Tag: Tierna Davidson

USWNT vs. Brazil Olympics lineup: Albert starts gold medal match over Lavelle

Emma Hayes made her first lineup change of the entire Olympics that didn’t involve a known injury or suspension

The U.S. women’s national team made one change to its lineup for Saturday’s 2024 Olympic gold medal final against Brazil, and it wasn’t a move many saw coming.

Head coach Emma Hayes selected Korbin Albert to start in the midfield over Rose Lavelle, but otherwise made no alterations to the group that defeated Germany 1-0 in the semifinal round.

That meant a place in the team for the only USWNT injury doubt, Tierna Davidson. The Gotham FC defender sustained a knee contusion in the group stage, but recovered to play the first 45 minutes of Tuesday’s win.

Only 13 players have started for the USWNT during this tournament, and both previous changes were enforced. Emily Sonnett replaced Davidson while the latter was out with injury, while Albert started a 1-0 quarterfinal win over Japan with Sam Coffey suspended for yellow-card accumulation.

Should Naomi Girma and Alyssa Naeher play the full 90 or 120 minutes in the final, they will have played every second of this Olympic tournament.

USWNT lineup vs. Brazil

USA (4-3-3): Alyssa Naeher; Emily Fox, Naomi Girma, Tierna Davidson, Crystal Dunn; Korbin Albert, Sam Coffey, Lindsey Horan; Trinity Rodman, Sophia Smith, Mallory Swanson

Brazil (5-4-1): Lorena; Jheniffer, Lauren, Tarciane, Thais, Yasmim; Adriana, Vitoria Yaya, Duda Sampaio, Ludmila; Gabi Portilho

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Hayes: Shaw and Davidson game-time decisions for USWNT Olympic quarterfinal

The U.S. duo are both aiming to recover from injuries

U.S. women’s national team head coach Emma Hayes will wait until the last minute to determine the status of Tierna Davidson and Jaedyn Shaw for Saturday’s Olympic quarterfinal against Japan.

Davidson was forced out of the team’s 4-1 win over Germany after suffering a knee contusion, and missed the team’s group-stage finale against Australia.

Meanwhile, Shaw suffered a “leg injury” in training the day before the team’s Olympic opener against Zambia, and has missed all three of the team’s games thus far.

On Friday, Hayes was unable to make a determination on either player, telling reporters that she would make a late decision on the pair.

“There’s not a big turnaround. I’m going to leave it for as long as possible,” Hayes said in quotes on The Athletic. “I’ve got another 24 hours, so the injury update is touch and go, but I’m gonna give it the maximum amount of time to see if either one of them are available.”

Davidson is suffering from swelling after a knee-on-knee collision with Germany’s Jule Brand.

“She’s recovering really really well,” Hayes said on the center back. “It’s just, is there going to be enough time?”

In Davidson’s absence, Emily Sonnett has been filling in at center back alongside Naomi Girma.

Shaw has been replaced on the gameday squad by Croix Bethune for all three of the team’s matches in France thus far. The Washington Spirit rookie made her Olympic debut in the second half of the USWNT’s 2-1 win over Australia.

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USWNT’s Davidson and Shaw ruled out for Olympic group finale vs. Australia

The duo will both not recover in time from their injuries

The U.S. women’s national team will have to do without Tierna Davidson and Jaedyn Shaw for Wednesday’s Olympic group finale against Australia.

Davidson was forced out of the team’s 4-1 win over Germany on Sunday, coming off in the first half after a knee-to-knee collision with Jule Brand.

The Gotham FC defender was replaced by her club teammate Emily Sonnett, who slotted into central defense alongside Naomi Girma.

On Tuesday, USWNT head coach Emma Hayes told the media Davidson would not recover in time for Wednesday’s match against the Matildas.

“She got a contusion because she got hit in her leg,” Hayes said. “Knee-on-knee situations can create a bit of swelling so that swelling will keep her out of this game.”

