Opposition Research – Women's Soccer Express

USWNT: Brazil roster for the friendlies with the USA

For its first encounter with the United States Women’s National Team since last year’s gold medal match in the 2024 Summer Olympics, Brazil will have nine starters from that clash available, compared to just six for the USA. Overall, 12 of Brazil’s 22 players from last year’s Olympics have been named by head coach Arthur Elias to their roster for the upcoming friendlies against the USWNT.

Among the nine gold medal match starters are all three front line players: Gotham FC’s Gabi Portilho, who had the game-winner in the quarterfinals against France (NBC highlights) and also scored against Spain in their semifinal (NBC highlights). Ludmila, now of the Chicago Stars, was a dangerous presence in the gold medal match, where she could have had a goal in the second minute and later had a goal cancelled by the offside flag (NBC highlights). The 23-year-old Jheniffer, who joined Tigres of the Liga MX Femenil in January (Instagram), scored against Japan during the group stage, via an assist from Ludmila (NBC highlights).

Also on the present roster is Adriana, who won the double with Orlando Pride last season, but now plays in Saudi Arabia. During second-half stoppage time of the gold medal match, Adriana had a diving header saved by USWNT goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher (NBC highlights). However, Adriana was not denied in Brazil’s semifinal, where she headed home what would be the game-winner against Spain (NBC highlights).

Mexico U-23 WNT: Mexico holds its first-ever Under-23 camp — One NWSL pro and five NCAA players called up

After hiring a permanent head coach in February, the Mexico Under-23 Women’s National Team is holding its first-ever camp, which got underway on Monday, March 31, at its federation’s High Performance Center.

In charge of the Mexico U-23s is Vanessa Martínez Lagunas (LinkedIn profile), who played collegiate soccer at the University of Texas and was capped by the senior Mexico Women’s National Team. Prior to being hired by the Mexico Football Federation, she served as the head coach of the women’s soccer program at Canada’s University of Manitoba (coach bio). Martínez has a doctorate degree in sports science from Leipzig University in Germany.

The 26-player roster for this camp, which runs through Tuesday, April 8, includes six players currently based in the United States. The remaining 20 athletes all play professionally in Mexico’s Liga MX Femenil.

The only NWSL professional is Angel City FC goalkeeper Breanna Norris, who was signed by ACFC on a roster relief contract that runs through the end of June (ACFC press release). The 5’10” Norris played four seasons of NCAA soccer at the University of Portland (player profile) where she was the West Coast Conference Goalkeeper of the Year in her final two seasons.

Five players called up are currently on collegiate teams: Maribel Flores, USC Trojans; Isabella Gutiérrez, East Carolina Pirates; Xcaret Pineda, Oklahoma State Cowgirls; Giana Riley, Florida State Seminoles; and Val Vargas, UCLA Bruins.

February 2025 International Window: Roster Round-Up

Here are quick summaries of the rosters for the following women’s national teams:

For the rosters of the United States Women’s National Team (#1), Australia (#15), Colombia (#21), and Japan (#8), which are all participating in the SheBelieves Cup, see “2025 SheBelieves Cup: Roster Round-Up, Match Schedule, and TV/Streaming Details”.

2025 SheBelieves Cup: Roster Round-Up, Match Schedule, and TV/Streaming Details

With the 2025 SheBelieves Cup kicking off on Thursday, February 20th, here is a round-up of all four teams’ rosters and related articles, plus the tournament’s match schedule.

2025 SheBelieves Cup: Colombia roster announced — Three NWSL players called up, no Manuela Vanegas

Despite the Colombia Women’s National Team and the United States Women’s National Team playing each other seven times in the last five years, Chelsea forward Mayra Ramírez has not faced the USA. That streak should end on Thursday, February 20th, when the USWNT hosts Colombia on the first night of the 2025 SheBelieves Cup.

Not among the 23 players called up by head coach Ángelo Marsiglia are two core defensive players: Center-back Manuela Vanegas, who suffered an ACL injury in January (Real Sociedad news item) and had surgery earlier this month (Instagram), and goalkeeper Catalina Pérez, who is still recovering from a meniscus tear suffered during training at the 2024 Paris Olympics (Werder Bremen news item).

Another key absence is midfielder Ilana Izquierdo, whose senior season at Mississippi State (player profile) was cut short in October 2024 due to an apparent ankle injury (news article, Instagram). Izquierdo started two of Colombia’s four matches at the Paris 2024 Olympics and started all four of their matches at last year’s Concacaf W Gold Cup.

The only other players not called up from Colombia’s official squad for the 2024 Summer Olympics are 32-year-old midfielder Liana Salazar, who only played 35 minutes over two substitute appearances, and veteran goalkeeper Sandra Sepulveda, who was promoted from alternate to substitute following Pérez’s injury.

Among the 14 Olympians from 2024 that were called up are all five of Colombia’s goal-scorers from the tournament, including Washington Spirit midfielder Leicy Santos, who netted twice. The other four goals were scored by Mayra Ramírez, West Ham forward Manuela Pavi, Monterrey midfielder Marcela Restrepo, and Colombia’s most capped player, midfielder/forward Catalina Usme, who has 119 caps.

