U.S. women’s national team head coach Vlatko Andonovski has called up 25 players to the first training camp of the year, including Washington Spirit forward Trinity Rodman.
Rodman, who earned the NWSL’s 2021 Rookie of the Year award, is accepting a call-up for the first time. She joins Spirit goalkeeper Aubrey Kingsbury and San Diego Wave defender Naomi Girma as uncapped players named to the roster.
The camp will run from January 19-28. No friendlies are currently scheduled in in conjunction with the gathering, but instead Andonovski is likely to be analyzing players ahead of the SheBelieves Cup in February.
“Without any matches that we need to taper for, we can get in some more intense trainings and full-field scrimmages, which is great as we need to give this group as many chances as possible to play together in a national team environment,” Andonovski said.
“We understand that some of the players are coming off a break, so we’ll keep that in mind as we hit the ground running in 2022 for what will be a very important year for these players and our team.”
Andonovski’s squad also sees the return of several veterans, including Alyssa Naeher, Kelley O’Hara, Samantha Mewis and Mallory Pugh. Naeher joins after being on the sidelines since injuring her knee in the Olympic semi-finals.
The head coach is eager to watch Rodman. She has nine career U20 international goals in just seven caps. She was called up for the Australian friendlies in November, but opted out.
“She was one of the most exciting players in the league this past season, and she proved that she can be impactful at the professional level in NWSL. And now with that, she earned a call-up for the national team,” Andonovski said of Rodman.
“Now, we don’t want to rush anything. We obviously have to be patient. She’s still young player, but we do want to expose her to the environment where she can get her feet wet a little bit, and get used to the environment, get used to my coaching and the players that she’s around, and hopefully she can continue growing and show that what she was able to do in the league, she can do that at the international level.”
GOALKEEPERS (3): Aubrey Kingsbury (Washington Spirit), Casey Murphy (North Carolina Courage), Alyssa Naeher (Chicago Red Stars)
DEFENDERS (9): Alana Cook (OL Reign), Abby Dahlkemper (San Diego Wave FC), Tierna Davidson (Chicago Red Stars), Imani Dorsey (NJ/NY Gotham FC), Emily Fox (Racing Louisville FC), Naomi Grima (San Diego Wave FC), Sofia Huerta (OL Reign), Kelley O’Hara (Washington Spirit), Emily Sonnett (Washington Spirit)
MIDFIELDERS (7): Lindsey Horan (Portland Thorns FC), Jaelin Howell (Racing Louisville FC), Rose Lavelle (OL Reign), Kristie Mewis (NJ/NY Gotham FC), Samantha Mewis (Kansas City Current), Ashley Sanchez (Washington Spirit), Andi Sullivan (Washington Spirit)
FORWARDS (6): Ashley Hatch (Washington Spirit), Mallory Pugh (Chicago Red Stars), Margaret Purce (NJ/NY Gotham FC), Trinity Rodman (Washington Spirit), Sophia Smith (Portland Thorns FC), Lynn Williams (Kansas City Current)