Hayes did not indicate who would replace Davidson, but Emily Sams is the only defensive option of the four alternates.

On Wednesday, U.S. Soccer confirmed it would indeed be Sams who replaced Davidson on the gameday squad.

The coach also ruled out Shaw for a third straight match. The San Diego Wave star suffered a “leg injury” in training the day before the team’s Olympic opener against Zambia.

The 19-year-old was replaced on the gameday squad by alternate Croix Bethune, who has yet to see any playing time at the Olympics.

The USWNT has already clinched a berth in the knockout stage with consecutive wins over Zambia and Germany, and can lock up first place in Group B with a win or draw against Australia.

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USWNT defender Davidson comes off with injury vs. Germany

The defender’s injury could potentially be a major blow for the USWNT’s Olympic hopes

The U.S. women’s national team suffered a potentially major loss against Germany on Sunday, as defender Tierna Davidson left the Olympics match just before halftime with an injury.

Davidson was involved in a 40th-minute collision with Germany’s Jule Brand, who clattered into the center back and made what appeared to be knee-to-knee contact.

The USWNT bench quickly got Emily Sonnett up and ready as soon as it became clear Davidson would not continue.

On the USA Network broadcast, announcer Jon Champion quoted a USWNT press officer as saying Davidson has suffered a “lower leg” injury.

The Gotham FC defender limped off and was replaced by her club teammate Sonnett in the 44th minute, just before the U.S. scored to increase its lead to 3-1.

The USWNT would go on to win 4-1, sealing progression to the quarterfinals.

Should Davidson be forced to miss any time, it would be a significant blow to the USWNT’s gold medal hopes. The 25-year-old has formed an effective partnership with Naomi Girma in central defense, regaining her starting role after missing a long period with a torn ACL suffered in 2022.

If head coach Emma Hayes is forced into a roster change, Emily Sams appears to be the clear like-for-like option. The Orlando Pride defender has been named as an alternate and, per a new roster rule, could swap in on a game-by-game basis.

Davidson is not the only injury concern on the USWNT roster, as attacker Jaedyn Shaw missed her second straight game on Sunday with a foot injury.

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Davidson backs Albert to ‘evolve’ but admits USWNT has struggled with situation

The defender backed her teammate, but admitted the situation has been hard for her as a gay player

U.S. women’s national team defender Tierna Davidson admitted that the controversy surrounding Korbin Albert has been difficult for her and the team, but backed her teammate to learn and grow from the experience.

Albert was forced to apologize in March after fans discovered she had shared anti-LGBTQ+ content on her TikTok account.

Though Albert has been called out by USWNT players past and present, she has continued to play a major role on the team and has been named to the 18-player roster for the Olympics.

Also on that roster is Davidson, who is expected to start at center back when the USWNT kicks off the tournament on Thursday against Zambia.

Davidson, who is gay, spoke out on how she has been affected by the controversy surrounding Albert.

“It’s a difficult situation that has obviously affected me personally, given what she was speaking on,” the NJ/NY Gotham FC defender said in an appearance on “Good Game with Sarah Spain” from iHeartPodcast on the company’s Women’s Sports Audio Network.

“I think that it is something that you have to learn as a young player, especially with the platform that you’re given, is your beliefs or how you choose to express certain things is very public. And people do look and listen.”

Echoing USWNT head coach Emma Hayes, Davidson said that Albert is doing work behind the scenes to learn about the affect of her actions. Though Davidson admitted the situation has impacted the USWNT negatively, she insisted that Albert can “change and evolve” through the process of learning.

“I think that she has gone through a lot of learning since then,” Davidson said. “And she has to continue to do that, as we all do. As humans, we have to learn from what we do in our lives, and how people react to it and understand the hurt that we can cause.

