Nov/Dec matches - Nov 28 and Dec 1

I feel like they’re been some great sports films lately like; Challengers(tennis) & F1(race cars). Problem here is the love/hate relationship we got with soccer that prompted Hollywood to make a slew of slapstick comedies with mostly frustrated adults coaching kids soccer. Can’t remember the names of all of the films but had fairly decent actors in them; Will Ferrel, Roger Dangerfield, Steve Gutenberg, Gerald Butler, though Amanda Bynes in She’s the Man was the most hilarious one. But soccer has been now generalized in this category(or at least by Hollywood). The one serious film was Gracie, but it looked like it was done with an extremely low budget—-there’s an decent Swedish film called Forever currently on Netflix in the same vein as Gracie


Bend It Like Beckham was a huge box office hit in the UK, but recently got a lot of criticism in that country thst its player/older coach romance storyline as the predecessor of several predator type coaches that they produced over there, which some spilling over to the NWSL as well.

my favorite sports analogy story line was on the season three of the Friday Night Lights tv show, where an millionaire & his freshman quarterback son shows up in the depleted town of Dillion(a standing for real life Odessa Tx) because they had an knack of winning state championships at the 4A, throws his money around , buying off the local booster club & as well as thr school board, pushes the coach to start his kid over more experienced ones. When the coach finally refuses, he gets the school promptly fires him—-the whole irony was the main reason the HS kept winning titles ,was all the hard working players saw football it as an way to escape their dead end town, and not the money he thought could buy him a state championship
Overbearing, wealthy parents spending mass money to better their kids in sports parallels a lot of sports in America—-especially in soccer where money buys success on the women side, but not particularly on the men’s game—-where turning soccer into an middle to upper class sport has been called an deterrent to why we failed ti become an powerhouse

 

Uh..

Lloyd
Rapinoe
Wambach
Boxx
Rampone

 

For me, Boxx is far from a legend. She played a long time, but legend? Nah.

So, I'd count four. I'd say it was one of the worst 11's we've put out in a big match, if you include Barnart (nothing wrong with her, just wasn't great), Lepeillbet (I'm actually a bigger fan of her than most), Buehler (we'd have another trophy if they'd moved Sauerbrunn ahead of her sooner), Rodriguez (lol), Mitts (overhyped). I'd put O'Reilly ahead of Boxx as far as legends go, but she never lived up to the hype.

So, 4 legends. And, overall, a pretty weak line-up for a big match.

 

@tayvincent6.bsky.social‬

#USWNT roster drops tomorrow morning for the matches against Italy
November 18, 2025 at 11:15 AM

 

Italy's roster is not out yet, but I figure it will be by the end of the week.

 

The 26-player roster for the Nov/Dec friendlies (23 will be named to each game-day roster):

GOALKEEPERS (3): Claudia Dickey (Seattle Reign FC; 4), Mandy McGlynn (Utah Royals; 4), Jordan Silkowitz (Bay FC; 0)
DEFENDERS (10): Jordyn Bugg (Seattle Reign FC; 4/0), Emily Fox (Arsenal FC, ENG; 69/1), Naomi Girma (Chelsea FC, ENG: 48/2), Avery Patterson (Houston Dash; 8/1), Lilly Reale (Gotham FC; 4/0), Izzy Rodriguez (Kansas City Current; 1/1), Emily Sams (Orlando Pride; 6/0), Emily Sonnett (Gotham FC; 112/2), Kennedy Wesley (San Diego Wave; 1/0), Kate Wiesner (Washington Spirit; 0/0)
MIDFIELDERS (7): Croix Bethune (Washington Spirit; 4/0), Sam Coffey (Portland Thorns FC; 41/5), Lindsey Heaps (OL Lyonnes, FRA; 167/38), Jaelin Howell (Gotham FC; 5/1), Claire Hutton (Kansas City Current; 9/1), Rose Lavelle (Gotham FC; 115/26), Lily Yohannes (OL Lyonnes, FRA; 11/1)
FORWARDS (6): Jameese Joseph (Chicago Stars; 0/0), Catarina Macario (Chelsea FC, ENG; 27/13), Olivia Moultrie (Portland Thorns FC; 10/4), Emma Sears (Racing Louisville; 11/4), Jaedyn Shaw (Gotham FC; 29/8), Alyssa Thompson (Chelsea FC, ENG; 24/3)

https://www.ussoccer.com/stories/2025/11/emma-hayes-uswnt-camp-roster-november-december-florida-matches-vs-italyhttps://www.ussoccer.com/stories/20...er-november-december-florida-matches-vs-italy

 

I am glad to see Jordan Silkowitz included, I noticed her early this season and i saw some traits that either can't be taught or are quite hard to teach. She has some rough edges but she is potentially the best in the crew as she has a natural first step and her diving is the kind I have noticed seems to save more than a straight sideways dive and gets to low balls much more quickly that most other techniques.

