Texas tour to finalize Olympic roster
Ertz’s uncertain status due to injury allows for competition in midfield
The unforgiving Texas sun beat down on members of the U.S. Women’s National Team as they took the field for training at BBVA Stadium on Wednesday morning. It was around 11 a.m., and already the temperature neared 90 degrees. The humidity was stifling.
Coach Vlatko Andonovski pronounced the weather “brutal.” Midfielder Rose Lavelle proclaimed it “something else.”
For the best soccer players in the world, the heat is on in Houston — literally and figuratively.
The USWNT plays two matches at BBVA Stadium this week — Thursday versus Portugal and Sunday versus Jamaica — as part of a three-game Summer Series in Texas, the final competition before Andonovski names his 18-player roster for the delayed 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
The 23 players in training camp are vying for a limited number of roster spots, as is a crucial player still missing in action: midfielder Julie Ertz.
Ertz is a defensive midfielder whose role is known as the No. 6 position, the player responsible for linking the back line and the attack. Her physicality and experience make her a vital cog in the USWNT machine,
but she has been out of commission since injuring her MCL in the Chicago Red Stars’ NWSL match on May 16 and is not on the Summer Series training camp roster.
Although Andonovski said Ertz is on track to play in Tokyo, her absence for the upcoming series complicates Olympics selection for the midfield, a group that includes Dash starter Kristie Mewis.
“It’s not easy to replace Julie, but we’ve been fortunate with some great, great midfielders,” Andonovski said. “But we’re also looking at some of the defenders playing 6 with slightly different roles. You have a player like Julie who can play on both sides of the game, but we’re also going to test players that can play in 6 with more offensive role. But in the same time, we’re going to test the 6s that will have a slightly more defensive role just so we’re prepared for whatever we need or if we need any other player to step in in any of the games coming up after this camp.”
Essentially, the U.S. is prepared to experiment with multiple options at Ertz’s spot until she is ready to go. While Andonovski held his cards close to his chest Wednesday, he mentioned three midfielders who have previously played No. 6 and could presumably take on Ertz’s role: Lindsey Horan, Sam Mewis and Andi Sullivan. Defenders Tierna Davidson and Emily Sonnett are also under consideration.
Horan, who traditionally plays as a central midfielder for the national team as well as the Portland Thorns, didn’t tip her hand on whether she expects to change positions but said the defensive midfielder position would involve only subtle differences.
“For me, playing the 6, obviously it’s a little bit more conservative playing there than the normal 8 position,” she said. “Making myself available, getting the ball from my back line, doing whatever I can to be in a position to support my teammates and having a little more discipline defensively as well. I can’t just be shooting myself in the box every second.”
Added Lavelle, an attacking midfielder, “Obviously, JJ (Ertz) is amazing, and I think what she brings defensively nobody else can, but I do think that we obviously have some very good players who can fill that role, and I think my job stays the same. I have to give 100 percent offensively and defensively. I’m excited to obviously play with whoever fills her role.”
Also rehabbing an injury is forward Tobin Heath, who is with the national team as a training camp player but is not expected to play in the Texas matches. Heath is further along medically than Ertz, Andonovski said, but still needs to rebuild her stamina on the field.
There is competition at every position group, but Ertz’s unique skill set combined with the United States’ considerable depth at midfield makes evaluating the position an exceptionally challenging task. The games in Houston will offer a glimpse at the different midfield combinations among the six players currently in camp: Horan, Lavelle, Catarina Macario, the Mewis sisters and Sullivan.
Andonovski said the national team has been in constant contact with Ertz and her doctors, and that national team medical staff were set to evaluate Ertz in person in a “couple days” to get a better sense of her progress.
“We’re excited where she’s at right now,” Andonovski said. “We’re going to have to be very careful with our approach and make sure that she’s fully recovered before she plays games.”
While a healthy Ertz is a lock for an Olympic roster spot, the staff might want to limit her minutes in Tokyo if they feel she is not 100 percent. Thus, players who showcase additional versatility in Texas could improve their chances at selection and playing time.
And if either Ertz or Heath suffers a setback, it might open a door for Sullivan, Macario or forward Sophia Smith to make her Olympic debut.
The looming Olympic roster selection doesn’t necessarily alter an already stressful camp environment, Horan said. Regardless of position, the stakes always feel high.
“I think coming into camps with the women’s national team, it’s always tense, it’s always a lot of pressure, and it’s always uncomfortable,” she said. “And I think that’s, again, why this national team is so good and why the competition is so high. Each camp, you’re exhausted at the end because you’re playing against the best players in the world and you’re getting better every single day, and then you have three quality games like we’re getting. So for me, yeah, you know, the roster’s being named after this camp, but nothing’s really changed in this. It’s the same mindset of every single camp we’re going in to get better, perform well — and win these games.”