TABLE OF CONTENTS 1 U.S. WOMEN’S NATIONAL TEAM 149 Girls’ Club Development Managers U.S. WNT 150 Under-23 Women’s National Team 2 Sights Set on France 2019 155 Under-20 Women’s National Team 6 U.S. WNT Head Coach Jill Ellis 169 Under-19 Women’s National Team 9 U.S. WNT Coaching Staff 172 Under-18 Women’s National Team 13 U.S. Women’s National Team Pool 175 Under-17 Women’s National Team 14 U.S. WNT Headshots 184 Under-16 Girls’ National Team WNT HISTORY 16 Player Bios 188 Under-15 Girls’ National Team 41 U.S. WNT HISTORY 192 Under-14 Girls’ National Team 42 2018 Final Stats 193 COMPETITIONS 43 2018 Final Results 194 FIFA World Championships 44 Statistics 2017-1994 199 U.S. Olympic History 56 All-Time Results 204 Pan-Am Games 67 All-Time Lineups 205 Concacaf Women’s Championships 82 All-Time Head Coaches CUP HISTORY WORLD 83 All-Time Head-to-Head Results 207 U.S. SOCCER HISTORY & INFORMATION 88 Venues & Stadiums by State 208 U.S. Soccer Staff Directory 99 ALL-TIME RECORDS 210 U.S. Soccer Board of Directors / Past Presidents 211 Carlos Cordeiro, President 100 All-Time Player Caps 212 Daniel T. Flynn, CEO / Secretary General 103 All-Time Player Register 213 Referee Program 116 All-Time Individual Leaders 215 Coaching Department 118 All-Time Attendance Records 217 U.S. Soccer National Training Center 120 All-Time Team Records 219 U.S. Soccer Development Fund 124 All-Time Miscellaneous Records 220 National Soccer Hall of Fame 125 U.S. WNT WORLD CUP HISTORY 224 Soccer Participation PROGRAMS 126 All-Time WNT World Cup Results 225 TV Information 130 All-Time WNT Player Stats 229 FIFA 136 All-Time WNT World Cup & Qualifying Caps 230 Concacaf 135 All-Time WNT Individual 232 Leagues & Affiliates World Cup & Qualifying Leaders 236 U.S. Soccer House 238 U.S. Soccer Timeline 138 FIFA Women’s World Cup in the USA COMPETITIONS 248 U.S. Soccer Athletes of the Year 141 U.S. WNT PROGRAMS 251 All Time Team & Individual Awards 254 Best of U.S. Soccer Awards 142 Programs Overview 142 Girls’ Development Academy 257 MEDIA INFORMATION 144 U.S. Soccer YNT Talent ID Centers 258 U.S. Soccer Communications Contact Info 145 Club Development Director Miriam Hickey 259 Media Guidelines 146 Youth WNT Physiologist Ellie Maybury 296 Important Phone Numbers 147 Director of Talent ID Mirelle van Rijbroeck 148 YNT Talent ID Managers 265 U.S. WNT BIO APPENDIX U.S. HISTORY & INFO U.S. HISTORY U.S. SOCCER 2019 WOMEN’S NATIONAL TEAM MEDIA GUIDE The 2019 U.S. Women’s National Team Media Guide is a publication of the U.S. Soccer Communications Department. Data in this book is current through Jan. 1, 2019. If you have the WNT version of the guide and would like a copy of the MNT version, please contact the U.S. Soccer Communications Department at [email protected] or 312-808-1300. A digital version of the media guide is available at ussoccer.com. U.S. SOCCER COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT: Logan Buckley, Neil Buethe, Nicole Cabral, Jeff Crandall, Tyler Emerick, Aaron Heifetz, Michael Kammarman, Chris Kennedy, Jimena Panduro, Elizabeth Sanchez U.S. SOCCER VIDEO DEPARTMENT: Andy Sevcik, Matt Farrenkopf, Laura Wells, Nick Burton PHOTOGRAPHY MANAGER FOR U.S. SOCCER: John Todd / International Sports Images WNT PHOTOGRAPHER: Brad Smith COVER DESIGN: Stoneward INTERIOR DESIGN & LAYOUT: Ron Logan PRINTING: ABC Printing; Dean Papa; Chicago, Ill. 2 U.S SOCCER 2019 PREVIEW SIGHTS SET ON MEDIA GUIDE FRANCE 2019 Following the end of the last World Cup/Olympic cycle, U.S. Women’s National Team head coach Jill Ellis made it clear that the coming years would be a time of change. That meant doing her due diligence on the player pool, giving opportunities for newer players to earn roster spots and challenging veterans to show they could continue to make an impact on the road to the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup in France. Since the end of the 2016 Olympics, Ellis has used 46 players in matches and has seen 61 different players in a WNT training camp environment. During her time at the helm, Ellis has given 28 players their first caps, 25 after the 2015 Women’s World Cup. The year after the end of a World Cup and Olympic cycle has traditionally seen a decrease in WOMEN’S NATIONAL TEAM NATIONAL WOMEN’S activity for the WNT, but that was not the case in 2017, which was truly a year of opportunity, learning and growth. The USA played seven of the other top nine teams in the world and hosted two major international tournaments: the SheBelieves Cup and the Tournament of Nations. The