Sundhage Names 29 Players for Three-Week U.S. WNT Training Camp in Florida

CHICAGO (April 11, 2011) – U.S. Women’s National Team head coach Pia Sundhage has named a roster of 29 players for a training camp that will take place in West Palm Beach, Fla., from April 18-May 6.

The camp will be a key training period for the U.S. players and Sundhage and she enters the stretch run of her evaluation process to choose a 21-player roster to represent the United States at the 2011 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Germany this summer.
The roster consists of 25 players from Women’s Professional Soccer (WPS), three collegiate players who will attend the camp for just a week and defender Ali Krieger, who returns to the USA after completing her club season in Germany with FFC Frankfurt.
Players will train Monday through Friday of each week with the WPS players traveling to the sites of their club’s matches on the days before the games, and then returning to national team camp the day after. As the camp is being held in West Palm Beach, training home to WPS club magicJack, the players from that club and their opponents will not have to travel on the weekends of magicJack home games (April 23 and May 1). magicJack has the most players of any WPS club in the camp with eight.
The roster features all 23 players who traveled to the United Kingdom for the USA’s 15-day training camp and match against England in London. Goalkeeper Jill Loyden returns to camp for the first time since suffering a broken hand while training in January. Defender Heather Mitts also returns from injury to train with the U.S. team for the first time since January at the Four Nations, where she played in one match.
The three collegians attending the camp are forward Sydney Leroux (UCLA) and midfielders Kristie Mewis (Boston College) and Christine Nairn (Penn State). All have extensive international experience at the youth level with Leroux earning her first cap this January at the Four Nations Tournament while Nairn earned two caps at the senior level in 2009. Mewis, the 2008 U.S. Soccer Young Female Athlete of the Year, is uncapped. Leroux and Mewis will attend only the first week of camp from April 18-22 while Nairn will train only in the second week from April 25-29.
Aside from Loyden, Mitts and the collegians, the only other player called in who was not in the U.K. for the most recent camp is defender Whitney Engen.
The U.S. Women's National Team will play a pair of domestic matches in May to prepare for the 2011 FIFA Women’s World Cup, facing Japan on May 14 at Columbus Crew Stadium in Columbus, Ohio, and on May 18 at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, N.C. The match at Columbus Crew Stadium will kick off at 6:30 p.m. ET and be broadcast live exclusively on Fox Soccer and Fox Deportes. The second leg in Cary kicks off at 7 p.m. ET and will air live on ESPN2. For the game in Cary, tickets are on sale to the general public through ussoccer.com and by phone at 1-800-745-3000. For the match in Columbus, tickets are on sale through ussoccer.com, by calling 1-800-745-3000, at all central Ohio Ticketmaster ticket centers (including Kroger stores) and the Crew Stadium ticket office.


U.S. Women’s National Team Roster by Position - Detailed Roster

GOALKEEPERS (4): Nicole Barnhart (Philadelphia Independence), Ashlyn Harris (Western New York Flash), Jill Loyden (magicJack), Hope Solo (magicJack)

DEFENDERS (8): Rachel Buehler (Boston Breakers), Stephanie Cox (Boston Breakers), Whitney Engen (Western New York Flash), Ali Krieger (out of contract), Amy LePeilbet (Boston Breakers), Heather Mitts (Atlanta Beat), Christie Rampone (magicJack), Becky Sauerbrunn (magicJack)

MIDFIELDERS (12): Yael Averbuch (Western New York Flash), Shannon Boxx (magicJack), Tobin Heath (Sky Blue FC), Meghan Klingenberg (magicJack), Lori Lindsey (Philadelphia Independence), Carli Lloyd (Atlanta Beat), Kristie Mewis (Boston College), Christine Nairn (Penn State), Kelley O’Hara (Boston Breakers), Heather O’Reilly (Sky Blue FC), Megan Rapinoe (Philadelphia Independence), Lindsay Tarpley (magicJack)

FORWARDS (5): Lauren Cheney (Boston Breakers), Sydney Leroux (UCLA), Alex Morgan (Western New York Flash), Amy Rodriguez (Philadelphia Independence), Abby Wambach (magicJack)