Three questions for USWNT ahead of Olympics after Gold Cup roster reveal; Mal Swanson, Catarina Macario roles?
CBSN
The USWNT's Gold Cup roster confirms the team is still in an exploratory phase
The U.S. women's national team might be headed to another tournament but the youth-inspired roster for this month's Concacaf W Gold Cup leaves plenty of questions to be answered as the Olympics rapidly approach.
Interim head coach Twila Kilgore will oversee a squad that closely resembles the group that took part in the USWNT's friendlies against China in December, which were treated as a chance to expand the player pool. With a mix of veterans like Alyssa Naeher and Crystal Dunn, the team's new core players like Sophia Smith and Naomi Girma, and exciting newcomers like Jedyn Shaw and Mia Fishel, the shortlist of candidates for a ticket to Paris seems to be locked in.
Combined with mainstays like Alex Morgan and Becky Sauerbrunn, who will sit out the Gold Cup, and soon-to-return talents like Mallory Swanson and Catarina Macario, incoming head coach Emma Hayes will have around 30 players to choose from come July. It will be no small task, though, considering the Olympics roster is just 18 players plus four alternates.
