U.S. women’s soccer Tokyo Olympics roster features Carli Lloyd, Megan Rapinoe

Vlatko Andonovski’s roster for next month’s Olympic soccer tournament features few surprises, with the U.S. coach selecting 18 women who have combined for 26 Women’s World Cup medals, eight Olympic golds and nearly 2,000 games of international experience.

Topping that list in all three categories is Carli Lloyd, a two-time world and Olympic champion and just the third player in U.S. history to earn more than 300 international caps.

“Obviously my goal is to help the team win gold,” said Lloyd, a two-time world player of the year and the only person to score the game-winning goal in two Olympic finals. “I’ve never felt this fit in my career. I’ve never felt this explosive. My game has evolved over the years and I’ve become smarter tactically as well.”

The Olympic selection is the fourth for Lloyd, who will turn 39 a week before the U.S. kicks off in Tokyo, making her the oldest soccer Olympian in U.S. history. Tobin Heath will be playing in a fourth Olympic tournament as well although her selection was in doubt because of ankle and knee injuries that have kept her off the national team since November.

Andonovski also chose holding midfielder Julie Ertz, a world and Olympic champion who sustained an MCL strain in her right knee last month. Perhaps the biggest surprise was midfielder Kristie Mewis, the older sister of World Cup winner Samantha Mewis, who got the final roster spot over speedy forward Lynn Williams. Kristie Mewis is the only player on the roster who was not on the 2019 Women’s World Cup team.

With Ertz questionable and the U.S facing a schedule that will see it play six times in 17 days if it reaches the final, Andonovski took midfield depth over an extra attacker. The 18 players Andonovski selected average 30.8 years of age and 111 international caps. Five players are from California (Tierna Davidson, Abby Dahlkemper, Alex Morgan, Christen Press and Megan Rapinoe)

The U.S. will begin group play at Tokyo Stadium on July 21, two days before the Opening Ceremony, when they face Sweden, the team that knocked the Americans out of the 2016 Rio Olympics in the quarterfinals. That marked the only Olympic tournament in which the U.S., a four-time champion, did not reach the final.

The U.S. will also play New Zealand and Australia in the group stage.

The team is 20-0-1 in 21 games under Andonovski and unbeaten in its last 42 games (38-0-4) overall, which includes a perfect run through the 2019 Women’s World Cup under Jill Ellis. But Andonovski, a successful NWSL manager who took over the national team in the fall of 2019, has never played or coached in a major international championship.

Press says the roster he chose has enough experience to make up for that.

“Our system is a well-oiled machine. And there’s a culture of winning,” she said. “Because we have that history and culture, we have such experienced players. And we also have the past to look at, and to study and Vlatko’s definitely a student and a learner.

“That’s what continues to give us the edge.”

The U.S. will take four alternates to Tokyo: Williams, goalkeeper Jane Campbell, defender Casey Krueger and midfielder Catarina Macario. None of the four have made a world championship roster at the senior level. During the Olympics, teams can make a roster change because of injury at any time.

The U.S. will play Mexico in East Hartford, Ct., in a pair of send-off games July 1 and July 5 before leaving for Japan.