Squad announcements/discussion

Swedish FA make no distinction between who M and F in their selection but from Pia statements she sees Asllani mainly as a Midfielder now. I think you got the other right according to their main use.

 

I'm surprised Pia picked Rolfo over Hammarlund. The 'Hammer' had a fantastic game as any forward I've ever seen vs Scotland(but maybe that was just a one time thing?), whereas Rolfo only scored two goals so far this season for her club

 

Hammarlund wasn't surprised, she said the felling on the last camps what the the other two of the three promising new attackers (Blackstenius and Rolfö is the other two) was slightly ahead of her.
http://www.aftonbladet.se/sportbladet/fotboll/landslagsfotboll/damlandslaget/article23083162.ab (swedish)

 

No hope for Sweden as long as Pia is in charge.
Way too predictable.

 

their the only team with not only a winning record, but an undefeated one as well vs the US in the last 5 years in tournament play(2 wins, 2 ties, o losses)

just found this video where Rolfo scored a hat trick, Pia liked them tall at fwd!

her club is doing great at the moment, tied for SW league leaders. Rosengard, at the moment, That might be why she gor

it really should be the post Shelin era now, as she's become Sweden's Wambach. Shelin didn't score a single goal at the 2015 WC. Stats show that she's only scored 2 goals in 432 min. in Euro qualifiers(against vastly inferior opponents).
My pick, Hammarlund, sadly didn't make the Rio team, but here she scores 2 brilliant goals(#5 & #6) coming in as a sub, in a wipeout vs Scotland a few months back. The Scots shouldn't be that bad as they got several reputable starters in the English/WSL league

 

Sweden did lose once in tournament play to the USWNT.
Also, Pia was coaching the USWNT when they lost to Sweden during the 2011 WWC.

 

Tomorrow, your 2016 U.S. Olympic Women's Soccer Team will be revealed. #OneNationOneTeam #RoadToRio pic.twitter.com/evIwxMjnYA

— U.S. Women's National Soccer Team (@USWNT) July 11, 2016

 

2016 U.S. Olympic Women’s Soccer Team Roster by Position:
GOALKEEPERS (2): Alyssa Naeher (Chicago Red Stars), Hope Solo (Seattle Reign FC)

DEFENDERS (6): Whitney Engen (Boston Breakers), Julie Johnston (Chicago Red Stars), Meghan Klingenberg (Portland Thorns FC), Ali Krieger (Washington Spirit), Kelley O’Hara (Sky Blue FC), Becky Sauerbrunn (FC Kansas City)

MIDFIELDERS (6): Morgan Brian (Houston Dash), Tobin Heath (Portland Thorns FC), Lindsey Horan (Portland Thorns FC), Carli Lloyd (Houston Dash), Allie Long (Portland Thorns FC), Megan Rapinoe (Seattle Reign FC)

FORWARDS (4): Crystal Dunn (Washington Spirit), Alex Morgan (Orlando Pride), Christen Press (Chicago Red Stars), Mallory Pugh (Real Colorado)

ALTERNATES (4): Emily Sonnett (Portland Thorns), Samantha Mewis (WNY Flash), Heather O'Reilly (FC Kansas City), Ashlyn Harris (Orlando Pride)

 

I'm glad Engen made it, after all the losing she's had to endure on the Breakers.
I thought Naeher has been playing slightly better than Harris as of late, but both are quality.
Nice that Long made it, I'm glad for her. She worked hard to earn her spot.
I like Rapinoe's play, but 8 months with no games? Will she be ready and able to contribute so soon?
Only time will tell.
Mewis and HAO still have legit chances to make it. I don't see our midfield going without an injury.
The rest were all shoo-ins.

