic qualifying appearances or anyone on the roster, playing in
nine games (2008 & 2012) while scoring eight goals. Solo has played in
eight Olympic qualifying matches (2008 & 2012).
• For the 2012
Olympic qualifying roster, 19 of the 20 players were on the 2011 Women's World
Cup Team.
• Eight of the
players named to the roster have eight caps or less.
• Seventeen-year-old
forward Mallory Pugh will be playing in her second CONCACAF qualifying
tournament in a three-month span. She also captained the USA to the title at
the CONCACAF U-20 Women's Championship in early December in Honduras, earning a
berth to the 2016 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup at the end of the year in Papua
New Guinea.
• Pugh is the
youngest player ever named to a U.S. Olympic qualifying roster.
• The USA has
never lost a match in Olympic qualifying, but tied Canada 1-1 in the title game
of the 2008 tournament before prevailing in penalty kicks.
• Four players
on the roster have played 100 times for more for the USA, led by Carli Lloyd's
212 caps. Hope Solo has 186 caps followed by Tobin Heath's 107 and Alex Morgan
earned her 100th on Jan. 23 against Ireland. Becky Sauerbrunn could hit 100
during the qualifying tournament as she is currently on 96
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