Unrelated shout-out to D3 College Woso. This year Arianna Cascone has come on board with Equalizersoccer.com and co-hosts the Equalizer Podcast. I think she is doing a great job. Cascone played 3 years at D3 Vassar as a forward for coach Corey Holton, appearing in 19 games and scoring 1 goal. She graduated in 2019 with a degree in Neuroscience and Behavior and is now pursuing a PhD in Neuroscience at the University of North Carolina. I always give recognitions to players with STEM majors!
The #NWSL announced today that the @UtahRoyalsFC will select first in the 2024 NWSL Draft, while @wearebayfc will pick first in the Expansion Draft.➡️: https://t.co/bLr7cNNzYU pic.twitter.com/P9JehA2ykX— The Equalizer (@EqualizerSoccer) June 28, 2023
JustWomenSports put together this list of NWSL players going to the World Cup. I thought it was helpful to see the information all in one place. https://justwomenssports.com/reads/...-2023-womens-world-cup-rosters-complete-list/ The Brazil and Jamaica Players were not in the list, so I added them below. I deleted provisional for Ireland. Angel City FC Amandine Henry (France, provisional) [This is a stretch; Henry was never going to report to AC until after the World Cup] Jun Endo (Japan) Julie Ertz (USWNT) Alyssa Thompson (USWNT) Chicago Red Stars Alyssa Naeher (USWNT) Cheyna Matthews (Jamaica, assuming the team gets to Australia) Houston Dash Michelle Alozie (Nigeria) Sophie Schmidt (Canada, provisional) Nichelle Prince (Canada, provisional) Allysha Chapman (Canada, provisional) Andressa Alves (Brazil) [Same as Henry - was never going to report to HOU before the World Cup] Havana Solaun (Jamaica, assuming the team gets to Australia) Kansas City Current Desiree Scott (Canada, provisional) Debinha (Brazil) NJ/NY Gotham FC Sinead Farrelly (Ireland) Ifeoma Onumonu (Nigeria) Kelley O’Hara (USWNT) Lynn Williams (USWNT) Kristie Mewis (USWNT) Bruniha (Brazil) North Carolina Courage Denise O’Sullivan (Ireland) Casey Murphy (USWNT) Emily Fox (USWNT) Kerolin (Brazil) OL Reign Quinn (Canada, provisional) Jordyn Huitema (Canada, provisional) Sofia Huerta (USWNT) Alana Cook (USWNT) Emily Sonnett (USWNT) Megan Rapinoe (USWNT) Rose Lavelle (USWNT) Orlando Pride Marta (Brazil) Adriana (Brazil) Portland Thorns FC Adriana Leon (Canada, provisional) Christine Sinclair (Canada, provisional) Hina Sugita (Japan) Raquel Rodriquez (Costa Rica, provisional) Sophia Smith (USWNT) Crystal Dunn (USWNT) Racing Louisville FC Thembi Kgatlana (South Africa, provisional) Uchenna Kanu (Nigeria) Alex Chidiac (Australia, provisional) Savannah DeMelo (USWNT) Ary Borges (Brazil) San Diego Wave FC Kailen Sheridan (Canada, provisional) Sofia Jakobsson (Sweden) Naomi Girma (USWNT) Alex Morgan (USWNT) Emily van Egmond (Australia, provisional) Washington Spirit FC Marissa Sheva (Ireland) Ashley Sanchez (USWNT) Andi Sullivan (USWNT) Trinity Rodman (USWNT) Aubrey Kingsbury (USWNT) Riley Tanner (Panama)
6/30/23 - Need to add North Carolina: Rilke Madsen (Denmark) and Mille Gejl (Denmark) Angel City: Ali Riley (New Zealand)
7/2/23 Another addition in the Henry-Alves category. Kansas City: Stine Ballisager Pedersen (Denmark). Will report after the World Cup.
7/6/23 A that's-no-surprise addition: Racing Lousiville: Wang Shuang (China). And Alex Chidiac from Racing made the final 23 for Australia and no-surpise Thembi Kgatlana is in the final 23 for South Africa. As far as I know, the France and Canada rosters are still provisional - the final 23 have not been announced.
So I had to dig the roster out on my own - thanks for making me look farther than Fox, SportingNews, Fourfourtwo, and FIFA. Per https://khelnow.com/football/2023-07-world-football-france-squad-fifa-womens-world-cup Amandine Henry who has not reported to Angel City is on the plane with Les Bleues.
Watch the BS thread. Squad lists are getting posted there almost as soon as a federation announces them.
Looking at the rookie class of 2023 right now my vote for Rookie of the Year would be for Paige Metayer of the Washington Spirit. An undrafted midfielder with 3 headed goals and she's started every match this year. I'd put her on the list for a National Team callup in the future. Other candidates: Alyssa Thompson of Angel City (no. 1 in draft) and Emily Madril (no. 3 in draft) defender for Orlando.
A really well-written article about FC Gold Pride in the WPS and how 4 of the players from the 2010 championship team will be playing in the 2023 WWC: https://www.theguardian.com/football/2023/jul/05/fc-gold-pride-history-san-francisco This was a bit of a walk down memory lane for me as I lived in the Bay Area at the time and went to multiple FC Gold Pride games including the 2010 championship. Part of the article talks about how the team folded partly because of low ticket sales, and I have to say if I hadn't already been an avid woso fan in 2010 and already following WPS, there would have been no way for me to know that a local team existed. That's not really a knock on the management of the team; there was next to zero interest from local media. There's still progress to be made, but we've come so far from those dark years of obscurity for American woso.
I think the Athletica had some media attention in the STL market, but I might be misremembering... And it certainly wasn't enough to save that team either =-(
Penelope Hocking (CRS) just returned from being out injured for six games, comes in as a sub last night vs. Houston and scores within minutes - if she stays healthy and continues her play, she should be considered for 2023 ROTY honors. I think that was her third goal !?
I will continue to post these world cup players as I become aware of them. Here is another player coming to NWSL after the world cup. Orlando Pride - Mariana Laroquette (Argentina) She had 15 appearances for KC in 2021 and most recently was with Club Leon Femenil in Mexico. Also Amadine Henry (future Angel City player) had a calf injury and was ruled out of the world cup. I don't know what this means regarding her time to report to Los Angeles.
She scored in 23 seconds...second-quickest goal in NWSL history. At least that's what the Red Stars' email said.
Hi, why was Wang Shuang playing in yesterday's match against KC with all World Cup players having left the league week ago?
she missed 6 games already only halfway through the season. I think she has some work to do for R of the Year. Did you see the goal yesterday? It was a deflection in the box that landed on her foot 8 yards from goal with no defenders in sight. It was not a difficult finish at all. Don't get me wrong, she is a good player, but let's have her earn her way here.
Not surfe if it’s been mentioned already; Spanish & Real Madrid striker Esther Gonzalez suppose to join Gotham after the WC. She scored vs the US in the last friendly, but dunno if she’s an current NT starter since their coach made up with some of the rebellious faction in Spain
It looks like Esther Gonzalez is on the 23-player roster for Spain. Thanks for the heads-up on the Gotham move - I wonder when it will be announced?
I like the Utah Royals hire as sporting director a lot - Kelly Cousins of Reading FC. She'll be in charge of the roster build, and I imagine is watching the WWC for players.
So we all somehow missed this last week... NWSL 2023 Championship to be held in San Diego https://www.nwslsoccer.com/news/nat...2023-nwsl-championship-presented-by-bud-light Programming will include the return of the fan fest