“I think that it’s difficult because as a team, we have always wanted to be very welcoming to all of our fans, to all players that walk through the locker room. And so, to have that in our space is very difficult. But I have always believed in the ability for people to learn, and for people to change and to evolve. And that sometimes requires a very difficult experience, which I think this is that moment for her.”

Credit: Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports

Albert has continued to be the subject of boos at home matches, and Davidson has expressed her hope that fans always feel welcome when supporting the USWNT.

“It’s been hard to hear how fans have been taking it because I feel like I want to be able to represent the queer community really well on this team,” she said. “And so I want to have fans feel really welcome and feel like they can see themselves on this field, in this team. And so I don’t want there to be any sort of feeling that they are not welcome here.”

Davidson admitted it hasn’t been easy to share a locker room with Albert, but expressed her willingness to help the Paris Saint-Germain midfielder through the situation.

“She’s one of my teammates, and I respect that and I respect her as a player,” Davidson said. “But it is something that you have to go through [in] life. You encounter and work with people that you don’t always agree with, but you want to try and help people to change, you want to try and help them love and that’s what we’re trying to do.”

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USWNT’s Tierna Davidson injured during Gotham FC match

Davidson’s status could become another injury worry for Emma Hayes

The U.S. women’s national team’s potential list of injuries is growing at an alarming rate.

Tierna Davidson exited NJ/NY Gotham FC’s NWSL clash on Saturday with the Washington Spirit after just 21 minutes with a potential hamstring strain.

“She had to come off, which is never a good sign,” Gotham coach Juan Carlos Amorós told reporters after the match. “We will have to evaluate, wait for the testing and whatever medical tests we have to do, and go from there.”

Davidson is a strong contender to emerge as Naomi Girma’s partner at center back for Emma Hayes at this summer’s Olympics. However, after losing 2022 to a torn ACL and then suffering a facial fracture at the end of last season, the 25-year-old’s USWNT resume in recent times is not as long as some of her competitors.

Davidson appeared to pick up her injury in an attempt to race back and prevent a Trinity Rodman shot from getting over the line midway through the first half at Audi Field. Davidson stayed down, and after receiving brief treatment, slowly walked back to the Gotham bench. The Bats replaced her with Sam Hiatt in the 21st minute.

The injury comes less than 24 hours after Alex Morgan left the San Diego Wave’s loss to the Orlando Pride after suffering an ankle injury. Another potential USWNT starter, Rose Lavelle, has been out for weeks with a lower-leg injury.

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Hatch, Coffey and the biggest snubs from the USWNT World Cup roster

The USWNT roster remains the toughest one to crack

They say having too many worthy players is a “good problem” for a coach, and that is one of the top challenges for any U.S. women’s national team boss.

The USWNT’s World Cup roster dropped on Wednesday, and Vlatko Andonovski had a task that managers both envy and loathe. The national team has so many good players that some big names were bound to miss out on one of the 23 spots on the team.

Even with the USWNT missing stars like Catarina Macario, Sam Mewis, Christen Press, Becky Sauerbrunn, and Mallory Swanson to injury, there’s such a glut of top players that the list of snubs is a long one. Former USWNT standout Ali Krieger once said that if the U.S. could send a second team, that group would be their biggest threat at the World Cup. Those days may be gone as the rest of the world has improved, but a USWNT B side would be a reasonable pick to go to at least the quarterfinals.

For a wide range of reasons, Andonovski ended up having to deliver some bad news to players who did everything in their power, and who all had a really strong case to be on the plane to New Zealand.

In alphabetical order, these are the five biggest USWNT World Cup snubs.

USWNT gives minutes to veterans, Thompson as World Cup roster deadline looms

It’s crunch time for the USWNT coaching staff

With the games out of the way, it’s officially decision time for the U.S. women’s national team.

Tuesday’s 1-0 win over Ireland marked the USWNT’s final friendly before the team announces its 23-player roster for the 2023 World Cup, with the team’s next match — a July 9 clash with Wales in San Jose — coming after their tournament squad has been announced.

