Megan Rapinoe and Allie Long Called Up for USWNT Friendlies

U.S. Women’s National team head coach Jill Ellis has named Reign FC’s Allie Long and Megan Rapinoe to the roster for the U.S. Women’s National team’s upcoming friendlies against Australia and Belgium. The friendlies are the penultimate phase of preparation ahead of the U.S. WNT’s road to France for the 2019 Women’s World Cup.

The U.S. will take on sixth-ranked Australia and Reign FC’s Lydia Williams, Steph Catley and Elise Kellond-Knight at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City, Colo. on Thursday, April 4 at 6 p.m. PT. Australia recently swept the FFA’s inaugural Cup of Nations, outscoring opponents 9-1 across three matches.

The WNT will play 21st-ranked Belgium at Banc of California Stadium in Los Angeles, Calif. at 6 p.m. PT. Belgium, which failed to qualify for the World Cup, recently finished third in the Cyprus Women’s Cup after edging Austria 3-2 on penalties.

Long was recently called into the USWNT camp in February leading up to the SheBelieves Cup, but was not named to the final 23-player roster. Long has represented the Stars and Stripes 40 times dating back to 2014, including victories in the 2018 SheBelieves Cup and the 2018 Tournament of Nations.

Rapinoe played all three matches for the U.S. in the SheBelieves Cup, scoring twice. The 33-year-old midfielder has helped the WNT to victories in the 2015 World Cup and a gold medal in the 2012 Olympics, to go with a second-place finish in the 2011 World Cup.

Reign FC continues its preseason with the Thorns Spring Invitational next week in Portland. The Reign will play the U.S. WNT U23s on Sunday, March 24, the Chicago Red Stars Wednesday, March 27, and the Portland Thorns Saturday, March 30.

The Reign’s final preseason match will be against the University of Washington at Husky Soccer Stadium in Seattle Friday, April 5 at 7:30 p.m. PT.