Brian and Sauerbrunn ruled out of January USWNT camp

Morgan Brian and Becky Sauerbrunn have both been ruled out of January US women’s national team camp, USSF said today. Brian will remain with Olympique Lyonnais to rehab from injuries she carried over from 2017 and Sauerbrunn has a “stress reaction in her left foot” requiring several weeks of rest.

As of now, neither player will be replaced on the roster, leaving 24 out of the initial 26 announced players in camp ahead of the team’s January 21 friendly against Denmark.

This period of rest is certainly good for Brian, who was dealing with a knee injury and then a groin injury last year, exacerbated by lack of rest during the NWSL season. As for Sauerbrunn, she played a full 90 for 22 out of 24 games for FC Kansas City and 14 out of 16 games for the United States, subbing out at the half only twice.

The USWNT has been learning to function without Brian at 100% for some time now, but Sauerbrunn’s loss will pose some interesting questions for how they organize their center backs. Of the players remaining in camp, Emily Sonnett and Abby Dahlkemper seem the obvious starting pairing for now, although Ellis does have the option to pull Julie Ertz back from the midfield to fill in.

Full remaining roster below:

GOALKEEPERS (4): Jane Campbell (Houston Dash; 2/0), Adrianna Franch (Portland Thorns FC; 0/0), Ashlyn Harris (Orlando Pride; 14/0), Alyssa Naeher (Chicago Red Stars; 23/0)

DEFENDERS (8): Abby Dahlkemper (NC Courage; 13/0), Tierna Davidson (Stanford; 0/0), Sofia Huerta (Chicago Red Stars; 3/0), Meghan Klingenberg (Portland Thorns FC; 73/3), Kelley O’Hara (Utah Royals FC; 104/2), Casey Short (Chicago Red Stars; 19/0), Taylor Smith (NC Courage; 7/0), Emily Sonnett (Portland Thorns FC; 12/0)

MIDFIELDERS (5): Julie Ertz (Chicago Red Stars; 57/14), Lindsey Horan (Portland Thorns FC; 43/4), Carli Lloyd (Houston Dash; 246/98), Allie Long (Portland Thorns FC; 33/6), Andi Sullivan (Stanford; 7/0)

FORWARDS (7): Crystal Dunn (Chelsea FC, ENG; 57/22), Savannah McCaskill (South Carolina; 0/0), Alex Morgan (Orlando Pride; 134/80), Christen Press (Chicago Red Stars; 96/44), Mallory Pugh (Washington Spirit; 29/6), Megan Rapinoe (Seattle Reign FC; 129/34), Lynn Williams (NC Courage; 15/4)