Head coach Vlatko Andonovski said before and after Tuesday’s game that this second match against Ireland had been earmarked as a chance for several players to bolster their resumes.

“It wasn’t about the team concept [tonight]. It wasn’t about us as a team. It was more about the individual players and obviously getting minutes to certain players,” Andonovski told reporters following a gritty win settled by Alana Cook’s long-range delivery into the box gliding all the way into the goal just before halftime.

“The things that were missing is not something that worries me. Like I said, it was missing cohesion,” said Andonovski after deploying a significantly less familiar starting eleven than the starter-heavy group that won 2-0 in Austin on Saturday. “It was missing understanding between the players, and we’re not surprised by that, because we knew the miscommunication will happen, or missed pass[es] happen, or a player makes a run and doesn’t get the ball, or makes a run to the left and gets the ball to the right. It’s something that we expect to happen, and it did make the game go a little bit wild at times, because we gave up the ball too quick after we won it.”

Andonovski said that if he had to, he could pick his list of 23 players for the World Cup right now, but added that there’s still time for players to use their club play to change the equation.

That said, spots are apparently extremely limited.

“I feel pretty comfortable [with] where we’re at as a team, and from the decision-making standpoint, there’s a group of players that we’re very comfortable with,” said Andonovski. “We can make [a] decision tonight, but also there’s a group of players that we’re comfortable where they’re at, but they’re still gonna have to fight, and not necessarily fight for [one] spot. It’s now a ‘game on.’ We have about maybe 10-to-12 players that are fighting for six, seven spots.”

Returning vets, plus Thompson’s moment

In St. Louis, Andonovski’s selection included Cook, Casey Murphy, Sofia Huerta, Kelley O’Hara, and Alyssa Thompson from the start. A planned substitution saw Tierna Davidson replace Becky Sauerbrunn in the 29th minute, while Casey Krueger split the 90 minutes with O’Hara evenly at left back.

“We wanted to see the players that haven’t been in the environment for a long time. It’s not just we wanted to see them, but we also wanted to give them minutes so, if and when some of them make the World Cup, their first minutes [back] are not in the World Cup, but they have a chance to compete before they go there,” reasoned Andonovski before naming Tierna Davidson, Casey Kruger, Julie Ertz, and O’Hara as players that specifically applied to.

“There are several players that that we wanted to evaluate, but also we wanted to give them minutes to get some of that rust off,” said the fourth-year USWNT manager. “That’s why it was hard to evaluate the team and team performance in a setting like that, when there are a lot of changes, players that haven’t played together in over a year, year and a half, and players that haven’t even played at all in a year and a half.”

On the other hand, Thompson was a late addition to the squad after Mallory Swanson’s knee injury, and was making just her second international appearance. For Andonovski, there was an element of fairness at play, as the other candidates for the wide attacking roles in the USWNT pool have all had at least one start to work with in recent times.

“We wanted to explore every possible option before we make the final decision and one of those was Alyssa Thompson,” Andonovski said of sorting out his front line after losing an undisputed key part of it. “Before [Swanson’s injury], our forwards have had a chance to start in different games, from Trinity [Rodman] to Lynn [Williams], Midge [Purce], [Megan Rapinone], every wide forward had an opportunity to start a game. We felt like we needed to see Alyssa start a game and give her a chance to showcase her abilities as well.”

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USWNT injury updates: Andonovski speaks on 10 players including Macario and Mewis

The USWNT is missing a lot of key players, and the coach provided updates on almost all of them

The U.S. women’s national team is currently dealing with a lot of injuries.

Some are long term and others are more minor, but many of the USWNT’s most important players over the past several years are presently sidelined.

On Monday after announcing his roster for November friendlies against Germany, USWNT head coach Vlatko Andonovski offered updates on no less than 10 players who are currently out: eight who are injured and two coming back after giving birth.

Here is a list of the players Andonovski spoke about on a conference call.