Carli Lloyd, Sydney Leroux called to U.S. women's team for June games in Europe
The Americans will play at Sweden on Thursday, June 8 and at Norway on Sunday, June 11.
Updated June 2: Alex Morgan has been withdrawn from the squad after reinjuring her left hamstring while playing for Lyon in the UEFA Women's Champions League final. Morgan had been cleared to play after suffering the initial injury three weeks ago. Lynn Williams of the North Carolina Courage has been called in as a replacement.
"It is important that Alex has appropriate time to heal and get 100% healthy and ready for [her return to] the Orlando Pride," U.S. coach Jill Ellis said. "Lynn has been gaining momentum in the league and has earned an opportunity to join us for the next two matches."
Updated May 30: Morgan Brian has been withdrawn from the squad because she "experienced tightness in her right hamstring during last weekend's NWSL match with the Houston Dash [and] is still returning to full fitness from a knee injury," U.S. Soccer announced. The federation's medical staff determined that Brian "is not ready for international play."
No replacement has been named, which means that 20 players will travel instead of 21.
Here's the U.S. women's national team roster for the upcoming trip to Scandinavia. The Americans will play two games on the tour: at Sweden on Thursday, June 8 (1:30 p.m., ESPN2 and Univision Deportes) and at Norway on Sunday, June 11 (1 p.m., Fox).
Goalkeepers (2): Alyssa Naeher (Chicago Red Stars), Abby Smith (Boston Breakers)
Defenders (7): Abby Dahlkemper (North Carolina Courage), Julie Ertz (Chicago Red Stars), Jaelene Hinkle (North Carolina Courage), Meghan Klingenberg (Portland Thorns), Kelley O’Hara (Sky Blue), Becky Sauerbrunn (FC Kansas City), Casey Short (Chicago Red Stars)
Midfielders (7 6): Morgan Brian (Houston Dash), Lindsey Horan (Portland Thorns FC), Rose Lavelle (Boston Breakers), Carli Lloyd (Houston Dash/Manchester City, England), Allie Long (Portland Thorns), Samantha Mewis (North Carolina Courage), Megan Rapinoe (Seattle Reign)
Forwards (5): Crystal Dunn (Chelsea, England), Sydney Leroux (FC Kansas City), Alex Morgan (Orlando Pride/Lyon, France), Christen Press (Chicago Red Stars), Mallory Pugh (Washington Spirit), Lynn Williams (North Carolina Courage)
That's 21 20 players in all - and that's news in and of itself, because historically rosters have had 23 players. But because the gameday rosters will only have 18 players, Ellis didn't want to bring as large a complement as she has called up in the past.
As ever, there's news in the inclusions and omissions. Let's start with the inclusions.
Ellis has promised all year that she would value players' performances in the National Women's Soccer League. She lived up to her word by selecting Abby Smith as the backup goalkeeper to starter Alyssa Naeher. Ashlyn Harris is out of action for the next eight weeks due to a quadriceps injury suffered this past weekend.
Ellis also rewarded the North Carolina defensive duo of Abby Dahlkemper and Jaelene Hinkle for helping their club jump to the top of the NWSL standings.
The biggest headline is the return of Sydney Leroux to the national team for the first time since October of 2015. She missed all of 2016 due to pregnancy, giving birth to her son in September.
(For those who don't know, she's married to Sporting Kansas City forward Dom Dwyer.)
Lindsey Horan and Morgan Brian are back on the squad after missing some recent games due to injuries. Julie Ertz is back for the first time since getting married to Eagles tight end Zach Ertz in March.
Now for the exclusions, and there are many.
[Duly updated after Williams was added to the squad belatedly.]
Houston's Kealia Ohai didn't make it despite a strong start to the season.
Fringe players who were left out include Sky Blue FC's Sarah Killion, who has been called up a few times in recent months, and Chicago's Danielle Colaprico and Vanessa DiBernardo.
Finally, there are two especially glaring omissions among the defensive corps: Orlando outside back Ali Krieger and Portland centerback Emily Sonnett. Krieger has been a national team mainstay for years, but seems to have fallen out of favor in recent times with U.S. head coach Jill Ellis. Sonnett seemed for a time to be the starting centerback of the future, but has lost some of that luster in the last few months.
The summoned players will travel to Europe from their respective NWSL club cities after league games on the weekend of June 3. It will be the national team's first trip to Europe since 2015, when the Americans visited England and France ahead of the World Cup.
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