Ellis names USA roster for European friendlies

Jill Ellis has named 24 players to her roster for the US women’s national team’s upcoming friendlies against Scotland and Portugal.

GOALKEEPERS (3): Adrianna Franch (Portland Thorns FC; 0/0), Ashlyn Harris (Orlando Pride; 18/0), Alyssa Naeher (Chicago Red Stars; 37/0)

DEFENDERS (7): Abby Dahlkemper (NC Courage; 28/0), Crystal Dunn (NC Courage; 73/24), Emily Fox (UNC; 0/0), Merritt Mathias (NC Courage; 1/0), Becky Sauerbrunn (Utah Royals FC; 147/0), Casey Short (Chicago Red Stars; 27/0), Emily Sonnett (Portland Thorns FC; 24/0)

MIDFIELDERS (7): Danielle Colaprico (Chicago Red Stars; 0/0), Julie Ertz (Chicago Red Stars; 71/18), Lindsey Horan (Portland Thorns FC; 61/7), Rose Lavelle (Washington Spirit; 18/6), Allie Long (Seattle Reign FC; 39/6), Samantha Mewis (NC Courage; 40/8), Andi Sullivan (Washington Spirit; 10/0)

FORWARDS (7): Tobin Heath (Portland Thorns FC; 142/25), Carli Lloyd (Sky Blue FC; 263/105), Jessica McDonald (NC Courage; 1/0), Alex Morgan (Orlando Pride; 151/97), Christen Press (Utah Royals FC; 106/46), Mallory Pugh (Washington Spirit; 41/12), Megan Rapinoe (Seattle Reign FC; 144/41)

With more room on this roster and much less pressure on Ellis to put her best foot forward as with World Cup qualifying, some new-ish (and old-ish) names have made reappearances.

Joining the goalkeepers from qualifying is Adrianna Franch. Hailie Mace is out from the defender group, with Emily Fox in, presumably as part of Ellis trying to rotate more young players through her rosters. Kelley O’Hara is also out after having ankle surgery, with Merritt Mathias in.

Morgan Brian isn’t with the midfielders; this might be related to her having to come off the field when the United States was playing Jamaica after she collided head-to-head with a Jamaican player. But joining the midfield is a face that’s been absent for a while in Allie Long, as well as Andi Sullivan, who hasn’t really made a big case for herself with her club play but looks to be getting another shot at making an impression with Ellis. It’s also an intriguing call up for Danny Colaprico, long considered one of the most-snubbed players when it comes to USWNT rosters; we’ll see if actually gets to play. With the forwards, Jess McDonald also makes her return, and it’ll be a shame if she never gets a minute, even despite the depth of the forward pool.

This is still very much the core of the qualifying roster, which means we’ll probably see some very familiar starting XIs, just with some minor tweaks. But in a couple of friendlies against Scotland and Portugal, both of them much better than most of the USWNT’s Concacaf competition but still not quite among their top five or 10 challengers, it would be nice to see some new faces getting a shot.

USA vs Portugal
November 8
1 PM ET / 10 AM PT
ESPN2

USA vs Scotland
November 13
2 PM ET / 11 AM PT
FS1, UDN