Meeting: February 21, 2021
Place: Exploria Stadium; Orlando, Florida.
Streaming: FS1, TUDN
Transmission time: 3 pm ET
Starting XI x Brazil: 1-Alyssa Naeher; 14-Emily Sonnett, 4-Becky Sauerbrunn (captain), 7-Abby Dahlkemper, 19-Crystal Dunn; 8-Julie Ertz, 9-Lindsey Horan, 16-Rose Lavelle; 6-Lynn Williams, 13-Alex Morgan, 23-Christen Press,
US WNT XI Cap starting numbers (including this correspondence): Sauerbrunn (181), Morgan (172), Press (141), Dunn (109), Ertz (107), Horan (90), Naeher (67), Dahlkemper (65), Lavelle (50), Sonnett (50), Williams (33)
Sunday’s lineup features four changes from the initial lineup that opened the SheBelieves Cup against Canada on February 18: Emily Sonnett replaces Margaret Purce in defense, Rose Lavelle replaces Catarina Macario in midfield, and in the attack line, Alex Morgan replaces Carli Lloyd and Christen Press will replace Megan Rapinoe.
Goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher has recorded 39 career shutouts and with his clean score against Canada, he has now recorded a shutout in each of his last nine matches, the longest sequence of individual shutouts by any goalkeeper in USWNT history. Naeher will make 67º appearance and 64º start for the USA.
Emily Sonnett is set to make its second start in 2021 and earn its 50º general cap, joining Rose Lavelle – who is also earning her 50º cap tonight – like the 61st and 62WL players in USWNT history to reach 50 caps. Including the match against Brazil, Sonnett must have already played nine of the last 12 US matches, making six matches in that period.
Defense and team captain Becky Sauerbrunn will win 181 for herst cap and enters the game with 14,030 minutes in total by the USA, passing Brandi Chastain for 12º in USWNT history with its 90-minute effort in the US victory over Canada to open the SheBelieves Cup.
Abby Dahlkemper will make her 58º start and 65º general appearance for the USA. Dahlkemper led the team in total minutes played in 2019 and 2020 and led all field players in total minutes played in the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup. Dahlkemper has played 90 minutes in each of his last nine appearances for the USWNT.
Dahlkemper and Sauerbrunn will be starting their 44º play together in the middle of the US defense and playing in their 54º I’ve been playing together overall since Dahlkemper made his international debut in October 2016.
The only player to appear in all nine games in 2020, Crystal Dunn should play his 109th game for the USA in today’s match against Brazil. Including this match, Dunn has already added 13 consecutive matches for the USA and 22 of the team’s last 24 games in total.
Julie Ertz will be making her 107º appearance for the USA and is the the only player who played every minute of three games this year and leads the team with 270 minutes played in 2021. In fact, Ertz has played every minute in each of the last nine US games, the longest streak of his career in the USWNT.
Lindsey Horan will make its third start of 2021 and earn its 90º general cap. Against Canada on February 18, Horan played 81 minutes and was one of the best players on the pitch when receiving assistance in the winning goal from Rose Lavelle. This assistance was the 29th of his career. She is now on a timid assist to become the 18th player in USWNT history to register 30 or more assists.
Horan has scored at least one goal or assist in eight of his last 11 US games, with eight goals and four assists during that period.
Rose Lavelle will make its second start of 2021 and earn its 50º captain general today – joining Emily Sonnett, who will also reach the milestone today as 61st and 62WL players in USWNT history to reach the mark. Lavelle gave the USA a spark on the bench when he entered the 64th minute against Canada on February 18 and scored the game’s victory at 79º for her 14º international career goal.
Iavelle has been responsible for two of the four US winning goals since the resumption of the game in November 2020 and has four goals in his last 10 USWNT matches. Prior to that, Lavelle had scored four goals in his previous 21 US games.
Lynn Williams is set to win his 33rd international and will make his fifth consecutive debut in the United States, the longest streak of his international career. Williams – who joins Julie Ertz as the only player to start all matches in 2021 – is the team’s second in total minutes played this year, with 248, already the third highest number of minutes she has played in any year for USA.
Alex Morgan will win 172WL debuts today and debuts for the USA since the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup final against the Netherlands on July 7, 2019. For the US training camp and departure in November 2020 in the Netherlands, Morgan made her return to the squad for the first time since becoming a mother on May 7, 2020. She played the second half against the Netherlands in what was her first USWNT game since the 2019 Women’s World Cup final, a period of 509 days. She missed the January training and games field while recovering from an illness.
Morgan is tied with Michelle Akers in fifth place in the list of goals of all times of the USA, with 107 international goals. His most recent US goal was on July 2, 2019 in the World Cup semifinal against England, which was also Morgan’s 30th birthday.º birthday.
Christen Press will make its first start in 2021 and win 141st general cap to the USWNT. Press was one of only two players to play in all 24 WNT games in 2019 and played in all nine in 2020 before losing the top two in 2021 ..
The press was directly involved in 26 goals in his last 27 games for the USA, scoring 11 goals and assisting 15 more. She also took the free kick that led to Rose Lavelle’s victory against Canada on February 18.
All 23 players on the SheBelieves Cup list will dress for the match. The only player uncapped at the camp is the goalkeeper Casey Murphy, while midfielder Jaelin Howelgo forward Sophia Smith are looking for their first 2021 action game.