USWNT Olympic Roster

The USWNT Olympic Roster has been released!!!!! With Emma Hayes making her first major tournament debut she has defiantly rocked the nation with her selection of the 18 players who will be playing for gold. The roster as listed below, leaves off a couple major names like the sturdy center back Becky Sauerbrunn and probably the most shocking name star forward Alex Morgan.

USWNT Olympic Roster:

• Goalkeepers: Alyssa Naeher (Chicago Red Stars) Casey Murphy (NC Courage)

• Defenders: Tierna Davidson(Gotham FC), Naomi Girma(San Diego Wave) Emily Fox(Arsenal), Emily Sonnet(Gotham FC), Casey Krueger(Washington Spirit) Jenna Nighswonger (Gotham FC)

• MidFielders: Catarina Macario (Chelsea), Sam Coffey (Portland Thrones), Lindsey Horan(Olympique Lyon), Rose Lavelle (Gotham FC), Korbin Albert(Paris Saint-Germain),

• Forwards: Crystal Dunn(Gotham FC), Trinity Rodman(Washington Spirit),Mallory Swanson(Chicago Red Stars), Sophia Smith(Portland Thorns), Jaedyn Shaw(San Diego Wave)

With Becky Sauerbrunn dealing with an injury it was very questionable if she would even make the roster but with Alex Morgan being the most consistent starters for the USA, many fans considered her to have a guaranteed spot. Emma Hayes admitted that it was a very hard decision in her statements Wednesdays “It was a tough decision of course, especially considering Alex's history and record with this team," Hayes said. But I felt that I wanted to go in another direction.". With a strong pool of forwards to pick from it seemed more feasible to select the players who have producing goals and are in stride going into the olympic tournament. since the hiring of Emma Hayes she has made it clear that she is willing to provide opportunity for the next generation to make their way into the roster, she said “There are players on the roster in the forward areas performing well, and the decision to take those players was one that we certainly deliberated over, but I think it's a balanced roster.". This roster is very young and fresh with 10 of the 18 players being 25 or younger and with minimal major tournament play. Many people would point at this and question her choices but as a coach who has seen success at the club level, her choices should be seen more so as being bold and confident in the young players to produce.

Going into this tournament the American fans are anxious to get back to our winning ways, the expectations to win are still very much there so this by no means will be seen as a developmental tournament. The USWNT opens up the olympics vs Zambia. Will this young roster and new coach be able to bring the US their 5th Gold medal. Make sure to subscribe to GameChangers newsletter to stay updated during the olympic games.