USWNT vs. Japan
Competition: 2020 SheBelieves Cup, presented by VISA
Date: March 11, 2020
Venue:Toyota Stadium; Frisco, Texas
Broadcast: ESPNews, TUDN XTRA 1
Kickoff: 8 p.m. ET
Starting XI vs. Japan: 21-Adrianna Franch; 5-Kelley O’Hara, 7-Abby Dahlkemper, 12-Tierna Davidson, 19-Crystal Dunn; 8-Julie Ertz, 3-Samantha Mewis, 9-Lindsey Horan; 17-Tobin Heath, 23-Christen Press; 15-Megan Rapinoe (capt.)
Substitutes: 1-Alyssa Naeher; 2-Mallory Pugh, 4-Becky Sauerbrunn, 6-Andi Sullivan, 10-Carli Lloyd, 11-Ali Krieger, 13-Lynn Williams, 14-Emily Sonnett, 16-Rose Lavelle, 18-Ashlyn Harris, 20-Casey Short, 22-Jessica McDonald
Starting Lineup:
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Adrianna Franch makes her fourth career appearance in a U.S. uniform and her third start. She last played for the USA in the final match of 2019, playing the first half against Costa Rica on Nov. 10. Her first cap came in a 2-2 draw with England at last year’s SheBelieves Cup.
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Veteran Kelley O’Hara returns to the starting lineup after sitting out the Spain game. She will earn her 131st cap tonight, tying Aly Wagner for 29th on the USA’s all-time caps list.
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Abby Dahlkemper will start the 54th game of her 61 overall caps tonight. She played in all five games at Concacaf Olympic Qualifying, starting four, and played all 90 minutes vs. England on March 5 and Spain on March 8.
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Earning her 26th cap, 21-year-old Tierna Davidson makes her first start and gets her first minutes of the tournament. She will play her first WNT game since Oct. 6, 2019 vs. South Korea. After recovering from an ankle injury, tonight will also mark her first match since the NWSL Semifinal on Oct. 20.
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Crystal Dunn is the only player to start the first eight games of the year and earns cap No. 104 tonight.
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Julie Ertz made her 100th appearance for the USA on March 5 against England, becoming the 40th woman in USWNT history to hit the century mark. She makes her third start of the tournament tonight and will earn her 102nd cap after scoring the game-winner – her 20th career goal – in the 87th minute against Spain on March 8.
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Samantha Mewis earns her 67th cap. She scored four goals during Olympic qualifying, on braces against Costa Rica and Mexico, and has 18 international goals in her career. She came off the bench against England on March 5 and got the start against Spain.
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Lindsey Horan started against England, and got the assist on the USA’s second goal, came off the bench against Spain, and returns to the XI vs. Japan to earn her 86th cap. She is tied with Christen Press for the lead in goals this year with six.
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Tobin Heath got the start against England, came off the bench against Spain to help spark the win and returns to the XI against Japan. She will earn her 168th cap tonight, moving within one of Alex Morgan and a tie for 18th place on the USA’s all-time list.
Christen Press will get the start at center forward tonight and earn her 138th cap. A prolific scorer during her entire WNT career with 57 career goals, good for 10th on the USA’s all-time goals list, she has been in stellar form of late, scoring six goals to tie for the team lead this year. Press has been directly involved in 24 goals in her last 25 appearances for the USA, scoring 10 goals and assisting 14 more. She has eight goals in her last nine games for the USA, failing only to score in the Concacaf Olympic Qualifying against Mexico and against Spain on March 8 in New Jersey. -
Megan Rapinoe makes her fourth start of the year and second of the tournament after coming on in the second half against England and playing the first 66 minutes vs. Spain. She has one goal and four assists so far this year, with the score coming against Canada in the Olympic Qualifying championship game. She will earn cap 168 moving to within one of Alex Morgan and a tie for 18th place all-time.