This seems curious…..
"Christen Press also was not named. She sustained a knee injury with club side Angel City last weekend, later confirming that she had suffered a torn ACL, but Andonovski said she would not have been included even if she was healthy."
That seems like an unnecessary comment by Andonovski, but perhaps he was simply responding to a question (which he could have left unanswered).
Press is talented, so it's surprising. As they are building for 2023 and 2024, perhaps it has to do with age. She's currently 33. Let's look at the age of the forwards that are on the team:
Sophia Smith - 21
Trinity Rodman - 20
Megan Rapinoe - 35
Margaret Purce - 26
Mallory Pugh - 24
Alex Morgan - 32
Ashley Hatch - 27
I also found this, at:
The U.S. women's national team's World Cup Qualifying roster raised questions about the absence of NWSL star forward Christen Press.
justwomenssports.com
"Andonovski later said that Press’ top priority for inclusion on future USWNT rosters is good health. Then, it comes down to how she compares to other forwards on the team’s stacked depth chart. Before the Olympics last summer, Press had been
on a tear with the USWNT, heavily contributing to the team’s goal-scoring opportunities. The two-time World Cup champion is ninth on the team’s all-time scoring list, with 64 goals in 155 caps since 2013.
“I think that she is performing well, but it’s not just her,” Andonovski said. “For Christen to be back on the field, it’s not just to do well or perform well in her club environment. It’s also outperform the players that she’s competing against … like Mal Pugh and Sophia Smith and Alex Morgan, Ashley Hatch, Trinity Rodman. It’s not easy to be a forward in the United States right now. Obviously it’s great, but it’s not easy because the competition just got bigger and bigger.”
www.espn.com
