Harris, Krieger among 4 allocated for 2021 season

The Orlando Pride will field four allocated national team players for the 2021 season.

Star striker Alex Morgan and captains Ali Krieger and Ashlyn Harris are on the allocated list for the United States women’s national team. Goalkeeper Erin McLeod earned a place on the 2021 allocated roster for Canada.

Through a partnership between the Canadian and American federations and the NWSL, allocated players’ salaries are paid by their federations.

Morgan, Krieger and Harris were allocated last year, so there is no change to their salary status this upcoming season.

McLeod, however, spent several years outside the Canadian national team pool while recovering from injuries. She was last allocated in 2015, when she was Canada’s starting keeper for the FIFA World Cup.

The keeper has 118 caps for Canada, notching 45 clean sheets throughout her career. McLeod last played for the team in April 2019.

She earned a call-up for a preparatory camp ahead of the SheBelieves Cup, which concluded earlier this week, but wasn’t named to the final roster after suffering an injury.

The Pride’s longtime captain, Harris earned one cap in 2020 during Olympic qualifying ahead of the pandemic shutdown. Harris and Krieger also were called up for January friendlies against Colombia. Krieger started one of the matches and assisted on a goal.

Morgan scored her first goal since the 2019 FIFA World Cup on Wednesday in the final match of the SheBelieves Cup, marking the next step in her return from pregnancy.

The three American teammates won the FIFA World Cup in 2015 and 2019. Morgan also won Olympic gold in 2012.

All four players will continue to prepare for the postponed Tokyo Olympics this summer while leading the Orlando Pride in the NWSL Challenge Cup.

The Challenge Cup kicks off April 9 and the regular season begins May 15.