The U.S. women’s national team has named an unchanged lineup for its attention-grabbing World Cup clash with the Netherlands.
The pairing, a rematch of the 2019 final, had been eagerly anticipated since the draw placed both sides in Group E, and Vlatko Andonovski has decided to make no alterations to a side that opened the 2023 edition with a 3-0 win over Vietnam.
That means no starting role for Rose Lavelle, despite speculation ramping up that the star attacking midfielder would get the nod after she appeared in the team’s pre-game press conference. Lavelle scored a triumphant goal against the Dutch in the 2019 final, and has been working her way back from a knee injury for months. The OL Reign playmaker played 27 minutes in the USWNT’s opener.
Per U.S. Soccer, all 23 players in the squad remain available, meaning that the USWNT has not picked up any knocks in training or that may have materialized during a physical battle with Vietnam. Striker and co-captain Alex Morgan acknowledged that the U.S. was not “always clicking” in that match, but Andonovski apparently saw enough positives to retain the exact same starting lineup to take on the Oranje.
USWNT lineup vs. Netherlands
(4-3-3): Naeher; Fox, Ertz, Girma, Dunn; DeMelo, Sullivan, Horan; Rodman, Morgan, Smith
Netherlands lineup (3-5-2): Daphne van Domselaar; Sherida Spitse, Stefanie van der Gragt, Dominique Janssen; Victoria Pelova, Daniëlle van de Donk, Jackie Groenen, Jill Roord, Esmee Brugts; Katja Snoeijs, Lieke Martens
[lawrence-related id=23907,23696,23663]