Hi all,
With a month remaining before the season opener, last-minute deals across the NWSL are intensifying. It’s also exciting to see who is receiving international call-ups in this window.
International Call Ups
For starters, the senior US Women’s National Team called up midfielder Riley Jackson for the second consecutive time. That’s a bigger deal than you might think.
Jackson, a regular on the U-15, U-17 and U-20 teams, received her first senior team call up in January. But that camp was an anomaly, with coach Emma Hayes only calling up NWSL players to give European players a break. Even then, Gotham FC players such as fellow midfielders Jaedyn Shaw and Rose Lavelle were also unavailable, competing in Europe at the time. In other words, more spots were open to experiment with players who hadn’t yet made a senior team roster.
Jackson made the most of her opportunity, notching an assist to Trinity Rodman, and a beautiful cross to Emma Sears that nearly resulted in another goal, but it bounced off the woodwork.
Now, the Gotham players and most of the key European players are back, excepting Cat Macario, possibly due to injury. Midfielder Croix Bethune also hadn’t had enough training time due to her recent move to Kansas City to receive a call up.
Even so, it’s a robust roster, and this second call up means Jackson earned another look from Emma Hayes. Hayes has said she’s aiming for consistency from this point forward, working with a core groups of players entering the 2027 Women’s World Cup, the 2028 Summer Olympics, and perhaps the 2031 World Cup as well. Hayes has taken measures to ensure the younger national squads are well supported. The coach wants to be able to fluidly move players if needed. Jackson appears to be on that bubble.
In either case, Jackson continues to be a rising star for the U.S. The Courage need this from a fan-investment standpoint, despite having a reasonably strong stable of international players. Nothing turns out fans quite like the USWNT players.
And speaking of the international players, new keeper Kailen Sheridan was called up to Canada to compete against the USWNT in the SheBelieves Cup.
Midfielder Manaka Matsukubo was called up for Japan to compete in the AFC Women’s Asian Cup.
New forward Evelyn Ijeh was called up to Sweden Women’s National Team to compete in the World Cup qualifiers.
NWSL news and highlights
- There have been two massive moves in the last week. First, midfielder Claire Hutton moved from Kansas City to Bay FC. Then, KC signed Croix Bethune from the Washington Spirit. Both are USWNT players and great pickups for their respective clubs.
- Stephen Goff published a nice interview with Trinity Rodman regarding her decision to stay with the Washington Spirit (after all the salary cap issues with NWSL were cleared).
- Savy King was cleared to play for Angel City again after her scary incident last season.
That’s the major news for this week. We’ll be back next week with both a newsletter and a preseason podcast, so stay tuned!
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