Emma Hayes names USWNT roster for final 2024 friendlies: No Rodman, Swanson or Smith

The U.S. women’s national team roster is set for the final two friendlies of the year against England and the Netherlands, with coach Emma Hayes naming 24 players to her training camp roster. Once again, new names and potential debuts are on the line for the national team. This time, Manchester United goalkeeper Phallon Tullis-Joyce and Utah Royals FC forward (and under-20 USYNT captain) Ally Sentnor got their first call-ups under Hayes.

Notably, the starting front line from the Olympics is not included for the final two games, with Sophia Smith, Mallory Swanson and Trinity Rodman getting rest after a busy year for the players. Rodman will also be busy with the Washington Spirit this weekend as they face the Orlando Pride in the NWSL Championship.

Rodman might get to go home after Saturday’s final between the Spirit and the Pride, but teammates Casey Krueger and Hal Hershfelt as well as Orlando’s Emily Sams will be making the trip from Kansas City to Heathrow later this weekend to join up with the rest of the squad.

Speaking about the roster after Monday’s reveal, Hayes said the decisions regarding Rodman, Smith and Swanson were taken “in the best interest” of the players.

“Not one of these players wants to ever miss a game for playing for their country,” Hayes said. “I want to be really clear about that. But I want to make sure these players are prepared for a long time to come. When you’re in the back end of a season, you’ve played a lot. Your body’s tired, your mind’s tired. That’s where, you know, sometimes it can become risky.”

The big news ahead of the roster announcement was Ajax midfielder Lily Yohannes committing to the U.S. She’ll be the only teenager on the national team this time around, as both Alyssa Thompson and Jaedyn Shaw turn 20 years old this month.

Goalkeepers (3): Mandy Haught (Utah Royals FC), Phallon Tullis-Joyce (Manchester United), Alyssa Naeher (Chicago Red Stars)

Defenders (9): Tierna Davidson (Gotham FC), Emily Fox (Arsenal), Eva Gaetino (PSG), Naomi Girma (San Diego Wave FC), Casey Krueger (Washington Spirit), Alyssa Malonson (Bay FC), Jenna Nighswonger (Gotham FC), Emily Sams (Orlando Pride), Emily Sonnett (Gotham FC)

Midfielders (6): Korbin Albert (PSG), Sam Coffey (Portland Thorns FC), Hal Hershfelt (Washington Spirit), Lindsey Horan (Lyon), Rose Lavelle (Gotham FC), Lily Yohannes (Ajax)

Forwards (6): Yazmeen Ryan (Gotham FC), Emma Sears (Racing Louisville FC), Ally Sentnor (Utah Royals FC), Jaedyn Shaw (San Diego Wave FC), Alyssa Thompson (Angel City FC), Lynn Williams (Gotham FC)

While this is Yohannes’s third call-up to the national team, it’s the first following her commitment to the United States earlier this month. She was at camp with the team during the 2024 SheBelieves Cup but did not play. She earned her first cap during a June friendly against Korea Republic and scored in her USWNT debut.

There are already high expectations around Yohannes and what she might offer the USWNT midfield, but Hayes and her technical staff have already shown a clear pattern of patience, allowing Yohannes time and space to make a crucial decision. While Yohannes already has big game experience with Ajax and in Champions League play, there’s plenty of time between the first couple of friendlies as an official USWNT player and World Cup qualification to allow her to settle in with the team.

As much as the development of such a potential talent is crucial, there is the small matter of the final friendly of the year taking place in the Netherlands — the other nation that was vying for Yohannes. This one will feel personal for the teenager.

On Monday, Hayes didn’t hold back expressing her excitement for Yohannes’ commitment, calling it “massive for us.”

“Everybody’s showing the importance of, you’ve got to get the plan right when someone like Lily is faced with such an interesting choice, but she has been really clear with me,” Hayes said. “I had a really good chat with her this week. The camp she came into in May was such an enjoyable one for her that she’d been thinking about that ever since.

“She really wants to progress now with her international career, and she knows she has to work hard with the playing pool being as strong as it is. But I think she’s an exceptional talent, and I’m delighted that we can develop a very young Lily Yohannes over the next few years to prepare her for a future with the national team.”

After Hayes gave seven uncapped players their debuts during the last international window — during the Olympics victory tour, no less — finding minutes for just two new players should probably seem a fairly simple task.

Hayes has expanded the depth chart of the goalkeeper pool once again this window, bringing in Tullis-Joyce from Manchester United (formerly of Reign FC). While Tullis-Joyce made the move to Manchester in September 2023, she only became the team’s starting goalkeeper following Mary Earps’s move to PSG but has picked up six clean sheets in her eight games played so far this season. United are currently fifth in the Women’s Super League standings but remain undefeated in league play.

Tullis-Joyce trained with the U.S. U-23s while in college, but does not have any youth national team appearances.

On the other end of the youth national team experience spectrum, Sentnor has finally earned her long-expected senior team call-up following this summer’s bronze-medal finish at the under-20 World Cup. She scored multiple goals during that run, including against the Netherlands in the third-place game.

Sentnor was also the No. 1 pick for the Royals in the 2024 NWSL draft and was a clear bright spot for the team during the rough start to the season. She is also a finalist for the NWSL rookie of the year award.

The USWNT will face England at Wembley Stadium on Nov. 30 at 12:20 p.m. ET, before traveling to the Netherlands for its final game of the year on Dec. 3 at 2:45 p.m. ET from ADO Den Haag Stadium.

Hayes highlighted the opportunities for a range of players on the latest roster with “so many different permutations within that.”

“We’re in a different stage, you know. I’m not preparing for Euros next summer, like England and (the) Netherlands are now,” she said. “I’m preparing to qualify for a World Cup in 2027, so I need to do this. And I like doing these things; I’ve developed rosters over a long period of time. (Players) don’t improve just by having them on the roster. We have to give them the opportunities to do that.”

She added she has “no fear whatsoever to be able to put out a very different team, if that’s what we choose to do, against England.”

“Look at last camp,” she said. “From Alyssa Thompson to Emma Sears, you know, to Eva Gaetano, they’re demonstrating that they deserve opportunities to be seen again. I’ve no hesitation whatsoever, including having a Lily Yohannes. If you’re good enough, you perform well enough, then you’ll always be in consideration for the roster. Very, very excited to see them.”

This article originally appeared in The Athletic.

US Women’s national team, Soccer, NWSL

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