Real Madrid forward Linda Caicedo, the recipient of many deserved superlatives, did not score at the 2024 Olympics, but she did find the back of the net twice at the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup, where she had goals against Germany and the Korea Republic. Caicedo will turn 20 years-old during the SheBelieves Cup, on February 22nd.

In addition to Santos, the two other NWSL players called up are Racing Louisville center-back Ángela Barón, who was an unused substitute at last year’s Olympics, and Utah Royals outside-back Ana María Guzmán, who is on loan from Bayern Munich, who played in the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup, but missed the Olympics due to a knee injury.

2025 SheBelieves Cup: Japan roster announced — Washington Spirit’s Narumi Miura returns, Utah Royals forward Mina Tanaka also called up

Updates:

17-Feb-2025: Defender Rion Ishikawa has been withdrawn. (JFA news item)
18-Feb-2025: Angel City’s Miyabi Moriya has been called up to replace Ishikawa. (JFA news item)
19-Feb-2024: Kiko Seike has been withdrawn and replaced with Manaka Matsukubo of the North Carolina Courage. (JFA news item)

(Note: Except for the roster list and table, the names of Japan’s players will be in the Western format, with given names before family names.)

For his first matches in charge of the Japan Women’s National Team, head coach Nils Nielsen has opted for an experienced and mostly foreign-based squad that features just four players from the WE League. Of the 23 players named to Japan’s squad for the 2025 SheBelieves Cup, 19 were members of Nadeshiko Japan’s roster for the Paris 2024 Olympics.

Three players, including Washington Spirit midfielder Narumi Miura, have been recalled after extended absences. Miura, who was a member of Japan’s squads for the COVID-delayed Tokyo 2020 Olympics and the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup, returns for her first camp since September 2023. The other two players are defender Saori Takarada, who also returns for the first time since September 2023, and Yuka Momiki, whose last call up was the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. Both Takarada and Momiki had stints in the NWSL, with the Washington Spirit and OL Reign, respectively.

The only other current NWSL player named to the original roster was forward Mina Tonaka of the Utah Royals. Not making the original cut this time were two North Carolina Courage midfielders, who were both members of Japan’s squad for the 2024 FIFA Under-20 Women’s World Cup: Manaka Matsukubo and the freshly signed Shinomi Koyama.

Late on February 18th, the Japan Football Association announced that Matsukubo has been called up to replace Kiko Seike.

Both Courage players were called up for Japan’s last camp in October 2024 (jfa.jp), but remain uncapped at the senior level. Nielsen, who has only been in charge since December, has stated that for the next international window, he is planning to bring in more inexperienced players (Japanese news article), so Koyama could be called up then.

Meanwhile, the most questionable player omission from the original roster was recent Angel City signee Miyabi Moriya, especially given that the announced roster has just one player, Hikaru Kitagawa, who is primarily an outside-back. Moriya started at right outside-back in Japan’s last three matches during the 2024 Olympics after Manchester City’s Risi Shimizu suffered an ACL injury in their opening match (Man City news item). On February 18th, Moriya was called up to replace center-back Rion Ishikawa.

In addition to Shimizu, the only other player from the 2024 Summer Olympics not called up is goalkeeper Shu Ohba, who played NCAA soccer for Ole Miss (profile). In her place, the uncapped Akane Okuma, who was Japan’s starting goalkeeper at the 2024 FIFA Under-20 Women’s World Cup, returns for her second straight camp, after first being called up for Japan’s last friendly, which was in October 2024. (No camp was held during the November/December international window.)

2025 SheBelieves Cup: Player Spotlights — Australia

Although the Matildas roster for the 2025 SheBelieves Cup includes plenty of veterans, there are several players worth mentioning that may not be familiar to those outside of Australia.

A-Leagues hightlights video for Daniela Galić (YouTube)

Leading that list is Daniela Galić, an 18-year-old attacking midfielder, was branded “the future of Australian football” before she even turned pro, and after two pro seasons in Australia, is now playing in the Netherlands for FC Twente, which currently sits two places below Ajax, a team with a teenage attacking midfielder that has been the subject of similar pronouncements (si.com, backheeled.com): Lily Yohannes, who committed to the United States Women’s National Team last November.

One player on the Matildas roster is uncapped: 23-year-old forward Laini Freier, who only made her pro debut in December 2024, but had back-to-back hat-tricks later that month. Laini has a twin sister, Sharn Freier, who will be joining VfL Wolfsburg later this year.

Other notable players with just a handful of caps include forward Holly McNamara, who, at age 22, has already battled three ACL injuries, and 27-year-old center-back Natasha Prior who retired at age 21 due to concussion concerns but earned her first international cap last year after a strong performance in her first full pro season back.

Additionally, 23-year-old outside-back Charlotte “Charli” Grant, who has 29 caps for Australia, has primarily played the role of an understudy so far, but could be looking at a starting role in the next FIFA Women’s World Cup.

