USWNT: Rapinoe returns for Russia friendlies
- by Paul Kennedy @pkedit, Mar 23, 2017
Ellis recalled veteran midfielder Megan Rapinoe, who has not played for the USA since September 2016, and Amy Rodriguez and Meghan Klingenberg, two other players from the 2015 Women's World Cup championship team who trained with the USA before the 2017 SheBelieves Cup in March but did not make the tournament roster.
Nineteen players are holdovers from the 2017 SheBelieves Cup in March. Boston Breakers defender Megan Oyster gets her first call-up while Houston Dash forward Kealia Ohai, who earned her first three caps at the end of 2016, is back in the team.
Julie Johnston won't be available for these matches due to her wedding and honeymoon.
"This is our last chance to get together before the NWSL starts and we'll take full advantage of the training time as well as the two matches against a team in preparation for the European championships," said Ellis. "Following these matches, my staff and I will begin a heavy investment in attending and evaluating the NWSL games as well as tracking our players overseas before we get back together for our European trip in the summer. I'm very much looking forward to our domestic league starting."
U.S. Roster:
GOALKEEPERS (3): Jane Campbell (Houston Dash), Ashlyn Harris (Orlando Pride), Alyssa Naeher (Chicago Red Stars).
DEFENDERS (6): Meghan Klingenberg (Portland Thorns), Ali Krieger (Orlando Pride), Kelley O'Hara (Sky Blue FC), Megan Oyster (Boston Breakers), Becky Sauerbrunn (FC Kansas City), Casey Short (Chicago Red Stars).
MIDFIELDERS (8): Morgan Brian (Houston Dash), Tobin Heath (Portland Thorns FC), Lindsey Horan (Portland Thorns), Rose Lavelle (Boston Breakers), Carli Lloyd (Man. City/ENG), Allie Long (Portland Thorns), Samantha Mewis (NC Courage), Megan Rapinoe (Seattle Reign).
FORWARDS (7): Crystal Dunn (Chelsea/ENG), Alex Morgan (Lyon/FRA), Kealia Ohai (Houston Dash), Christen Press (Chicago Red Stars), Mallory Pugh (UCLA), Amy Rodriguez (FC Kansas City), Lynn Williams (NC Courage).
18 comments about "USWNT: Rapinoe returns for Russia friendlies".
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If Rapinoe is on roster, I will not be watching nor will my daughters. We are not as forgiving as Ellis is.
Andrew here is my thought on Rapnoe. You can't be forgiven if you don't seek forgiveness . She doesn't .
So you think she will take a knee during our anthem? After the Russians fixed the election so trump would win. You would think she would protest by not playing in that game. :) but then she would not get paid or maybe dropped from the team altogether. Then what she has to wait tables. Maybe she would spit into the coffee if she finds out she is serving one of the deplorables who voted for trump. That is why I always over tip so they remember the tip and won't spit on my food.
It seems to me that the reason Rapinoe is back was the very lackluster performance of the US squad in the She Believes cup. Whether you like her of not she is a very creative midfield player and that was sadly lacking against some of the best teams like Germany and France. We need more like her and personally the animosity to her seems silly and childish to me. We are adults and it seems we should be able to disagree without this overblown angst! After all it is just a game---not politics :)
Please change the coach and do not bring disrespectful players who are old and finished.
I like her very much as a player I want to start off by saving that. When they had that terrible shooting in that gay club. She said it was republicans fault because we wanted to save a persons right to bear arms. So she was against trump. Then I see sitting in one of hillaries political rallies the father of the animal that shot all those people. You heard nothing from anyone about that. If your going to be politically minded you should take the time to follow it closely.
Absulutely ludicrous. This is one of the the reasons why we want the coach Ms. Ellis to resign. She does not know how to choose players. Ms. Rapino is a finished player disrepectful to the Nacion and has demostrated to be a
player that will endanger the future of young girls who love the sport . She needs to go ,along with the coach Ms. Ellis. Please bring a male coach !!! ie. Mr Diccico
Rapinoe is a hero.
Diccico if I recall right favored big players who could head the ball.
Liana evidently it does not take much in your eyes to be a hero. Your version of heros are a dime a dozen.
Yea Nick my views of heros are as bad as your jokes.
I 100% agree with the US Soccer national anthem policy but I'm fine with bringing Rapinoe back in. She has already said she will comply with the policy. I didn't agree with her prior method of protest but I'm over it.
Thank god you are over it
I said that because it appears from the above comments that many are not over it. Just like you are not over the USMNT winning 6-0 on Friday. You are still busy accusing the Hondurans of accepting bribes to throw the game. Get back to us when there is some evidence of that.
I never accused them of that. I said thats how they played and I also stated that this kind of stuff happens regularly in Concacaf. What's wrong with that?
Trump paid Honduras off to throw the match :)
That one was funny.
Still think they should they should not allow her back on the team. If this is the best we have, then we're in real trouble. Aside from the disrespectful act, there are lots of better, faster players out there than her. Time to exit the national team gracefully. The smart ones know when it's time to go. She could probably still play as a sub in the NWSL. Maybe...