The U.S. women’s national team will head to the 2023 World Cup in Australia and New Zealand without a number of big names.

Longtime captain Becky Sauerbrunn, veteran forward Christen Press and young star Mallory Pugh Swanson are among the major absences from the squad due to injuries.

Becky Sauerbrunn

Sauerbrunn is missing what would have been her fourth World Cup due to a foot injury she suffered in April, as first reported by The Athletic. She later confirmed the news, writing that “heartbroken isn’t even the half of it.”

While she “hoped and worked and hoped” to make it back in time for the tournament, there ultimately was “too much variability in my return to play timeline,” she wrote. With 216 USWNT appearances, Sauerbrunn has the most experience of any veteran player on the USWNT. But she has faith in her teammates.

“To my teammates, I love you,” she wrote. “Please, take a minute to enjoy this moment and appreciate everything that brought you here—every second of hard work and every bit of good luck—and then get back to work and go win the whole f*cking thing!”

Mallory Swanson

Mallory Swanson tore her patella tendon in her left knee during the April friendlies against Ireland, which has left her out of the 2023 World Cup. While she had a successful surgery shortly after the injury, she has a long road to recovery ahead of her.

There haven’t been many updates on Swanson’s status since then, although she has been a supporter on the sidelines at Chicago Red Stars matches.

Abby Dahlkemper

Abby Dahlkemper has yet to return to the pitch after telling fans in February via TikTok that she had undergone back surgery in December. She had surgery to target sciatic nerve pain that had been impacting her left leg during the 2022 NWSL season.

“It turns out that I had a cyst and bone fragments hitting my nerve roots, so it was very much needed,” she said. As of February, her bones had already begun to fuse, which her doctor told her put her ahead of schedule. Back in May, Dahlkemper posted photos of her on the pitch, although she still remains out with her injury.

Sam Mewis

Star midfielder and the former No. 1 player in the world Sam Mewis has been out since August 2021 after undergoing arthroscopic surgery on her right knee that was originally meant to keep her out six to eight weeks. In January, she announced that she had undergone another surgery on that same knee.

“I’ll be starting my rehab at home where my family can support me,” she wrote. “I gave everything I had after my last procedure in 2021. This has been a really difficult time for me personally and I’ve been devastated to be away from soccer for so long.”

Mewis has no timeline for her return to soccer, and she’s not expected to play in the NWSL this season.

Catarina Macario

One of the USWNT’s top midfielders, Catarina Macario tore her ACL last June while playing for UWCL team Olympique Lyonnais. In May, she announced that she “won’t be physically ready for selection,” after a lengthy rehab process. It confirmed what had been speculation for some time, as the injury recovery took longer than expected.

As of mid-April she had remained sidelined even from training. She recently signed with Chelsea, however, and that deal was contingent on a medical evaluation.

Tobin Heath

One of the more senior members of the USWNT, Tobin Heath hasn’t suited up for the red, white and blue since October 2021. Throughout 2022 she struggled with injuries, including a hamstring injury that ended her season with Arsenal. She later joined OL Reign, appearing in five matches, before once again being sidelined with an injury.

She underwent season-ending knee surgery in September 2022 and has been seen doing limited training. In February, Andonovski said that Heath was “absolutely” still under consideration for World Cup selection and was up for selection in April.

Christen Press

Star forward Christen Press has undergone a “unique journey” in her recovery since tearing her ACL last June. Back in March, she revealed on Instagram that she had undergone three knee surgeries in the span of eight months on the same knee. Still, she remained optimistic about her World Cup hopes and had recently been seen back in cleats and training with Angel City.

There is, however, still hope for Press to return to the NWSL this season.

While the USWNT roster for the 2023 Women’s World Cup hasn’t been announced yet, veteran midfielder Lindsey Horan knows this year’s squad will look very different to the last time around.

“I think this has to be the youngest team that we’ve ever had,” she told Lynn Williams and Sam Mewis on the latest episode of Snacks.

Well, maybe not the youngest ever. When the U.S. won the first Women’s World Cup in 1991, the average age was 23.1 — unsurprising given the nonexistent professional infrastructure at the time. But the USWNT roster for this summer’s World Cup could be its youngest in a long time.

At the last three Women’s World Cups, the average age of the USWNT has hovered around 28 years old. At the most recent Olympics in 2021, it was even higher: 30.8 years old.

