USWNT looks to the future while honoring past champions with first games since World Cup

The U.S. women are celebrating two of their biggest departing stars while bringing in two players who could have big roles in the future.

The USWNT's first two games since that early exit at the World Cup are all about Julie Ertz and Megan Rapinoe, two-time World Cup champions who will play their final matches next week. Ertz will have her sendoff Sept. 21 in Cincinnati while Rapinoe will get hers in Chicago on Sept. 24. Both games are against South Africa, which reached the knockout rounds for the first time at the World Cup.

"They've both been instrumental in helping to create the program that we currently have and winning ways," interim coach Twila Kilgore said Tuesday after announcing her 27-woman training camp roster. "They've helped drive the game forward. But also, off the field, they've both contributed to making sure the whole soccer landscape is progressing forward, especially women."

There isn't a whole lot of room for nostalgia, however. With the Paris Olympics now less than 11 months away, however, Kilgore is using the camp to begin some of the changes needed after the USWNT's disappointing showing in Australia and New Zealand.

That includes bringing in players likely to play big roles in the next World Cup cycle. And beyond.

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Jaedyn Shaw, the 18-year-old who has five goals for the San Diego Wave, got her first invite to a USWNT camp while Mia Fishel got her second callup. Fishel, who transferred to Chelsea last month after becoming the first foreign player to win the Golden Boot in the Mexican league, was at the USWNT's camp in October 2020 but is uncapped because no games were played then due to the COVID pandemic.

"They have a lot of talent and we view them as high potential," Kilgore said. "The idea was bringing them into the environment ... just to expose them to the current environment, help with their onboarding, get them used to what the expectations are and make sure they have a pathway for the future."

All but two players from this summer's World Cup roster are back, with Sophia Smith and Kristie Mewis missing due to injuries. Defender Tierna Davidson, a key player on the team that won the 2015 World Cup, is back after being passed over for Australia and New Zealand. Ashley Hatch, a surprise omission from this summer's roster, also made the squad.

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Not on the roster is Catarina Macario, who missed the World Cup with a torn ACL. Macario has resumed training with her new club, Chelsea, and Kilgore said she's doing a "really good job" with her recovery program.

"As we continue the search for our new head coach, we felt it was best to call up all of World Cup players who are fit to play, while also bringing in some players that we believe can help us moving forward as we start our preparations for the Olympics next year," U.S. Soccer Sporting Director Matt Crocker said. "Once the new head coach comes in, that individual will assess the player pool and make roster decisions that will be focused on building a team for the future."

The USWNT went to the World Cup as the two-time defending champion and left in its earliest exit ever at a major tournament, losing to Sweden on penalty kicks in the round of 16. It's also the first time the USWNT had failed to reach the semifinals at the World Cup.

After scoring three goals in the opener against Vietnam, the Americans managed just one more goal in their last three games despite having multiple chances against both the Netherlands, its second opponent in the group stage, and Sweden. They looked tentative and disjointed, and their struggles to finish was a recurring problem under coach Vlatko Andonovski.

Now Andonovski is gone, and the USWNT will use these next two games to honor its past while trying to address its immediate future.

"Dual priorities is a good way to describe it. It's really important that we honor both (Rapinoe and Ertz) for who they are in our environment, but also who they are as people and what they've given to this program," Kilgore said.

"It's (also) really important we do have a conversation and address" the World Cup, Kilgore added later. "But also quickly take the learnings from that, close the door and start looking forward toward the Olympics."