total of 16 matches was the most played in the year after a cycle since 1997, when the USA was gearing up to host the 1999 Women’s World Cup. In 2018, the group of players that emerged from the tests of 2017 put together a spectacular year on the field as the USA went unbeaten at 18-0-2. The USA won the SheBelieves Cup, U.S. SOCCER 2019 the Tournament of Nations and rolled through the Concacaf Women’s World Cup qualifying tournament, winning all five games by a 26-0 margin, to qualify for France. In 2019, the core group of players will focus on continuing to gel as some of the younger players continue to gain experience and improve the team’s depth, all with the goal of peaking this summer at the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup. Of course, many of the veterans who helped the USA to so much success over the past few years will be a major part of the team moving forward, but Ellis has made it clear that “if you are standing still, you are falling behind,” and will continue to evaluate players while focusing on developing relationships on the field as she and her staff work to formulate a best World Cup roster and starting XI for France. This much is clear: despite once again maintaining the top spot in the FIFA Women’s World Cup rankings for the entire year, the U.S. team is working hard to evolve and improve in the increasingly competitive arena of women’s international soccer. COUNTDOWN TO THE CUP The USA’s schedule in 2019 will be busy and challenging with U.S. Soccer announcing in December of 2018 the “Countdown to the Cup,” a 10-game tour leading into the Women’s World Cup that will take the USA to Europe for two games at the start of the year before staging eight domestic matches through all four times zones in the continental USA. Those games will give fans across the country a chance to cheer the team on to France while providing excellent tests during the final World Cup preparations. The annual January training camp will for the first time be staged in Europe, with the USA conducting a “pre-season” training camp in the familiar Algarve region on the southern coast of Portugal before traveling to face World Cup hosts France in Le Havre and then up-and- coming Spain in Alicante. In late February and early March, the USA will host the fourth annual SheBelieves Cup which features four of the top women’s National Teams in the world when England, Japan and Brazil play three doubleheaders across three venues. The U.S. players will then head to their pro clubs in the spring, but the USA will play five friendlies before departing U.S SOCCER 2019 PREVIEW 3 for France. In early April, the USA will take on Australia in Colorado and then face Belgium for U.S. WNT the first time in a game that will be staged in Los Angeles. In May, the USA will play its three- game “Send-Off Series,” taking on South Africa in Santa Clara, Calif., New Zealand in St. Louis and a final match against Mexico in Harrison, N.J. before the World Cup squad boards the plane to France. WNT HISTORY TALENT, DEPTH HIGHLIGHTS 2019 FOR USWNT While a solid core of veterans who played in the most recent Women’s World Cup and Olympics will lead the USA towards 2019, there have been some new faces in the U.S. team which have invigorated the roster and added valuable depth. Ellis and her staff are relishing the challenge of CUP HISTORY WORLD putting together the best team and lineup possible. As usual on the U.S. WNT, the selection of rosters for camps and games is a difficult proposition, but Ellis and her staff like it that way. It means the competition within the squad is increasing, and Ellis has stated that performance – not past accomplishments – will dictate who earns those coveted spots on the World Cup roster. At the end of 2014, the U.S. Women dropped from the top spot in the FIFA Women’s World Rankings, a position it had held for seven years, to second, but regained the #1 spot in July of 2015 and has kept it ever since, meaning the USA heads into the new year once again as the world’s top ranked team. Over the past 15 years, since the end of the 2003 FIFA Women’s PROGRAMS World Cup through the end of 2018, the U.S. team has lost just 17 matches in regulation. The American women will look to build on the tradition that has made the USA one of the most successful women’s soccer nations in history, winning four Olympic gold medals and three Women’s World Cup tournaments, as they focus on achieving success at the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup in France.