Angel City FC defender Sarah Gorden has long been discussed as a possible U.S. women’s national team option, and her club boss says it’s past time to turn that speculation into a reality.
Speaking to reporters Friday, Angel City manager Becki Tweed endorsed her club captain as deserving more attention from the USWNT.
“The fact that she hasn’t played on the national team is something that I can’t quite wrap my head around,” said Tweed ahead of her side’s NWSL clash against Bay FC.
“She steps on the field, and she has this presence. I think she’s somebody that is still, for me, underrated.”
Gorden remains uncapped, but has received two USWNT call-ups in the past. Vlatko Andonovski brought her into camps in December 2019 and again in October 2020, but did not grant her a national team debut.
More recently, the 31-year-old made the 51-player preliminary squad for the Concacaf W Gold Cup, but was ultimately left off of Twila Kilgore’s final roster for the tournament.
Tweed: Gorden wants to be ‘best defender in the world’
In NWSL, however, Gorden has garnered consistent praise for her impact with Angel City and, previously, the Chicago Red Stars. The Illinois native has been on the NWSL Best XI twice (in 2021 and 2023), and has been named to the league’s Team of the Month four times in her career.
“She’s never done,” added Tweed. “Every week she comes in and she says, ‘How do I be better?’ Like, ‘Can I do film?’ [or] ‘I want to be the best defender in the world.’ She has that mentality. Never settling, she’s never comfortable.
“I can’t speak highly enough of her. I think she is an incredible player [and] person. She’s a mom. There’s just so many things that she has in her wheelhouse, that she just goes about kind of under the radar and silently.
“When you really think about what she’s done for the game and who she is and her career and where she’s come from and where she is now, it’s an incredible story.”
Gorden recovered from a preseason ACL tear in 2022 to play every second of Angel City’s NWSL league schedule in 2023, a run of 90-minute outings that ran nine games into the 2024 season before an ankle sprain in May 18’s 4-2 loss against the Washington Spirit.
Gorden missed two matches before returning in last week’s scoreless draw with the Houston Dash.
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