Horan, who made her World Cup in 2019, is now one of the veterans on the team at age 29.

“An oldie,” the 32-year-old Mewis taunted.

“Ancient,” quipped Williams, 30.

Horan, who joked that she now has “dusty bones,” is trying to translate her years of experience into her leadership role.

“It’s hard with this team because we have so many like incredible veteran leaders,” she said. “I’m not afraid to say it: it’s intimidating to step into that and try and insert yourself there and get the respect from the team. You have to earn it. Like, I think I’ve been on the team for 10 years now and I still feel nervous to like step into that role.” 

Horan credited current USWNT captain Becky Sauerbrunn with guiding her through the process and helping her own the role of “captain” when she’s wearing the armband.

“So it’s been hard but I’ve really enjoyed it and I hope I’m doing a good job,” Horan laughed. 

“I’m not really there but from the outside it seems like you’re doing a great job and I’m so excited for you,” Mewis assured her. 

Lynn Williams wants people to put respect on Gotham FC’s name.

Gotham beat OL Reign 4-1 on Sunday in what Williams said on the latest episode of Snacks was “one of the most fun games” she has had in awhile. Not only did she score on her 3oth birthday, the performance also came on the heels of her engagement to Marley Biyendolo.

After Gotham scored three goals in the first half, a TV commentator asked if she was surprised by her team’s success.

“Not surprised at all,” Williams said. “I feel like everybody else is surprised, but we’re not.”

She echoed those sentiments on the podcast.

“The announcer asked if I was surprised that we were winning, and we were able to pin back OL Reign at home, and I was like, absolutely not,” Williams said. “I think people in their mind have last year’s Gotham. And I’m like, no. We work really hard.”

Gotham players entered Sunday’s game with a particular drive, as they had heard announcers speaking highly of OL Reign ahead of the match.

OL Reign could reach the top of the table with a win against Gotham, or so the announcers said. The reverse also was true, though the announcers didn’t say so, and the team “took it personal,” Williams said.

“We were like, ‘We’re tied on points. We can go to the top of the table if we beat them,’” she said. “So it was like: Why is everybody so high on OL and not us?”

After the win, the team sits first in the league standings with 16 points, having won three of their last five games.

“We obviously have a lot of season to play and stuff, but I said this in a lot of interviews that our coaching staff has made it like we’re gonna celebrate the moments,” she said. “Because I think in sports you don’t really get to, you just look to the next one. So we’re just gonna celebrate being in first right now and hopefully it stays that way.”

Snacks is back, with Lynn Williams opening up about her trade to NJ/NY Gotham FC in the first episode of the new season of the podcast from Just Women’s Sports.

Speaking with her fellow co-host Sam Mewis, Williams described how she learned of the potential trade. The 29-year-old forward was in New Zealand with the U.S. women’s nation national team, in her first camp and her first time playing soccer in almost a year.

“It was an emotional time,” she said. “It was the day of the draft, and I was so oblivious that it was that day. I feel like normally when it’s draft day you’re like, don’t look at your phone. If you get news, especially when you’re in camp, you’ll get it later on in the day so you can focus.”

But Williams was on the treatment table when her agent messaged her about “time-sensitive information.” She thought she was getting a new deal with the Kansas City Current. Instead, her agent informed her that the Current were pushing for a trade.

“My heart sunk, my face dropped. My initial reaction was, ‘No, I’m not going,’” Williams said, noting that she had “veto power” over the trade. Gotham, she said, didn’t want her if she didn’t want to be there.

Still, she was worried about what would happen in Kansas City if she said no: Would it be awkward? Would she play? She talked with USWNT coach Vlatko Andonovski, and she also spoke with Gotham FC head coach Juan Carlos Amorós, who made it clear just how much the team wanted her.

“Basically the decision I had come down to was: I don’t want to be at a place that doesn’t want me. And if Gotham really wants me, then I wanna go there,” Williams said.

With three minutes to spare before the deadline for the trade, she agreed to the deal. The trade was announced announced minutes later, giving her just enough time to call her mom and let her know before her new teammate Kelley O’Hara was blowing up her phone in excitement.

“She was like, ‘Let’s go!’ And I was just distraught,” Williams said. “It was pretty devastating at the time. Not necessarily because I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, I don’t wanna go to Gotham.’ It was more like, my life was, in a moment, flipped on its head.”

