International Friendly: USA vs. Paraguay - Starting XI, Lineup Notes, TV Channels & Start Time

USWNT vs. Paraguay International Friendly
Date: September 21, 2021
Venue: TQL Stadium; Cincinnati, Ohio
Broadcast: FS1 and TUDN
Broadcast Time: 7:00 p.m. ET on FS1; 7:30 p.m. ET on TUDN
Official Kickoff Time: 7:45 p.m. ET

 

Starting XI vs. Paraguay: 21-Jane Campbell; 14-Emily Sonnett, 2-Abby Dahlkemper, 12-Tierna Davidson, 20-Casey Krueger; 25-Andi Sullivan, 16-Rose Lavelle, 17-Catarina Macario; 27-Sophia Smith, 13-Alex Morgan (Capt.), 11-Mallory Pugh

 

Available Subs: 4-Becky Sauerbrunn, 5-Kelley O’Hara, 6-Lynn Williams, 7-Tobin Heath, 10-Carli Lloyd, 18-Adrianna Franch, 19-Crystal Dunn, 22-Kristie Mewis

 

GAME NOTES | FIVE THINGS TO KNOW – PARAGUAY

• U.S. WNT Starting XI Cap Numbers (including this match): Morgan (188), Dahlkemper (76), Pugh (65), Lavelle (64), Sonnett (60), Davidson (41), Krueger (36), Sullivan (19), Macario (10), Smith (8), Campbell (6)

• Tuesday’s lineup vs. Paraguay features seven different players from the XI that opened the match against Paraguay on Thursday in Cleveland: Campbell for Franch in goal, Sonnett, Dahlkemper and Krueger on defense in place of O’Hara, Sauerbrunn and Dunn, Macario for Mewis in the midfield, and Morgan and Smith for Lloyd and Williams on the forward line.

• Tonight’s starting lineup averages 52 international caps with Morgan the only player with 100+ caps. Four players – Sullivan (19 caps), Macario (10), Smith (8) and Campbell (6) – have fewer than 20 caps.

• The average age for the Starting XI is 26.2 years, making it the youngest starting lineup to take the field for the USA since April 5, 2018.

• Alex Morgan will captain the USA in her 188^th overall cap as she makes her eighth start of the year. Morgan has four goals and one assist on the year and will be captaining the side for the first time since the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup Semifinal vs. England on July 3, 2019, when she scored the game-winning goal to send the USA through to the World Cup Final. The last time the USWNT played in a Cincinnati, Morgan scored twice as the USA downed New Zealand, 5-0, at Nippert Stadium. 

• Goalkeeper Jane Campbell will earn her sixth cap as she makes her fourth career start for the USWNT. Three of Campbell’s four career starts will have now come in 2021, with the most recent coming in her last appearance for the USWNT, a shutout victory against Argentina on February 24, 2021, in the final game of the 2021 SheBelieves Cup. Campbell earned her first career shutout in the USA's 6-0 blanking of Colombia on Jan. 22, in what was her second career start.

• Emily Sonnett will earn her 60^th career cap as she makes her fourth start of the year for the USWNT. Sonnett, who will have now appeared in 14 of the USA’s 20 games in 2021, becomes the 57^th player in USWNT history to reach 60 career caps.

• Tierna Davidson will make her fourth consecutive start as she earns her 41^st cap overall for the USWNT. Davidson, who celebrated her 23^rd birthday on September 19, has appeared in 15 games this year, making 10 starts. She has also dished out three assists during the 2021 campaign, matching her career-high for assists in a calendar year.

• Casey Krueger will make her fourth appearance of the year as she earns her 36^th career cap overall. This is Krueger’s first appearance for the USWNT since coming on as a late second-half substitute in the USA’s 6-1 win over New Zealand on July 24 in the Olympic Group Stage. Her last start for the USWNT came on February 24, 2021, against Argentina during the SheBelieves Cup, during which she assisted a first-half goal by Kristie Mewis.

• Midfielder Andi Sullivan will earn her 19^th cap as she makes her second consecutive start for the USWNT. Sullivan started and played the full 90 minutes in the USA’s Sept. 16 win over Paraguay, scoring the first two goals of her international career while also dishing out an assist. This is the first time since 2018 that Sullivan has started back-to-back games for the USA.

• Cincinnati-native Rose Lavelle will earn her 64^th career cap as she makes her 14^th start of 2021. Lavelle – who has two goals and two assists on the year -- will have now appeared in 18 of the USWNT’s 20 games so far in 2021, matching her career-best for games played in a calendar year. This will be her second time playing with the USWNT in her hometown. She also started the USA’s 5-0 win over New Zealand on September 19, 2017 at Cincinnati’s Nippert Stadium.

• Catarina Macario will make her fourth career start and earn her 10^th career cap. Macario made her international debut for the USA on January 18, 2021, and made her first start – and scored her first international goal – four days later in the USA’s 6-0 win over Colombia. This will be Macario’s first start for the USWNT since June 13, when she started and played the first half in the USA’s 4-0 win over Jamaica at the 2021 WNT Summer Series. Macario tallied her first international assist on Thursday against Paraguay, setting up Carli Lloyd’s record-tying fifth goal of the game.

• The youngest player on this roster at 21 years old, Sophia Smith will make her first career start for the USWNT as she earns her eighth career cap. Smith made her international debut on November 27, 2020, against the Netherlands, becoming the first player born in the 2000s to earn a senior cap for the USWNT. Smith has one career assist, setting up Alex Morgan’s goal against Argentina in the 2021 SheBelieves Cup.

• Forward Mallory Pugh will earn her 65^th career cap as she makes her second consecutive start for the USWNT. Pugh tallied a career-high three assists on Thursday’s win over Paraguay – the most by any USWNT player in a single match since 2019. This will be Pugh’s first time making back-to-back starts for the USWNT since the 2019 SheBelieves Cup.