USWNT superstar Carli Lloyd signs with Manchester City Women, the U-20s look to qualify for a third straight World Cup and Sacha Kljestan receives a promotion.
Carli Lloyd signs with Manchester City Women
Carli Lloyd, widely considered the best women’s soccer player in the world, has signed with Manchester City Women of the Women’s Super League through June, after which she will return to her NWSL club, the Houston Dash.
It's official now!!! So excited to have signed with @ManCityWomen and can’t wait to get started with the team and my new challenge ahead. pic.twitter.com/tgFeGQlDe9
— Carli Lloyd (@CarliLloyd) February 15, 2017
It’s a huge signing for City, who won the league championship in 2016. Lloyd is the reigning FIFA World Player of the Year, and also won the award in 2015. She’s a World Cup champion and a two-time Olympic Gold Medalist. Lloyd has made 231 appearances and scored 94 goals in her international career so far, and is the current captain of the USWNT. Never forget:
Lloyd is the latest USWNT member to make the jump to Europe during the NWSL offseason. Alex Morgan signed a half-season contact with French club Lyon — an even more high profile destination than Manchester City. She, too, will return to her NWSL club, the Orlando Pride, after her stint in France.
Two USWNT members made the switch to England prior to Lloyd. Crystal Dunn, one the brightest young American stars, signed with Chelsea in early January with the deal running through 2018. Long-time USA stalwart Heather O’Reilly signed with Arsenal a few weeks later on an 18-month contract. Her days with the USWNT are probably over, but the versatile 32-year-old will be of great use to Arsenal Ladies.
Unlike Lloyd and Morgan, Dunn and O’Reilly signed permanent deals, providing no indication they would return to the States to play their club soccer any time in the near future. So this trend of moving to Europe is not just for those looking for competitive games until NWSL play starts back up. For some, it’s the best next step in their careers.
Baby Nats set to kickoff World Cup Qualifying tournament
Manager Tab Ramos called in 20 U-20 players back on Feb. 9. This squad will take part in what is technically the CONCACAF Championship in Costa Rica. The tournament features 12 teams from around the region. They’re divided into three groups of four, with the top two teams in each group advancing to the second phase. In the end, the two teams that make the final qualify for the 2017 U-20 World Cup in Korea, which starts in early May.
As you might expect, the roster includes a heavy dose of MLS players as well as a handful from the college level. A few — including Luca de la Torre and Marlon Fossey of Fulham (the return to Fulhamerica perhaps?), and Jonathon Gonzalez of Monterrey — ply their trade outside the USA borders.
An interesting inclusion is Jonathon Klinsmann, but it’s interesting only for the simple fact that his father is recently fired, former USMNT head coach and US Soccer technical director Jurgen Klinsmann. Hopefully his teammates give him a lot of crap for that.
Speaking of Klinsmann — Jurgen, that is — the youth teams failed to meet the goals he had laid out when he took over the program. For instance, the U-23 men’s team failed to make the Olympic tournament in 2012 and 2016 while under Klinsmann’s guidance.
The only squad that had any real success during this period was the Tab Ramos-led U-20s: they’ve qualified for the last two U-20 World Cups, making it to the quarterfinals in 2015 behind the play of Emerson Hyndman and Rubio Rubin.
The US start off the tournament against Panama on Feb. 18 at 4 p.m. ET. They then meet Haiti on Feb. 21 at 5:30 p.m. ET. Their final group match will be on Feb. 24 at 5:30 p.m. ET against Saint Kitts and Nevis. We’ll know by March 3 whether or not they’ve qualified for the World Cup. All matches are being broadcast on the CONCACAF Facebook page for free, which is awesome. They can also be viewed on Univision Deportes Network.
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Extras
Sacha Kljestan has been named the new captain of the New York Red Bulls after Dax McCarty was traded to the Chicago Fire. Kljestan has been outstanding for New York over the last couple of seasons, and led the league in assists in 2016 with 20.
The attacking midfielder has had a resurgence with the national team over the past year after an extended period of absence. Bruce Arena utilized both Kljestan and McCarty in the recent USMNT friendlies, although Kljestan looks more likely to receive steady playing time than his former club teammate.
MLS newcomers Minnesota United FC have signed Josh Gatt, who was most recently with Molde in Norway. The winger was a sort of muse for USMNT supporters in years past due to his blinding speed.
Gatt, however, has had terrible luck with injuries, which have kept him out of contention for a regular spot with the national team. Here’s hoping he sets MLS on fire and gets to don one of those terrible red USMNT jerseys in the near future.