Throughout the entire trade process, Williams felt unsettled, she said on Snacks. She would have to move, again, during a World Cup year, as she was still trying to rehab the hamstring injury that kept her out through almost all of 2022. That, she said, was the most stressful part.

“I feel like every trade is unique in its own way. It’s hard,” she said. “You would like to think that teams would know a little bit more in advance that they’re going to trade you or not. And maybe they do.”

Of course, Williams hasn’t wasted time in getting acclimated on the field. She scored in Gotham’s season opener, which also marked her debut for the club, and is off to a good start to the year with the USWNT.

Both Williams’ and Mewis’ journeys will be documented through Snacks, as well as more in-depth insight into what’s going on around the league in this new season. Mewis remains under contract with the Current, but she is not expected to play in 2023 as she continues to work her way back from a knee injury.

Of course, there will be special guests – including O’Hara in this week’s premiere episode – and more discussion about not just the U.S. league but about women’s soccer as a whole.

“I can’t wait for this new season. This league is constantly moving and shifting, and giving fans an inside look at it all that they can’t get anywhere else is our secret sauce,” Mewis said. “Even with everything we’ve accomplished on the field, Snacks is one of our greatest joys because it provides us with such a unique opportunity for us to share our experiences around the game we love and provide a platform for others to talk about women’s soccer in a way that hasn’t been done before.”

And in a new partnership with iHeartPodcasts, Snacks has an opportunity to reach more people than ever for and drive larger conversations that transcend sports.

“We’re excited to bring ‘Snacks’ back for another season as it’s one of the most important platforms in women’s sports right now,” said Haley Rosen, the founder and CEO of Just Women’s Sports. “Women’s soccer has been on such an incredible growth trajectory over the past decade, and on this show, two of the game’s most decorated and accomplished players are not only providing their authentic perspective every week as professionals but also as burgeoning media personalities adding to the almost non existent conversations happening about women’s soccer games week to week.”

The U.S. women’s national team has released the 26-player roster for its April friendlies against Ireland, and several big names remain in limbo.

Catarina Macario, Christen Press, Tobin Heath and other players have starred for the USWNT on the international stage. What is keeping them off the roster as the team prepares for the 2023 Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand?

Just Women’s Sports breaks down the key players who are missing from the USWNT.

Abby Dahlkemper

The 29-year-old defender missed the 2022 NWSL playoffs for the San Diego Wave due to a back injury, for which she underwent surgery in November.

She provided an update on her recovery in late January, saying she hoped to start cardio and lifting again in the “near future.” The implied recovery timeline would make her an unlikely selection for the World Cup.

Tobin Heath

The 34-year-old forward underwent knee surgery in September, which ended her season with OL Reign. She did not sign with an NWSL club in the offseason, but while she remains a free agent and is still rehabbing her injury, USWNT coach Vlatko Andonovski said in February that Health “absolutely” remains in the running for World Cup roster consideration.

Upon the release of the April roster, the coach reiterated that Heath is in “return-to-play protocol,” but he also cautioned that any player would “have to play professional games to give us a chance to evaluate them.”

Catarina Macario

While Andonovski had hoped to see the 23-year-old return to the lineup for the April friendlies, she is still working her way back from an ACL tear suffered last June, in Lyon’s final match of the 2021-22 Division 1 Féminine season.

“She’s supposed to be on the field sometime beginning of next month,” Andonovski said. He also noted that Macario is ahead of Heath and Press in her recovery.

Sam Mewis

The 30-year-old midfielder underwent knee surgery in January. She has been dealing with a nagging injury since August 2021, when she played with the USWNT in the Tokyo Olympics.

“I don’t have a timeline for return to soccer,” she said in January.

Christen Press

After tearing the ACL in her right knee during the 2022 NWSL season, the 34-year-old forward had three surgeries on the same knee in eight months. Press revealed her “unique journey” to recovery in an Instagram post in March.

Andonovski had described her as “in return-to-play protocol” ahead of February’s SheBelieves Cup and again ahead of the April camp, but continued rehab puts the timeline for her return in question.

Megan Rapinoe

The 37-year-old forward missed her NWSL club’s season opener with a calf injury, and she is out for the April friendlies as well. She also missed the January friendlies in New Zealand with an ankle injury before returning for February’s SheBelieves Cup.