2025 SheBelieves Cup: Australia roster announced — Plenty of familiar names, plus “teenage sensation” Daniela Galić, the uncapped Laini Freier, and a healthy Holly McNamara

Update: (17-Feb-2025): Midfielder Clare Wheeler has been withdrawn due to a thigh injury. The uncapped Alana Murphy of the Melbourne Victory has been called in as a replacement. (matildas.com.au) Also, the Australia WNT has published the players’ shirt numbers for this tournament (Instagram).

While the USA’s roster for the 2025 SheBelieves Cup will likely feature a significant number of less experienced players, the Australia Women’s National Team, which is once again under the direction of Tom Sermanni, though only in an interim capacity, will feature 15 players who played in 25 or more senior international matches, including six who each have over 100 caps.

Among the 23 Matildas players named for this friendly tournament are all 11 starters from Australia’s 1:2 loss to the United States Women’s National Team in the group stage of the 2024 Paris Olympics, plus five of their seven substitutes. Just one of those 18 players, Claire Polkinghorne, has retired (press release), while the other absent player, North Carolina Courage forward Courtnee Vine, continues to be on leave for mental health reasons.

Three current NWSL players were named to the roster: Center-back Alanna Kennedy, who signed with Angel City in January, Portland Thorns goalkeeper Mackenzie Arnold, and San Diego Wave outside-back Kaitlyn Torpey, who is listed as a forward. Seven more Matildas players on this roster have previous NWSL experience, including forwards Caitlin Foord and Hayley Raso, who are both former Portland Thorns players, as well as outside-back Steph Catley, who played for three NWSL clubs from 2014 to 2019, and recent San Diego Wave midfielder Emily van Egmond. Additionally, goalkeeper Teagan Micah played NCAA soccer for the UCLA Bruins from 2016 to 2019 (Micah’s UCLA profile).

The most hyped player selected for this roster is also, unsurprisingly, its youngest. Only a teenager, she is an attacking midfielder who currently plays in the Netherlands for a team that was in the UEFA Women’s Champions League this season. Yes, the Matildas have their own Daniela Galić, who will undoubtedly be the subject of comparative articles involving the USWNT’s Lily Yohannes.

CANWNT: Casey Stoney announced as new head coach of the Canada Women’s National Team

On Monday, Canada Soccer officially announced the appointment of former San Diego Wave head coach Casey Stoney as the next head coach of the Canada Women’s National Team. Details of Stoney’s contract, namely its length, were not made public.

Stoney’s first matches as head coach of Canada will be a trio of friendlies at the Pinatar Cup in Spain during the February international window. The opponents for these matches have not yet been publicly announced.

At least part of Stoney’s salary and/or benefits are being funded through non-revenue sources, including donations to Canada Soccer. From the press release:

Stoney’s appointment is supported by philanthropic contributions to Canada Soccer, and she is the first beneficiary of a new fund established specifically to support women in elite coaching.

USWNT: Netherlands Roster for their December 2024 friendly against the USA

For the final international window of 2024, Netherlands Women’s National Team head coach Andries Jonker originally called up 26 players for friendlies against China and the United States Women’s National Team. On December 1st, forward Fenna Kalma replaced the withdrawn Damaris Egurrola.

The team continues to be without their all-time leading goal-scorer, Vivianne Miedema (120 caps, 96 goals; OnsOranje.nl profile), who underwent knee surgery for the second time this year, back at the end of October (Man City news item). She previously had “minor” knee surgery around March 1st (BBC). Miedema missed the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup due an ACL injury (The Guardian) and has only played five matches for the Netherlands WNT since September 2022 (OnsOranje.nl match log).

Five other players were also not available due to injuries or health reasons:

Midfielder Victoria Pelova (55 caps, 4 goals; OnsOranje.nl profile), who suffered an ACL tear during a Women’s Euro qualifier in June 2024 (Arsenal.com).
Defender Aniek Nouwen (43 caps, 2 goals; OnsOranje.nl profile) sustained an ACL tear in December 2023 (Chelsea news item) and is expected to be back to match fit in January 2025 (x.com post).
Forward Katja Snoeijs (34 caps, 12 goals; OnsOranje.nl) has been dealing with a leg injury (BBC) and was rested for this camp (OnsOranje.nl recap of China friendly).
Defender Caitlin Dijkstra (23 caps, 1 goal; OnOranje.nl profile), who suffered an ankle injury in May 2024 and underwent ankle surgery in late July 2024. (Wolfsburg news item). She was expected to be out for “several months”.
Defender Merit Auée (uncapped; OnsOranje.nl profile) due to an unspecified injury (OnsOranje.nl recap of China friendly).

One other player, defender Merel van Dongen (63 caps, 2 goals; OnsOranje.nl profile) was not called into due to her playing for Monterrey in the second leg of the Liga MX Feminil Apertura Final on Monday, November 25th (OnsOranje.nl recap of China friendly).