USWNT vs. Japan – SheBelieves Cup 2023 presented by Visa
Date: February 19, 2023
Venue: GEODIS Park; Nashville, Tennessee.
Transfer: TNT, HBO Max, Universo and Peacock
Airtime: 3:30 p.m. ET / 2:30 p.m. Local (pre-game coverage begins at 3:00 p.m. ET / 2:00 p.m. CT on TNT and HBO Max)
Official kick-off time: 3:37 p.m. ET / 2:37 p.m. local
Starting XI against Japan: 18- Casey Murphy; 2-Ashley Sanchez, 3-Alana Cook, 6-Lynn Williams, 8-Sofia Huerta, 9-Mallory Swanson, 10-Lindsey Horan (Capt.), 12-Naomi Girma, 13-Alex Morgan, 22-Kristie Mewis, 23 -Emily Fox
Available subs: 1-Alyssa Naeher, 4-Becky Sauerbrunn, 5-Trinity Rodman, 7-Ashley Hatch, 11-Midge Purce, 14-Emily Sonnett, 15-Megan Rapinoe, 16-Rose Lavelle, 17-Andi Sullivan, 19-Crystal Dunn, 20-Taylor Kornieck, 21-Adrianna Franch
GAME NOTES | FIVE THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW
- USWNT Starting XI Cap Numbers (including this game): Morgan (203), Horan (125), Swanson (86), Williams (51), K. Mewis (49), Huerta (28), Fox (26), Cook (23), Sanchez (21), Girma (13 ). ), Murphy (13)
- This starting XI averages 57 caps per player, with Morgan and Horan being the only players in this starting XI to have more than 100 caps. Seven players – Mewis, Huerta, Fox, Cook, Sanchez, Girma and Murphy – go into the game with fewer than 50 caps.
- Sunday’s starting XI consists of five different players from the line-up started against Canada on Thursday: Murphy for Naeher in goal, Girma and Huerta in defense for Sauerbrunn and Dunn, Mewis in midfield for Sullivan and Williams in attack for Rodman.
- Horan is the only player in today’s starting line-up who started the last clash against Japan at the 2020 SheBelieves Cup, although Williams and Swanson came on as second-half substitutes in that game, with Swanson providing an assist for Horan in the third and USA’s last game scored in a 3-1 win.
- Lindsey Horan will captain the team when they make their third start of the year and have their 125th cap with the USWNT. Horan scored in USA’s last clash against Japan in March 2020 and has been directly involved in 22 goals for USA since the beginning of 2020, totaling 14 goals and eight assists.
- Casey Murphy will be making her 13th career appearance – and 13th start – for the USWNT. Murphy has eight career shutouts in her last 12 caps, including a clean sheet in her first appearance of the year on Jan. 21 in New Zealand.
- Ashley Sanchez will make her third consecutive start – the longest such streak of her international career – and win her 21st cap for the USWNT. Sanchez, who will start ninth overall in tonight’s game against Japan, has played in all but three USA games since her international debut in November 2021.
- defender Alan Cook will be playing her 23rd cap for the USA as she is starting for the third consecutive year. Cook, who led the USWNT in total minutes played in 2022, is second on teams this year with 225 minutes played and went the full 90 minutes in each of her recent appearances.
- Forward Lynne Williams, who came on as a second-half substitute against Canada on Thursday to become the 63rd player in USWNT history to earn 50 caps, will make her first start for the United States in nearly 15 months. Williams, who sustained a serious hamstring injury last March that required surgery, returned to the field and scored in the USA’s January 18 win over New Zealand, her first appearance for the USWNT in 329 days was. Tonight’s opener against Japan will be Williams’ 23rd international and her first since November 30, 2021 against Australia.
- defender Sofia Hurta will contest her 28th career cap on her second start in 2023. Huerta returns to the field after missing action on February 16 in USA’s SheBelieves Cup opener game against Canada, which broke a streak of 17 straight appearances for the USA, a run that lasted until April 9, 2022 back, friendly against Uzbekistan.
- After a brace on Thursday against Canada Mallory Swanson will make her team-leading fourth start in 2023 when she will earn her 86th cap for the USWNT. Swanson leads the USA in 2023 with five goals in three games and is in the middle of a four-goal streak that stretches back to November 13, 2022. The four-goal streak is the longest of Pugh’s international career. Should she score against Japan on Sunday, it would be the longest scoring streak by a USWNT player since Christen Press had a six-game scoring streak from November 2019 to February 2020.
- Naomi Girma will make her first career appearance at the SheBelieves Cup as she has her 11th start and 13th appearance all-time for the USWNT. The 22-year-old Girma has now started seven of USA’s last nine games and has played the full 90 minutes in seven of her career appearances.
- Alex Morgan, who assisted Swanson’s opener against Canada on Thursday night will start in her 203rd international appearance for the third time this year, overtaking Hope Solo to take 11th place on the USWNT all-international list. Morgan has recorded 12 goals and 2 assists in 14 career games against Japan, the most goals she has scored against an opponent in her international career. In fact, Morgan has scored in each of their last five games against Japan, a streak dating back to June 2016.
- Kristie Mewis will be making her 49th international appearance as she makes her 15th career start and first for the USWNT in almost a year. Mewis last started for USA in the 2022 SheBelieves Cup final, playing the full 90 minutes and scoring in USA’s 5-0 win over Iceland on February 23, 2022 in Frisco, Texas. Mewis appeared in 10 of USA’s 18 games in 2022 and was a second-half substitute in the team’s last two games.
- Emil Fuchs will play their 31st cap on their third start in 2023. Fox has attended 21 of the United States’ 25 games since the October 2021 FIFA window in Nashville on Sunday, making 20 starts in that span. She is currently second on the team with Alana Cook with 225 minutes of action in 2023.
Source: www.ussoccer.com
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