Five Thorns Return to USWNT Camp

Lindsey Horan, Allie Long, Adrianna Franch, Emily Sonnett and Meghan Klingenberg have been called up to the US Women’s National Team camp ahead of their first game of 2018 against Denmark in San Diego, scheduled to take place January 21st.

Meghan Klingenberg returns to camp for the first time since June 2017. We’re very close to the USWNT allocations being announced for the coming year, and Kling being involved means she looks good for continued subsidization. It’s very good news for the Thorns, even if it’s unclear how much of a role she will play in the national team at this stage.

Emily Sonnett is set to rack up even more airline miles as she makes the long journey from Sydney to San Diego. While she’s away, her Sydney FC team will be facing Perth Glory and Sam Kerr in a match that has serious W-League playoff consequences; which isn’t ideal, but she has to show up for the people that pay her bills at the end of the day.

AD Franch again returns to a camp with three other keepers, all of whom will look on as Alyssa Naeher plays another either solid or unconvincing 90 minutes. Lindsey Horan is set to make her 44th cap, and Allie Long could be in contention for her 34th.

Tobin Heath is still out of camp with lingering effects from the ankle injury she suffered in the NWSL final. We certainly hope she’s just being rested, and that she recovers in time to play in the 2018 season. It doesn’t seem like an injury that should keep her on the bench for 7 months, but neither did her last injury, so we aren’t making any assumptions at this stage. Here’s hoping for a speedy recovery.

With the new roster announcement, the Thorns are looking at having potentially six USWNT subsidized players on their roster going into the season and one (Christine Sinclair) from Canada for seven total national team subsidized players, which is a lot: at time of writing, the Utah Royals have the second most with five subsidized players.

Elsewhere in the camp are 2018 NWSL draft contenders Andi Sullivan and Savannah McCaskill along with likely future first round pick Tierna Davidson.