U.S. women's national team head coach Greg Ryan named 20 players who will compete in the 2006 CONCACAF Women's Cup, which serves as qualifying for the 2007 Women's World Cup.
The USA faces the winner of the Mexico-Trinidad & Tobago quarterfinal on Nov. 22 in the Gold Cup semifinals at the Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif. (TV: Fox Soccer Channel, live, 7 pm PT/10 pm ET). Canada faces the winner of the Jamaica-Panama quarterfinal in the first game of the Nov. 22 doubleheader. The two semifinal winners advance to China '07, along with the winner of the third-place game four days later.
The USA carries a 30-game unbeaten streak into the Gold Cup — 29 games under Ryan. Despite the retirement of stars Mia Hamm, Julie Foudy and Joy Fawcett and the emergence of Canada and Mexico as international powers, the USA remains the team to beat in the CONCACAF region.
The USA can count on the experience of 11 players who won Olympic gold medals two years ago, including captain Kristine Lilly, who upped her career totals to a world-record 317 caps and 116 goals while winning the Golden Ball as the tournament MVP at the recent Peace Queen Cup in South Korea. Abby Wambach, another 2004 Olympian, will lead the U.S. attack, having scored 15 goals with eight assists in 2006.
Ryan called up three collegians — forwards Heather O'Reilly (North Carolina) and Danesha Adams (UCLA) and defender Stephanie Lopez (Portland) — to go along with 17 player he took to South Korea earlier this month.
USA GOLD CUP ROSTER
GOALKEEPERS: Briana Scurry (Dayton, Minn.), Hope Solo (Richland, Wash.).
DEFENDERS: Lori Chalupny (St. Louis, Mo.), Tina Frimpong (Vancouver, Wash.), Stephanie Lopez (Elk Grove, Calif.), Kate Markgraf (Bloomfield Hills, Mich.), Heather Mitts (Cincinnati, Ohio), Christie Rampone (Point Pleasant, N.J.), Cat Whitehill (Birmingham, Ala).
MIDFIELDERS: Angela Hucles (Virginia Beach, Va.), Carli Lloyd (Delran, N.J.), Marci Miller (St. Charles, Ill.), Leslie Osborne (Brookfield, Wis.), Aly Wagner (San Jose, Calif.).
FORWARDS: Danesha Adams (Shaker Heights, Ohio), Natasha Kai (Kahuku, Hawaii), Kristine Lilly (Wilton, Conn.), Heather O'Reilly (East Brunswick, N.J.), Lindsay Tarpley (Kalamazoo, Mich.), Abby Wambach (Rochester, N.Y.).
(2004 Olympic gold medalists in bold.)