She may well not get a start in this window but her coaching will be better and, maybe, she will overcome a few of the problems that have been introduced by her current GK coaching.

I do hope she gets a start but, even if she does not, she will be seen closely by the people that matter.
I "think" all her little issues can be fixed and the only big one (her starting position has her knees a little too straight)

I rarely am excited by seeing a particular person but, in this case, I was afraid that she would be missed by the USWNT because her team has not done well but, clearly, the scouts for the USWNT do not miss much.

 

Where's Ally? That's news! No Ryan this time. Cooper and Rodman not worth risking probably. Too much midfield talent gotta move Moultrie and Shaw closer to goal with Bethune's return. Overall great roster! Emma just knows her player pool so well.

If Dunn doesn't play, she doesn't get called-up. Wonder if Shrader will get called to U23s, I think they have a friendly this time (according to @hotjam2)

A lot of defenders for two games: glad to see Izzy back and the recognition of Wiesner.

 

https://www.ussoccer.com/stories/20...rope-for-matches-against-slovakia-and-england

20 Players Named For U.S. Under-23 Women’s National Team Trip to Europe for Matches Against Full Slovakia WNT and England’s U-23 WNT

U.S. Roster by Position – U.S. U-23 WNT Training Camp & Matches – Slovakia & England

Goalkeepers (2): Liz Beardsley (Houston Dash; Lakeland, Fla.), Neeku Purcell (Seattle Reign; Seattle, Wash.)

Defenders (5): Eva Gaetino (Paris Saint-Germain FC, FRA; Dexter, Mich.), Ayo Oke (CF Pachuca, MEX; Lawrenceville, Ga.), Jayden Perry (Portland Thorns FC; Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif.), Evelyn Shores (Angel City FC; Atlanta, Ga.), Gisele Thompson (Angel City FC; Studio City, Calif.)

Midfielders (7): Kimmi Ascanio (San Diego Wave; Doral, Fla.), Abi Brighton (Juventus FC, ITA; Beaufort, S.C.), Riley Jackson (North Carolina Courage; Roswell, Ga.), Simone Jackson (Orlando Pride; Redondo Beach, Calif.), Ally Lemos (Orlando Pride; Glendora, Calif.), Sarah Schupansky (Gotham FC; Pittsburgh, Pa.), Ally Sentnor (Kansas City Current; Hanson, Mass.)

Forwards (6): Emeri Adames (Seattle Reign; Red Oak, Texas), Maddie Dahlien (Seattle Reign; Edina, Minn.), Karlie Lema (Bay FC; Morgan Hill, Calif.), Riley Tiernan (Angel City FC; Voorhees, N.J.), Pietra Tordin (Portland Thorns FC; Miami, Fla.), Sarah Weber (Racing Louisville FC; Gretna, Neb.)

The USA will first travel to Senec, Slovakia, an eastern suburb of the capital of Bratislava, for a rare match for the U-23s against a senior National Team. The USA will face the Slovakia WNT at its National Training Center on Nov. 28. The USA will then travel to England where it will face the England U-23 WNT on Dec. 1 at Wham Stadium, a small venue in Accrington.

 

Notes from Hayes on the roster selection:

On Rodman's omission: "Trinity and I have been speaking every week to see the progress of her situation, and she was fortunate to get a few minutes the other day, but she’s still working her way back. I think Trin more than anyone wants to be playing with the national team, so we hope that that can happen again in the new year, but it’s just come too soon, to be honest, and her well-being and welfare is of importance to me.”

On Girma being back: "Well, first of all, I'm just so happy she's back. I realize more and more the importance not just of her qualities on the field, but her quiet leadership, not just in terms of leading the line but off the field as well. And I'm just looking forward to her being back amongst our back line as a player that's growing into more and more of a leadership position. Before we had to put forward the provisional roster, she made sure she called and texted me several times to say, 'I'm fit, I'm coming.' I don't know why she'd think that we wouldn't bring her anyway if she's fit and healthy, but let me tell you, Naomi will be the first person in camp. She's so excited to get back with the team, and we're excited to have her."

