U.S. Soccer releases USWNT World Cup qualifying roster
U.S. Soccer on Monday released its 20-player United States women's national team roster for the 2014 CONCACAF Women's Championship.
The tournament, which runs from Oct. 15-26 and will stage games in four cities in the U.S., comprises eight countries broken into two groups. The top two finishers in both groups will advance to the semifinals.
The two finalists as well as the winner of the third place match earn qualification for the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup, which is being held in Canada. The team that finishes in fourth place (loser of the third-place match) will face Ecuador in a two-game playoff for a World Cup bid.
“I’ve said on numerous occasions, I feel this is one of the most competitive rosters to make in our recent history,” said coach Jill Ellis. “The way the players performed during our most recent camp and two games against Mexico certainly made it difficult on the coaching staff. In the end, we feel we came to the best decisions possible and we have depth and versatility at every position. This is a highly motivated group and we’re ready for the qualifying tournament.”
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Here is the roster, divided by position:
Goalkeepers (2): Ashlyn Harris, Hope Solo
Defenders (7): Crystal Dunn, Whitney Engen, Meghan Klingenberg, Ali Krieger, Kelley O'Hara, Christie Rampone, Becky Sauerbrunn
Midfielders (6): Morgan Brian, Tobin Heath, Lauren Holiday, Carli Lloyd, Heather O'Reilly, Megan Rapinoe
Forwards (5): Sydney Leroux, Alex Morgan, Christen Press, Amy Rodriguez, Abby Wambach
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- Chris Johnson