 

from following the Bundesliga(which I still find as the best league in the world), just shockingly disappointed at some of Neid's choices. She's forsaken younger, speedier & more physical players for the same old, technocrat, gang. Incredibly, only one player from their u20 2014 world championship made. Their cb lineup might just be the weakest of any FIFA ranked top 10 team. The big surprise that's missing though is Pauline Bremer, who's speedy assist/run got Lyon's only goal at the CL final

 

Everyone but Zimbabwe have announced their squads so the rest of the teams not yet mentioned:

Brazil:
GK: Barbara, Aline
D: Monica, Rafaelle, Bruna Benites, Ericka, Fabiana, Poliana, Tamires
M: Formiga, Thaisa, Andressa, Marta
F: Debhina, Christiane, Andressa Alves, Beatriz, Raquel Fernandes

China:
GK: Zhao Lina, Zhang Yue
D: Liu Shanshan, Xue Jiao, Gao Chen, Wu Haiyan, Li Dongna (c), Zhao Rong
M: Ren Guixin, Tan Ruyin, Wang Shuang, Pang Fengyue, Zhang Rui, Yang Man
F: Ma Xiaoxu, Yang Li, Wang Shanshan, Gu Yasha

Colombia:
GK: Catalina Pérez, Sandra Sepúlveda
D: Angela Clavijo, Carolina Arias, Natalia Gaitán, Nataly Arias
M: Carolina Arbeláez, Catalina Usme, Diana Ospina, Isabella Echeverri, Leicy Santos, Liana Salazar, Mildrey Pineda
F: Ingrid Vidal, Lady Andrade, Oriánica Velásquez, Tatiana Ariza, Nicole Regnier

 

And just like last year, some stats on the rosters (sorry in advance for any mistakes, and average ages were not calculated to the day this year like last year):

Brazil:
Average age: 27.06 (oldest: Formiga, 38; youngest: Andressa, 21)
Olympic newbies: 11 (Aline, Monica, Rafaelle, Poliana, Tamires, Thaisa, Andressa, Debhina, Andressa Alves, Beatriz, Raquel Fernandes)
# NOT on '15 WWC roster: 3 (Aline, Bruna, Debhina; both Bruna and Debhina were injured)

China:
Average age: 24.5 (oldest: Ma Xiaoxu, 28; youngest: Yang Man, 20)
Olympic newbies: all but Gu Yasha who was on the roster in 2008
# NOT on WWC roster: 5 (Xue Jiao, Gao Chen, Ma Xiaoxu, Yang Li, Yang Man)

South Africa:
Average age: 25.22 (oldest: Noko Matlou, 30; youngest: Linda Motlhalo, 18)
Olympic newbies: 8 (Andile Dlamini, Bambanini Mbane, Mamello Makhabane, Linda Motlhalo, Stephanie Malherbe, Lebogang Ramalepe, Shiwe Nongwanya, Jermaine Seoposenwe)

Sweden:
Average age: 26.22 (oldest: Lindahl, 33; youngest: Blackstenius, 20)
Olympic newbies: 9 (Carlen, Andersson, Ericsson, Samuelsson, Appelquist, Rubensson, Schough, Blackstenius, Rolfo)
# not on WWC roster: 4 (Andersson, Ericsson, Blackstenius, Rolfo)

Australia:
Average age: 23.67 (oldest: De Vanna, 31; youngest: Carpenter, 16)
Olympic newbies: all but De Vanna who played in 2004 when Australia was last in the Olympics
# not on WWC roster: 2 (Logarzo, Carpenter)

Canada:
Average age: 25.5 (oldest: Tancredi, 34; youngest: Rose, 17)
Olympic newbies: 12 (Labbe, D'Angelo, Chapman, Buchanan, Zadorsky, Quinn, Rose, Belanger, Lawrence, Prince, Beckie, Fleming)
# not on WWC roster: 6 (D'Angelo, Zadorsky, Quinn, Rose, Prince, Beckie)

Germany:
Average age: 26.72 (oldest: Bartusiak, 33; youngest: Daebritz, 21)
Olympic newbies: 12 (Schult, Henning, Maier, Goessling, Popp, Marozsan, Kemme, Daebritz, Islacker, Leupolz, Kerschowski, Benkarth)
# not on WWC roster: 2 (Islacker, Kerschowski)

Colombia:
Average age: 24.28 (oldest: Nataly Arias, 30; youngest: Leicy Santos, 20)
Olympic newbies: 9 (Perez, Clavijo, C. Arias, Arbelaez, Ospina, Echeverri, Santos, Pineda, Regnier)
# not on WWC roster: 2 (Salazar, Regnier)

France:
Average age: 26.78 (oldest: Georges, 31; youngest: Diani, 21)
Olympic newbies: 9 (Gerard, Delannoy, Houara, Majri, Mbock Bathy, Diani, Hamraoui, Henry, Lavogez)
# not on WWC roster: 0

New Zealand:
Average age: 26 (oldest: Rolls, 40; youngest: Pereira, 20)
Olympic newbies: 4 (Nayler, Pereira, Bowen, Moore)
# not on WWC roster: 0

United States:
Average age: 27.33 (oldest: Lloyd, 34; youngest: Pugh, 18)
Olympic newbies: 11 (Pugh, Long, Engen, Klingenberg, Johnston, Horan, Krieger, Press, Brian, Dunn, Naeher)
# not on WWC roster: 4 (Pugh, Long, Horan, Dunn)

 

Wow. USA has the oldest roster by average age. Heck, if not for Pugh we could be up above 28.