After finishing in last place in their inaugural season in 2021, Kansas City rode the underdog mindset in 2022. Head coach Matt Potter and general manager Cami Levin Ashton made a few important tweaks to a young group in order to peak at the right time and make it all the way to the NWSL Championship.

In 2023, the underdog label is far behind the Current, who signed some of the NWSL’s biggest free agents in the offseason. With full buy-in from ambitious ownership, the Current have become one of the premier destinations for professional women’s soccer players in the U.S. in only three years. But after a successful 2022 season, how will the team’s chemistry withstand all the new additions?

2022 review: Underdog energy

The Kansas City Current of 2022 played a cohesive, sometimes chaotic style of soccer that other teams found difficult to break down. While they weren’t immune to conceding first, they almost always found a way to come back to challenge for a result.

The team played in an expansive 3-5-2 formation, with three center-backs behind a high-flying midfield that moved the ball quickly and found space for their attackers. A number of young and relatively inexperienced players helped reset the team’s culture, with key veterans like Lo’eau Labonta and AD Franch setting the tone.

The team committed to the grind of the NWSL season early on with a preseason process they’re using again this year. Labonta told reporters in February that the heavy lift days the team holds in Florida in the preseason are a “rite of passage” and that the time spent in camp set them in the right direction in 2022.

“Matt [Potter] has actually given credit to us being here and grinding here for why we’re able to make it so far in the league last year,” Labonta said. “I think it’s true.”

The Current ultimately finished fourth in the regular-season standings, a vast improvement from their league-worst finish in 2021. Their style of play proved perfect for the NWSL’s knockout playoffs, as they advanced past the Houston Dash and then Shield winners OL Reign. A collective never-say-die attitude took them all the way to the 2022 NWSL final, where their inexperience showed in a 2-0 defeat to a Portland Thorns team ready for the big moment.

img
The Current made the biggest splash of free agency, signing midfielder Debinha. (Jaylynn Nash/USA TODAY Sports)

Offseason moves: Building a superteam

Rather than running it back with the benefit of hard-earned experience, the Current appeared unsatisfied with being runner-up. In the offseason, Levin Ashton took a clinical approach to push the roster to the next level, re-negotiating Sam Mewis’ contract as she continues to rehab her knee and abruptly sending Lynn Williams to Gotham FC in order to make room for other players.

The Current signed Vanessa DiBernardo and Morgan Gautrat away from Chicago, traded up for No. 2 draft pick Michelle Cooper and, most crucially, won the bidding war for Brazilian superstar Debinha. They’ve since also signed top Swedish outside back Hanna Glas.

Players have noted the club’s resources and facilities as some of the best in the world. But the decision to move Williams, in a trade the USWNT forward called “shocking,” also showcased the ruthlessness the team feels is necessary to improve in the long term.

Potter said he declined to bring non-roster invitees into Kansas City’s 2023 camp — reversing a common practice among NWSL teams — because making the 28-player roster (24 first-team and four supplemental) is going to be difficult enough for draft picks and other acquisitions.

“To be perfectly honest, there was an opportunity to bring in more players, but it would only be false hope for them,” he said. “Because the reality is to make this roster even with the players that we have here, it’s going to be super competitive.”

Early in preseason, Labonta wasn’t worried about the locker room being disrupted by big-name players.

“I actually had a meeting with Matt yesterday, and I was just saying that this team already, we have great human beings,” she said. “There’s not one bad person on this team.”

As for team rules, they’re keeping it simple: “Don’t be late, don’t leave your gear around. That’s literally it. That’s all that we have to enforce,” Labonta said.

img
Lo'eau Labonta and the Current thrived on their team chemistry last season. (Amy Kontras/USA TODAY Sports)

2023 Outlook: Keeping the culture

While spirits are high in Kansas City, ambitious offseasons also present challenges in player management. Some players who carried the load last year were waived or traded in the offseason, and others who remain are going to see their roles on the team reduced when the roster is at full strength.

Even Labonta, one of the team’s breakout stars of 2022, has a new level of competition at her position.

“I think a lot of the people saw in the offseason signings, we signed about 12,000 midfielders — that’s my position — but it only makes it so much more competitive,” she said.

