Veteran Defender Becky Sauerbrunn Will Replace Alana Cook On USWNT Roster For 2024 Concacaf W Gold Cup
Cook Ruled Out Due to Minor Knee Injury
CHICAGO (Feb. 13, 2024) – Portland Thorns FC defender Becky Sauerbrunn will replace defender Alana Cook on the U.S. Women’s National Team roster for the 2024 Concacaf W Gold Cup. Cook has been ruled out due to a minor knee injury suffered during her NWSL preseason training with Seattle Reign FC.
Sauerbrunn is now the most capped player on the roster with 217 international appearances. Her first action in the W Gold Cup will mark the 15th year in which she has appeared for the USWNT. Sauerbrunn missed the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup due to a foot injury and returned to the U.S. roster for the October 2023 friendlies against Colombia with her most recent appearance coming on Oct. 26 against Las Cafeteras.
The USA’s Concacaf W Gold Cup group will be played entirely at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, Calif. The USWNT opens Group A play on Tuesday, February 20 against the winner of the Guyana vs. Dominican Republic Preliminary Round match (which will take place on Feb. 17), faces Argentina on Friday, February 23 and then finishes the first round against Mexico on Monday, February 26. All of the USA’s games will kickoff at 7:15 p.m. PT / 10:15 p.m. ET. Tickets to all matches are available via https://www.concacaf.com/w-gold-cup/tickets.
The top two finishers in each of the three Concacaf W Gold Cup groups along with the two best third-place teams will qualify for the knockout stage, which will commence with the Quarterfinals at BMO Stadium in Los Angeles on March 2 and 3, followed by the Semifinals and Final at San Diego’s Snapdragon Stadium on March 6 and 10, respectively.
The Quarterfinal pairings will be determined based on the Group Stage standings with the team accumulating the most points facing the country accumulating the least points, the team accumulating the second most points facing the team with the seventh most points and so on, so the #1 seed will face the #8 seed, #2 will play #7, #3 will play #6 and #4 will play #5.
U.S. Women’s National Team Roster by Position (Club) – 2024 Concacaf W Gold Cup
GOALKEEPERS (3): Jane Campbell (Houston Dash), Casey Murphy (North Carolina Courage), Alyssa Naeher (Chicago Red Stars)
DEFENDERS (8): Abby Dahlkemper (San Diego Wave FC), Crystal Dunn (NJ/NY Gotham FC), Tierna Davidson (NJ/NY Gotham FC), Emily Fox (Arsenal FC, ENG), Naomi Girma (San Diego Wave FC), Casey Krueger (Washington Spirit), Jenna Nighswonger (NY/NJ Gotham FC), Becky Sauerbrunn (Portland Thorns FC)
MIDFIELDERS (6): Korbin Albert (Paris Saint-Germain, FRA), Sam Coffey (Portland Thorns FC), Lindsey Horan (Olympique Lyon, FRA), Rose Lavelle (NJ/NY Gotham FC), Olivia Moultrie (Portland Thorns FC), Emily Sonnett (NJ/NY Gotham FC)
FORWARDS (6): Mia Fishel (Chelsea FC, ENG), Midge Purce (NJ/NY Gotham FC), Trinity Rodman (Washington Spirit), Jaedyn Shaw (San Diego Wave FC), Sophia Smith (Portland Thorns FC), Lynn Williams (NJ/NY Gotham FC)