Lineup Notes: USA Faces Brazil with Tournament of Nations Title On the Line

USA vs. Brazil
Date: Aug. 2, 2018
Venue: Toyota Park; Bridgeview, Ill.
Broadcast: FS1
Kickoff: 7:30 p.m. CT

Tonight’s Starting XI vs. Brazil: 1-Alyssa Naeher; 22-Emily Sonnett, 12-Tierna Davidson, 4-Becky Sauerbrunn, 19-Crystal Dunn; 2-Julie Ertz, 9-Lindsey Horan,16-Rose Lavelle; 17-Tobin Heath, 13-Alex Morgan (capt.), 15-Megan Rapinoe

Subs: 3-Samantha Mewis, 5-McCall Zerboni, 6-Morgan Brian, 7-Abby Dahlkemper, 8-Amy Rodriguez, 10-Carli Lloyd, 11-Merritt Mathias, 14-Casey Short, 20-Allie Long, 21-Adrianna Franch, 23-Christen Press, 24-Ashlyn Harris 

U.S. Team

• Alex Morgan and Megan Rapinoe are the only two players to start every game so far in 2018.
• The USA is 8-0-2 in 2018, with wins against Denmark, Germany, England, Mexico (twice), China PR (twice), Japan and ties against Australia and France.
• The USA is unbeaten in its last 18 matches (15-0-3). The USA has outscored its opponents 54-16 through that stretch, scoring in all 18 games.

Starting Lineup

• Alyssa Naeher will earn her 32nd cap tonight in her club’s home stadium at Toyota Park. This will be her eighth cap of 2018 after earning 13 in 2017. She is the fifth goalkeeper in U.S. history to earn 30 or more caps. She has 15 career shutouts.
• Emily Sonnett will earn her 20th cap tonight. It will be her sixth start of 2018. Sonnett missed the China PR games in June due to injury. She played excellent games at right back against England on March 7 and Mexico on April 5 (going 90 minutes in each) and again on April 8 vs. Mexico. Before her first appearance of this year on Jan. 21, 2018 vs. Denmark off the bench, her most recent cap had come on Oct. 19, 2016 vs. Switzerland.
• Tierna Davidson started and played 90 minutes on July 26 vs. Japan. The Australia game on July 29 was the first of her WNT career where she did not start or play. She had previously started every one of her nine caps so far. She will enter double digits tonight, earning her 10th start and cap. Davidson is the third teenager since 2013 to earn a first cap for the WNT. Mallory Pugh (17 in 2016) and Lindsey Horan (19 in 2013) are the most recent teenagers to debut for the WNT.
• Becky Sauerbrunn, who did not play against Japan in the first ToN match as the U.S. medical staff managed her comeback from a minor injury, but did play all 90 minutes against Australia, will earn her 141st cap tonight. Sauerbrunn is in 20th place on the all-time caps list. She is one of 27 female players to play 130 or more times for the USA.
• Crystal Dunn will earn her 67th cap tonight and makes her eighth consecutive start in 2018. She will once again start tonight’s game as an outside back. She has 23 international goals.
• Julie Ertz will earn her 64th cap and has scored 15 international goals. The 2017 U.S. Soccer Female Player of the Year got 2018 off to a great start, scoring the game-winner on Jan. 21 vs. Denmark, before the knee injury caused her to miss a few games.At last year's Tournament of Nations vs. Brazil on July 30, 2017, Ertz scored the dramatic game-winner in the 89th while playing defensive midfielder, and then grew into the position the entire year, scoring five more while putting in numerous top-notch performances.
• Lindsey Horan will earn her 54th cap. She has scored six international goals, with her most recent one being the dramatic game-tying goal against Australia in the 90th minute on July 29. She is the co-leader in goals in the NWSL with nine.
• Rose Lavelle will earn her 11th career cap tonight and make her first start since Sept. 19, 2017. A hamstring injury suffered against Norway on June 11, 2017 kept her off the field for club and country until the last few months when she returned to USA and NWSL play. She came off the bench on July 26 against Japan in the 64th minute and was also on the field against Australia when the USA tied the match in the 90th minute. She had come on in the 79th minute. Lavelle made her U.S. WNT debut on March 4, 2017 against England – the 14th player to be given a first cap under Ellis – and earned her first two senior team caps at the 2017 SheBelieves Cup. She scored her first international goal, against Russia, on April 9.
• Tobin Heath will make her second consecutive start for the U.S. WNT after taking the field against Australia on July 29. The start on Sunday marked her first since March 7, 2017. After being out of the National Team for most of 2017 and 2018 due to injuries, Heath returned to the U.S. roster for the two matches against China PR in June. She did not play in the first game, but on June 12, made her first appearance since Sept. 19, 2017, and came off the bench to score the game-winner in the 2-1 victory in Cleveland. It was her 19th international goal. Heath will earn cap No. 136 and is in 25th place on the USA’s all-time caps list. She came off the bench against Japan on July 26 and almost immediately set up a goal.
• Alex Morgan comes into the match with 89 goals after scoring her fourth career hat-trick against Japan on July 26, and will earn her 145th cap tonight. At age 29, she sits in sole possession of seventh place on the USA's all-time goal scoring list. She’s scored 16 goals over her last 17 WNT matches. She leads the WNT with nine goals in 2018.
• Megan Rapinoe makes her 140th international appearance today. She has 38 career goals after scoring against Japan on July 26. She has moved ahead of April Heinrichs and Sydney Leroux into sole possession of 15th place on the all-time goals list. She leads the USA with eight assists on the year and now has 52 for her career, sitting in seventh place in U.S. history.