The team does have positional imbalances, having loaded up on central midfielders and wide defenders in the offseason. They lost defender Kristen Edmonds to free agency and will have to control games through the prowess of the midfield so they don’t get into high-risk shootouts. The Current should be well-positioned for the World Cup period — when they will be without Glas, Debinha and likely Franch — thanks to an influx of players who are used to participating in other teams’ systems and can get up to speed quickly.

No matter what, Kansas City players will be in fierce competition for playing time, with the hope that their deep midfield can score enough goals to compensate for vulnerabilities in the central defense.

“We talk often about competition being about striving together,” Potter said. “How can we, whoever’s out there, take the mantle of what we have as a team identity and express that for something bigger than ourselves?”

The NWSL has a history of the best team on paper not always being the squad that hoists the trophy at the end of the season. The Current are taking a very different approach than what worked for them last year, but if they can get the balance right, they might become unbeatable once the playoffs roll around.

Claire Watkins is a Staff Writer at Just Women’s Sports. Follow her on Twitter @ScoutRipley.

Count this injury update from the Kansas City Current as disappointing but not surprising: Sam Mewis is not expected to play in the 2023 NWSL season.

The 30-year-old midfielder underwent knee surgery in January. She has been dealing with a nagging injury since August 2021, when she played in the Tokyo Olympics with the U.S. women’s national team.

“I don’t have a timeline for return to soccer,” she said in January.

The Current do not expect to see Mewis in their lineup in the upcoming season, the team indicated in a roster update Tuesday.

After the USWNT’s bronze-medal game against Australia at the Tokyo Games, Mewis underwent arthroscopic surgery on her right knee. She was traded to Kansas City in late 2021 and made two appearances for the Current at the Challenge Cup in March 2022, but she has not played in any matches since then.

The Current bought out the midfielder’s previous contract and signed her to a new deal through the 2023 season, the team announced after her latest surgery. During the upcoming season, Mewis will be “focused on her recovery and future” as she works her way back “from her progressive injury to her right leg,” the team said in its news release.

“I’ll be starting my rehab at home where my family can support me,” Mewis wrote in a statement posted to her Twitter account. “I gave everything I had after my last procedure in 2021. This has been a really difficult time for me personally and I’ve been devastated to be away from soccer for so long.”

The latest update from the Current also hammers home her all but certain absence from the USWNT lineup for the 2023 World Cup.

“At this point I don’t want to guess what the time is or if she is going to be back at all,” USWNT coach Vlatko Andonovski said ahead of the team’s two January friendlies against New Zealand. “With Sam, it’s a long-term injury and at this point, you know, we probably would not go into details for that.”

Sam Mewis does not have a timeline for her return to soccer after undergoing another knee surgery, she announced Monday via social media.

The 30-year-old midfielder for the U.S. women’s national team and Kansas City Current underwent arthroscopic surgery on her right knee in August 2021. At the time, she was expected to be out for up to eight weeks. More than 17 months later, she remains on the sidelines.

Mewis had another surgery on the same knee last week, she revealed in a statement posted to her Twitter account Monday afternoon.

“I’ll be starting my rehab at home where my family can support me,” she wrote. “I gave everything I had after my last procedure in 2021. This has been a really difficult time for me personally and I’ve been devastated to be away from soccer for so long.”

The Current released their preseason roster Monday, which included Mewis. But the club has bought out the midfielder’s previous contract and signed her to a new deal through the 2023 season, during which she’ll be “focused on her recovery and future” as she works her way back “from her progressive injury to her right leg,” per the news release.

For her part, Mewis described the Current as “extremely patient and supportive” through her continued recovery.

“I don’t have a timeline for return to soccer, but I will give my best effort in my recovery as I always have,” she wrote. “Thank you to everyone for your support and well wishes.”

Mewis was traded to Kansas City last offseason, but she did not play at all for the Current in 2022 outside of two preseason Challenge Cup matches. While she was named to the USWNT roster last March ahead of friendlies against Uzbekistan, she later was ruled out due to “a knee issue,” per U.S. Soccer.

The exact nature of Mewis’ injury remains unknown, but the latest surgery and indeterminate timeline for recovery almost certainly will preclude her from participating in the 2023 World Cup.

USWNT coach Vlatko Andonovski confirmed as much before the team’s January friendlies against New Zealand, saying of Mewis: “At this point I don’t want to guess what the time is or if she is going to be back at all.”

Injuries and extended absences have taken a toll on the U.S. women’s national team as the reigning world champions prepare for the 2023 World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.

