Morgan Brian ruled out of USWNT Scandinavian Tour

USWNT midfielder Morgan Brian has been ruled out of their upcoming friendlies against Sweden and Norway with right hamstring tightness. USSF staff have determined “she is not ready for international play.”

Brian was already in and out of the starting XI for the Houston Dash after recovering from an earlier knee injury and only recently began playing regularly again, although she was still working on getting to a full 90. She had to be subbed out after the first half during the Dash’s last game against the Seattle Reigin; at the time the speculation was her sub had to do with the intense heat that day, although perhaps the weather conditions exacerbated her muscle strain.

Brian will not travel with team to Scandinavia now and will not be replaced on the roster. Ellis will take the following 20 players:

GOALKEEPERS (2): Alyssa Naeher (Chicago Red Stars), Abby Smith (Boston Breakers)

DEFENDERS (7): Abby Dahlkemper (NC Courage), Julie Ertz (Chicago Red Stars), Jaelene Hinkle (NC Courage), Meghan Klingenberg (Portland Thorns FC), Kelley O'Hara (Sky Blue FC), Becky Sauerbrunn (FC Kansas City), Casey Short (Chicago Red Stars)

MIDFIELDERS (6): Lindsey Horan (Portland Thorns FC), Rose Lavelle (Boston Breakers), Carli Lloyd (Houston Dash/Manchester City), Allie Long (Portland Thorns FC), Samantha Mewis (NC Courage), Megan Rapinoe (Seattle Reign FC)

FORWARDS (5): Crystal Dunn (Chelsea FC), Sydney Leroux (FC Kansas City), Alex Morgan (Orlando Pride/Olympique Lyonnais), Christen Press (Chicago Red Stars), Mallory Pugh (Washington Spirit)

The original press release regarding this roster explained that this away trip will have a very short period for evaluation and that each roster will be cut down to 18 for game day; that, combined with short notice and the fact that this is an away trip, probably factored into the decision to just go with 20 instead of replacing Brian.

USA vs Sweden kicks off at 1:30 PM ET on Thursday, June 8 and will air on ESPN2 and UDN.