Sky Blue FC Midfielder Carli Lloyd and Defender Margaret “Midge” Purce have been named to the upcoming U.S. Women’s Soccer National Team January Training Camp roster. For Purce, this is her third consecutive roster under head coach Vlatko Andonovski, while Lloyd is heading into her first camp following a knee injury that sidelined her for the 2020 NWSL Challenge Cup and Fall Series.
“As I enter the 16th year of my career, it is still exciting to be called into the first USWNT camp of the year,” said Lloyd. “I have recovered from my injury and am feeling fit, strong, and sharp. I cannot wait to get back with the team and get to work!”
The USWNT will hold its January training camp from Jan. 9-22 in Orlando, Fla. The camp will conclude with two games against Colombia, on Jan. 18 (7 p.m. ET on FS1) and Jan. 22 (7 p.m. ET on ESPN2). Both matches will be played at Exploria Stadium in Orlando.
The matches against Colombia will be the first domestic games for the U.S. Women since the 2020 SheBelieves Cup last March and will mark the first meeting with Colombia since 2016, a 2-2 tie during the Olympics in Manaus, Brazil. Of the six previous games the USA has played against Colombia, two have been in World Cup play (2011, 2015) and two came during the Olympics (2012 and 2016), which means the teams met in four consecutive world championships. The USA won three of those games and tied one.
The USWNT is coming off a successful return to the field in the form of an 11-day training camp at the end of October in Commerce City, Colorado that marked the first event for the team since the 2020 SheBelieves Cup, and a productive trip to the Netherlands in November that ended with a 2-0 victory against the Dutch in Breda. That match was the first for the USA in 261 days. The first match against Colombia will make it 313 days between domestic games for the American women.
“A big credit goes to our players, team staff and overall medical staff for the tremendous work to make sure we have secure and healthy environments for our camps and games,” said U.S. WNT head coach Vlatko Andonovski. “And a special thanks also goes to our game operations staff for enabling us to host two matches against a talented opponent. It’s extremely valuable to play a team we don’t see that often and it’s important for our Olympic preparation.”
As they did in Colorado and the Netherlands, the U.S. players and staff will operate inside a highly controlled environment at the team hotel. The staging of the camp and the match will fall under the comprehensive U.S. Soccer Return to Play Protocols and Guidelines and in accordance with the Concacaf Return to Play Protocols. Once the Colombian team and staff arrive in the USA, they will operate inside the same controlled environment with the same testing protocols. Everyone entering the environment will be tested for COVID-19 before traveling, upon arrival and every two days thereafter. The teams will not begin full team training until the results of all arrival tests are confirmed.
USWNT January Training Camp Roster
GOALKEEPERS (4): Aubrey Bledsoe (Washington Spirit), Jane Campbell (Houston Dash), Ashlyn Harris (Orlando Pride), Alyssa Naeher (Chicago Red Stars)
DEFENDERS (10): Alana Cook (Paris Saint-Germain, FRA), Abby Dahlkemper (North Carolina Courage), Tierna Davidson (Chicago Red Stars), Crystal Dunn (Portland Thorns FC), Emily Fox (UNC), Ali Krieger (Orlando Pride), Kelley O’Hara (Washington Spirit), Margaret Purce (Sky Blue FC), Becky Sauerbrunn (Portland Thorns FC), Emily Sonnett (Washington Spirit)
MIDFIELDERS (8): Julie Ertz (Chicago Red Stars), Lindsey Horan (Portland Thorns FC), Jaelin Howell (Florida State), Rose Lavelle (Manchester City, ENG), Catarina Macario (Stanford), Kristie Mewis (Houston Dash), Samantha Mewis (Manchester City, ENG), Andi Sullivan (Washington Spirit)
FORWARDS (5): Carli Lloyd (Sky Blue FC), Mallory Pugh (Chicago Red Stars), Megan Rapinoe (OL Reign), Sophia Smith (Portland Thorns FC), Lynn Williams (North Carolina Courage)
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