U.S. women’s team focus is on emerging talent
Several prominent U.S. women’s national-team veterans were left off coach Vlatko Andonovski’s January training-camp roster as the squad focuses on preparing its younger players, including Stanford alum Naomi Girma, for World Cup qualifying this summer.
Megan Rapinoe, Alex Morgan, Christen Press and Tobin Heath were not named Wednesday to the 25-player roster for the camp opening next week in Austin, Texas, ahead of next month’s SheBelieves Cup.
Instead, Andonovski is focusing on emerging talent, including Girma, a defender; forward Trinity Rodman, and midfielder Jaelin Howell. Thirteen players on the roster have 12 or fewer appearances with the national team.
Andonovski’s evaluation of the young players started following the Tokyo Olympics, where the U.S. earned the bronze medal.
“We wanted to see these young players and we wanted to give them the opportunity,” Andonovski said. “With more of the senior players being around, the younger players would not have as much opportunity as they got or they’re going to get. Now, we will evaluate all these players in this camp and we’ll start making decisions for the future camps as well. With all this being said, these (veteran) players are not out of the picture by any means.”
Girma, the top player selected in the NWSL draft by expansion San Diego, was the 2021 Pac-12 Defender of the Year for the Cardinal.
Rodman was the 2021 U.S. Soccer Young Player of the Year following her rookie season with the NWSL’s Washington Spirit. This is the first-ever national-team call-up for the 19-year-old, who is the daughter of former NBA forward Dennis Rodman.
Howell won her second straight Hermann Trophy as the nation’s top college player after her season at Florida State.
Another young player from Stanford, Catarina Macario, is not on the roster because her club team, Lyon, is preparing for a French Cup match against Paris Saint Germain.
The Americans will compete in the new CONCACAF W Championship this summer, which will serve as qualifying for the 2023 World Cup in Australia and New Zealand and the 2024 Olympics.
⏩ Defending Super Cup champion Athletic Bilbao will face Spanish league champion Atlético Madrid in the other semifinal Thursday.
The Spanish Super Cup is being played in Saudi Arabia again after the coronavirus pandemic transferred last year’s edition back to Spain. The competition was moved to Saudi Arabia as part of a deal reportedly worth $34 million a year until 2029.
⏩ Antonio Rudiger’s header sealed a 1-0 victory at Tottenham as Chelsea completed a 3-0 aggregate win to advance to next month’s League Cup final.
In the Feb. 27 final, the west London club will play Arsenal or Liverpool, who meet in their delayed first leg Thursday. Tennis: In Australian Open warm-up events, Ons Jabeur advanced to the quarterfinals of the Sydney Tennis Classic by beating two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova 6-4, 6-4. French Open champion Barbora Krejcikova had to wait out a rain delay before beating Jaqueline Cristian 6-1, 7-5 and third-ranked Garbiñe Muguruza defeated Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-1, 7-6 (4).
In the men’s draw, top-seeded Aslan Karatsev beat Miomir Kecmanovic 7-5, 6-4 and Andy Murray set up a quarterfinal with David Goffin after beating No. 23 Nikoloz Basilashvili 6-7 (4), 7-6 (3), 6-3 in a match that finished after midnight.
In the women’s event at the Adelaide International 2, 17year-old American Coco Gauff beat Marta Kostyuk 6-3, 5-7, 6-3, and Madison Keys defeated Tereza Martincova 6-1, 6-3.
Charged: U.S. prosecutors charged a Texas man with providing performance-enhancing drugs to athletes competing in last summer’s Olympics in Tokyo, including the noted Nigerian sprinter, Blessing Okagbare. Eric Lira, 41, of El Paso, is the first person to be charged under a new U.S. antidoping law governing international sports competitions.