 

And we've also got by far the highest Average Number of Previous Olympics' Gold Medals In Trophy Cases at Home

 

And this is exactly why there will be a lot more roster turnover by the 2019 WWC.
O'Reilly is done, she won't be there.
Rapinoe, most likely won't be there (even though she would want to be). Her age is quite old for her position then.
Krieger almost certainly won't be there. She's already regressed to a non-starter already. Imagine three more years.
Amy Rodriguez may make it back for a year or two, and some friendlies, but most likely won't be on that team.
Who knows about Sauerbrunn at this point. We tend to let center backs play until they are like 40 or so.
Lloyd gets better with age, but even if she started going downhill, she'll get the Wambach 2015 Lifetime roster spot.

The Movement Meter currently shows this 23 player roster right now in real time, but things can change.

Gobbles - Alex Morgan, Christen Press, Savannah Jordan, Ashley Sanchez
Gibbles - Mallory Pugh, Tobin Heath, Crystal Dunn, Rose Lavelle
Spinal Turf Chewers - Carli Lloyd, Lindsey Horan, Morgan Brian, Morgan Andrews, Sam Mewis
Perimeter Butts - Meghan Klingenberg, Kelley O'Hara, Emily Ogle (converted, ala the other two listed here)
Force Field - Julie Johnston, Becky Sauerbrunn, Emily Sonnett, Cari Roccaro
Post Women - Hope Solo, Jane Campbell, Devon Kerr

*Crystal Dunn could be a Gobble or a Gibble

Worry about finding them each an exact position later.
This is what they're classified for now.

Gone: Sydney Leroux, Amy Rodriguez, Heather O'Reilly, Megan Rapinoe, Allie Long, Ali Krieger, Whitney Engen, Ashlyn Harris, Alyssa Naeher

There is still the chance that Alex Morgan may want to have that first child before the 2019 WWC instead of after.
Don't expect a 35 year old Alex Morgan playing soccer like Abby did. It won't be happening.
She's hustling for as much endorsement money as she can get now, so she can have a full family by then.
Not to mention the wear & tear on her ankles and knees.

The 2019 WWC would be her last.
She will not be there in 2023.

 

Yeah, I'm used to us usually having, if not the oldest, one of the oldest rosters in tournaments. And it seems to be working for us.

One mistake I've already noticed: Solo is older than Lloyd, which makes her the oldest on the roster. She'll be 35 by the time the Olympics start.

 

Also HUGE congrats to Formiga for being the only soccer player to participate in six Olympic tournaments...meaning every Olympic women's soccer tournament since 1996. RESPECT.

 

Which shocked me when someone would mention that we needed Rapinoe's experience to succeed during the Olympics.

 

Well, we're a nation in women's soccer that still considers Alex Morgan as young, lol.
Alex Morgan (at age 27.07) is older than:

Dirt (27.03)
Brazil (27.06)
China (24.5)
South Africa (25.22)
Sweden (26.22)
Australia (23.67)
Canada (25.5)
Germany (26.72)
Colombia (24.28)
France (26.78)
New Zealand (26)
(and pretty sure Zimbabwe is younger than 27.07)

Only USA (27.33) is older than Alex "Battle Axe" Morgan (27.07)

She's not too far away from hanging out with Rampone on the weekend and getting a senior discount.

 

So, the USA, Germany, France, Brazil, and even Sweden all have teams with close to the same average age.

 

Yeah, all the teams that actually have a chance at winning all the marbles.
The only surprise is Australia, with so much youth, even though they have their own successful domestic league.

 

Ah, Sawa missed on that! But she had a good reason to not even try to qualify for this tournament: she announced on tuesday that she's pregnant!

(All due respect to Formiga ).