Colaprico, Johnston, Naeher and Press head to U.S. Soccer training

Chicago, Ill. – U.S. Women’s National Team head coach Jill Ellis has named 26 players for the first training camp of 2016, which will lead into the first match of the year against the Republic of Ireland on January 23 at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego (2 p.m. PT, FS1).

The U.S. team will begin training at the U.S. Soccer National Training Center in Carson, California, on Jan. 5 and train through Jan. 21 when the squad will head south to prepare for its final game before the 2016 CONCACAF Women’s Olympic Qualifying Championship begins on Feb. 10 in Texas.

“This camp begins the next chapter of this program,” said Ellis. “We’ll have just over two weeks together to begin to build cohesion and integrate the younger players into our processes, and then we will regroup for Olympic qualifying. The leadership and experience of our returning World Cup players will give us a solid starting point on which to build, and we are looking forward to the next challenge.”

Twenty-four of the 26 players were with the USA during the final stretch of the Women’s World Cup Victory Tour in December, including Red Stars players Christen Press, Alyssa Naeher, Danielle Colaprico and Julie Johnston.

Ellis will name 18 players to suit up against Ireland and will name the roster for Olympic Qualifying following that match.

Tickets for the U.S. WNT vs. Ireland match are on sale at ussoccer.com.

U.S. Women’s National Team Roster by Position

GOALKEEPERS (4): Adrianna Franch (Portland Thorns FC), Ashlyn Harris (Orlando Pride), Alyssa Naeher (Chicago Red Stars), Hope Solo (Seattle Reign FC)

DEFENDERS (8): Whitney Engen (Boston Breakers), Jaelene Hinkle (Western New York Flash), Julie Johnston (Chicago Red Stars), Meghan Klingenberg (Portland Thorns FC), Ali Krieger (Washington Spirit), Kelley O’Hara (Sky Blue FC), Becky Sauerbrunn (FC Kansas City), Emily Sonnett (Univ. of Virginia)

MIDFIELDERS (8): Morgan Brian (Houston Dash), Danielle Colaprico (Chicago Red Stars), Tobin Heath (Portland Thorns FC), Lindsey Horan (PSG), Rose Lavelle (Wisconsin), Carli Lloyd (Houston Dash), Samantha Mewis (Western New York Flash), Heather O’Reilly (FC Kansas City)

FORWARDS (6): Crystal Dunn (Washington Spirit), Sydney Leroux (Western New York Flash), Stephanie McCaffrey (Boston Breakers), Alex Morgan (Orlando Pride), Christen Press (Chicago Red Stars), Mallory Pugh (Real Colorado)

Additional Notes:

·Of the 23 players on the 2015 Women’s World Cup Team, just 16 will attend the January training camp.

·The seven WWC players not attending including four players who have retired (Shannon Boxx, Lori Chalupny, Lauren Holiday and Abby Wambach) and two players who are injured.

·Long-time U.S. captain Christie Rampone underwent arthroscopic surgery on her left knee before Christmas and will be sidelined four-six weeks.

·Midfielder Megan Rapinoe is at the beginning of her rehab from ACL surgery.

·Forward Amy Rodriguez is pregnant with her second child and will be off the soccer field for a large part of the year.

·Goalkeeper Adrianna Franch gets her first call-up since 2013. She played last season with Avaldsnes IL in Norway but has returned to the NWSL (where she played for the Western New York Flash in 2013) to play for the Portland Thorns during the 2016 season.

·Mallory Pugh, who will turn 18 in April of 2016, is one of the youngest field players called into the full U.S. WNT in the past 15 years.

·Heather O’Reilly debuted for the WNT just a few months past her 17th birthday in 2002 at the Algarve Cup in Portugal. Amy Rodriguez debuted at the 2005 Algarve Cup just a few months past her 18th birthday. Lauren Holiday first trained with the senior team a few months shy of her 18th birthday in 2005.

·In January of 2013, 17-year-old goalkeeper Jane Campbell was a member of the USA’s training camp in Los Angeles. Campbell, a member of the U.S. Under-23 WNT player pool, will play her senior season at Stanford next fall.

·Of the 26 players in camp, 14 have 30 or fewer caps.

·The match against Ireland in San Diego will be Alex Morgan’s 100th cap, should she see action.

·Seventeen of the 26 players on the training camp roster have appeared for the USA in a U-19 or U-20 FIFA Women’s World Cup tournament.

·The average age of this January training camp roster is 26.1 years old.

·The average of the Women’s World Cup Team was 29.2 years old.

·The average age of the starting lineup in the 2015 Women’s World Cup Final was 28.0 years old.

·The match in San Diego will be the USA’s sixth in “America’s Finest City” and second at Qualcomm, current home to the NFL’s San Diego Chargers. The first four were played at Torero Stadium on the campus of the University of San Diego.

·The U.S. Women have never lost in San Diego but did tie their first match there, 0-0, against Japan on Jan. 12, 2003.

·Ireland has played three matches in its qualifying campaign for the 2017 European Women’s Championship to be held in the Netherlands and sits in fourth place behind Spain, Finland and Portugal, having lost to Finland, 2-0, defeated Portugal 2-1 and fallen to Spain, 3-0.

·The WNT is 10-0-0 all-time vs. Ireland, with the most recent meetings being two matches at the end of 2012 during the Americans’ victory tour to celebrate the Olympic gold medal in London. The USA won 5-0 in Portland, Oregon, and 2-0 in Glendale, Arizona Alex Morgan scored four of the seven goals over the two games.