U.S. Women: Heinrichs names roster for Japan game

Carla Overbeck, making her final international appearance, is among 16 players on April Heinrichs’ roster for the U.S. friendly against Japan on Dec. 17 at Bank One Ballpark in Phoenix. Kickoff is at 3 p.m. MT and the game will be televised live on ESPN2. Overbeck, the long-time U.S. captain, will retire from the national team but will continue playing, for the Carolina Tempest of the WUSA. Heinrichs, the U.S. coach, named 14 players from the U.S. team that took silver in the 2000 Sydney Olympics. A couple of college all-Americans — Washington goalkeeper Hope Solo and Connecticut midfielder/forward Mary-Frances Monroe — round out the current roster. Heinrichs may add one or two more players before the match. The match will be the first in the state of Arizona for the U.S. women since Jan. 20 and 23, 1995, when the Americans played Australia in two matches at the Cave Creek Complex, wining the first 5-0 and the second 4-1. The match against Japan, which concludes the three-game “Glory Tour,” will be the 42nd and final game of the busiest year in the U.S. women’s history. The USA shattered its record for most matches in a year, which was set in 1999 at 29 games, and with the onset of the WUSA, will likely never play that many games in a year again. Four players from the Olympic team will not make the trip as goalkeeper Briana Scurry has family commitments, defender Danielle Slaton is soon to undergo minor knee surgery, forward Cindy Parlow is due to undergo foot surgery to release pressure on a nerve and defender Joy Fawcett is pregnant with her third child, due sometime next June. Fawcett plans to continue playing internationally as well as for her WUSA club, the San Diego Spirit, perhaps joining the team in time for the end of the league’s inaugural season. U.S. Roster