On players coming straight in from the NWSL Championship: "First of all, they've obviously had long seasons. ...I think when it comes down to anything that happens after that game, of course, teams will have things prepared for them. So we will work with the clubs understanding what those things are. But also, of course, there's a lot of emotion that's going to go into playing a final. So, traveling from west coast to east coast after the high of that and maybe even the low for some of them, they're going to need a good 72 hours probably to recover here. I don't expect them to be training Tuesday, though if they are, that's an added bonus. But I do expect the players to be back in with us on Wednesday, which gives us two days' prep going into the Italy game. And of course it will be a consideration in terms of what that looks like for Friday's game. But I'm used to doing this."

On this camp: "It's been an exciting and important year for our group, and we've accomplished a lot of goals, expanded the player pool and made strides in our game model, so this camp will be an extension of that, but it will also set the groundwork for 2026, which will be our World Cup qualifying year. Games against top European teams are so valuable as they give us an honest assessment of where we are in our growth as a team, so I know our players will embrace that challenge."

And on Italy: "I think Italy are in the top echelon of the teams in Europe. I would consider them to be of the same quality of England, Spain. This is going to be a really stern test for us and one where we are going to be challenged, especially tactically."

 

don’t expect much from England’s u23, they lost to Germany’s u23’s by 5-0, & now Wiegman’s pulled even some of those off for her senior squad

recently Slovakia been playing in Nations League ‘C’ (which basically means there at least 32 higher ranked European NT’s out there.

Dunno yet the Italian squad, they went 1-1vs Japan & 0-1 vs Brazil in their last two friendlies.

Good game to watch today is Chelsea vs Barca(should on CBS Sports Network, 2 pm central time) if Chelsea starts Macario Thompson & Girma(that’s 27% of our USWNT starting lineup, lol) going up against what’s arguably the strongest roster in the world, club or NT.

 

I don't think we will see the same Italy team that we saw in the Euros.
Let's also be honest, that Euro run that Italy had wasn't that impressive, knowing that they lost to teams that they should have lost to and won and drew to teams that aren't that good

 

I hope we are still stung by that loss to Portugal so that we can try to treat these friendlies as not friendly. Let's try to beat the crap out of them (sorry @blissett nothing personal!) and then after we can debate how significant the victories are. All due respect to Italy, we ought to expect to beat them, and with no drama.

 

Italy's roster for the two friendly matches vs USA has been published :

Goalkeepers: Rachele Baldi (Roma), Francesca Durante (Lazio), Laura Giuliani (Milan);
Defenders: Valentina Bergamaschi (Roma), Lisa Boattin (Huston Dash), Federica D’Auria (Lazio), Lucia Di Guglielmo (Roma), Martina Lenzini (Juventus), Elena Linari (London City Lionesses), Beatrice Merlo (Inter), Elisabetta Oliviero (Lazio), Julie Piga (Milan), Cecilia Salvai (Juventus);
Midfielders: Arianna Caruso (Bayern Monaco), Giulia Dragoni (Roma), Manuela Giugliano (Roma), Eleonora Goldoni (Lazio), Giada Greggi (Roma), Nadine Nischler (Como), Matilde Pavan (Como), Eva Schatzer (Juventus);
Forwards: Chiara Beccari (Juventus), Agnese Bonfantini (Fiorentina), Michela Cambiaghi (Juventus), Sofia Cantore (Washington Spirit), Alice Corelli (Roma), Cristiana Girelli (Juventus), Martina Piemonte (Lazio).


Oh, don't be too much surprised if I won't follow the games live, despite finding them very interesting: they're both going to start at 1:00 am for me in Italy.

 

Yes, I forgot to translate from my source, Italian federation's website: as strange as it can sound, Munich in Germany and Monaco in France (ok, actually it's an independent nation ) have the same name in Italian, Monaco (just with a different accent compared to the French spelling of it)..

Barbara Bonasea is out with a muscle-injury that was serious enough to keep her out from Champions' League's match vs OL that Juventus have played yesterday. Still no news about how long she's supposed to need to recover, but she anyway wasn't ok for these friendlies in the USA (although she's sure very annoyed to have to miss them, especially at this late point in her career).

 

Is this a good team?

 

Not sure what you mean, but except for injured Barbara Bonansea, this is probably the best line-up Italy can currently deploy.

Also of course probably not good enough to beat USA, but I assume you were wondering if Italy will bring their best available players.

 

Isn't that just about dinner time in Italy? >snickers<