Roster Set for Women's Olympic Qualifying

Wambach, Solo Head 20-Player Docket

March 31, 2008

CHICAGO – United States women’s soccer coach Pia Sundhage finalized the 20-player roster to travel to Mexico for 2008 CONCACAF Women’s Olympic Qualifying as the USA attempts to earn one of two berths to the summer’s Beijing Olympics.

Sundhage will be allowed to suit up 18 players for each match, but can rotate her active roster from game to game.

Hope Solo

Goalkeeper Hope Solo was one of 20 player selected for Olympic Qualifying. (CHRIS ADUAMA/ aduama.com)

“We’ve had a good week of training in Los Angeles and the team is excited about the challenge of playing important matches that represent our path to the Olympics,” said Sundhage. “It’s always a good thing for a team to play games that mean so much and that pressure will help us continue to develop the style we want to play. We’ve tried different things in China at the Four Nations Tournament and at the Algarve Cup, so now it’s about finding our best combinations of players for these qualifying matches.”

The U.S. is in Group A and will open the tournament on April 4 vs. Jamaica before facing Mexico April 6.

The top two teams from Group A will advance to the semifinals, where they will cross over to face the top two teams from Group B, which features Canada, Costa Rica and Trinidad & Tobago. The winners of the April 9 semifinals will qualify for the 2008 Women’s Olympic Football Tournament in Beijing.

The U.S. will be looking for a berth to its fourth consecutive Olympic Games. In 2004, the U.S. won the Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Costa Rica, and went on to win gold at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece. The U.S. qualified for the 1996 Atlanta Games as host, and for the 2000 Sydney Games as a top-seven finisher at the 1999 FIFA Women’s World Cup.

Nine players named to the U.S. roster for qualifying in Mexico played in the last Olympic qualifying tournament in 2004.

Full U.S. Women's National Team Roster:

GOALKEEPERS (2): Nicole Barnhart (Gilbertsville, Pa.), Hope Solo (Richland, Wash.);

DEFENDERS (6): Rachel Buehler (Del Mar, Calif.), Lori Chalupny (St. Louis, Mo.), Stephanie Cox (Elk Grove, Calif.), Kate Markgraf (Bloomfield Hills, Mich.), Christie Rampone (Point Pleasant, N.J.), Cat Whitehill (Birmingham, Ala.);

MIDFIELDERS (7): Shannon Boxx (Redondo Beach, Calif.), Tobin Heath (Basking Ridge, N.J.), Angela Hucles (Virginia Beach, Va.), Carli Lloyd (Delran, N.J.), Leslie Osborne (Brookfield, Wis.), Lindsay Tarpley (Kalamazoo, Mich.), Kacey White (Arlington, Texas);

FORWARDS (5): Lauren Cheney (Indianapolis, Ind.), Natasha Kai (Kahuku, Hawaii), Heather O’Reilly (East Brunswick, N.J.), Amy Rodriguez (Lake Forest, Calif.), Abby Wambach (Rochester, N.Y.).

Return from Roster Set for Women's Olympic Qualifying to US National Teams

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