As head coach Vlatko Andonovski continues to evaluate players before naming a final roster next summer, we take a look at recent USWNT mainstays on the outside looking in and where they stand in the run-up to the biggest tournament in women’s soccer. At the top of our list: Sam Mewis.

Position: Midfielder
Total caps: 83
Most recent USWNT appearance: Aug. 5, 2021 vs. Australia (Tokyo Olympics)

What is her track record with the USWNT?

The midfielder received her first call-up to the national team in 2014. By 2016, she was selected as an alternate for the Olympic team, and by 2018, she had established herself as a mainstay on the roster.

Mewis started five of the USWNT’s seven matches at the 2019 World Cup. She recorded two assists at the tournament, but her contributions went beyond the score sheet. Her 43 recoveries ranked second only to teammate Crystal Dunn, who had 45.

She figured heavily in the lineup again at the Tokyo Olympics.

What is keeping her off the roster?

Mewis underwent arthroscopic surgery on her right knee in August 2021. At the time, she was expected to be out for up to eight weeks. More than 17 months later, she remains on the sidelines.

In January, she had another surgery on the same knee, she announced on Jan. 30.

“I’ll be starting my rehab at home where my family can support me,” Mewis wrote. “I gave everything I had after my last procedure in 2021. This has been a really difficult time for me personally and I’ve been devastated to be away from soccer for so long.”

The 30-year-old midfielder was traded to the NWSL’s Kansas City Current ahead of the 2022 season, but she only played in two preseason Challenge Cup matches in March 2022. The Current placed her on the season-ending injury list in August with a “long-standing progressive injury to her right leg suffered prior to her arrival in Kansas City.”

While she was named to the USWNT roster last March ahead of friendlies against Uzbekistan, she later was ruled out due to her continuing recovery from “a knee issue,” per U.S. Soccer.

When will she be back?

When Mewis announced her latest knee surgery, she also revealed she does not have a timeline for her return to soccer.

While the exact nature of Mewis’ injury and the timeline for her recovery remain unknown, these factors almost certainly will preclude her from participating in the 2023 World Cup.

“At this point I don’t want to guess what the time is or if she is going to be back at all,” Andonovski said ahead of the team’s two January friendlies against New Zealand. “With Sam, it’s a long-term injury and at this point, you know, we probably would not go into details for that.”

What other players are missing from the USWNT roster?

Sam Mewis has not played for the U.S. women’s national team since she suited up at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.

The prospect of her return — to the USWNT and to the sport — remains a question mark, coach Vlatko Andonovski told reporters ahead of the team’s two friendlies in New Zealand this week. Mewis made two NWSL preseason appearances in 2022 but otherwise has not played.

“At this point I don’t want to guess what the time is or if she is going to be back at all,” Andonovski said Tuesday.

The star midfielder received her first call-up to the senior national team in 2014. By 2018, she had established herself as a mainstay on the roster, and she excelled for the 2019 World Cup-winning squad.

But Mewis last took the field for the USWNT in its bronze-medal match against Australia in August 2021. She underwent arthroscopic surgery on her right knee later that month, with an anticipated recovery time of eight weeks.

More than 16 months later, the USWNT is gearing up for another major tournament. But Mewis remains on the sidelines.

“With Sam, it’s a long-term injury and at this point, you know, we probably would not go into details for that,” said Andonovski, per a transcript from Australian Associated Press reporter Ben McKay.

In the NWSL, Mewis features on the Kansas City Current roster after she joined the club via trade in November 2021, though she only played for the team in two Challenge Cup matches in March 2022. Current general manager Camille Levin Ashton said last week that the 30-year-old midfielder is focused on recovery.

Mewis is not the only player absent from the USWNT for its New Zealand trip. Andonovski provided updates on several other players before the first match against the Football Ferns, which will kick off at 10 p.m. ET Tuesday.

Tierna Davidson is “already in full training,” Andonovski said. The 24-year-old defender is expected back for the next camp in February — if she earns a spot, the coach noted.

He also provided brief updates on Megan Rapinoe (ankle) and Kelley O’Hara (hip), saying both are progressing well.

Veteran midfielder Julie Ertz welcomed her first son in August. She “needs a little bit more time to prepare before she even starts training,” Andonovski said, so the team is giving her “a little more space and time until she’s fully ready to join.”