USWNT using same starting lineup for pivotal Netherlands match

Doug McIntyre

Soccer Journalist

Laken Litman

College Football & Soccer Analyst

WELLINGTON, New Zealand — Rose Lavelle is not in coach Vlatko Andonovski’s lineup for the United States‘ high-stakes Group E match against the Netherlands in both teams’ second game of the 2023 Women’s World Cup on Wednesday night.

Andonovski went with the exact same starting 11 that he used in last week’s 3-0 win over Vietnam. Lavelle, whose goal in the 2019 final against the Dutch sealed a second straight World Cup win for the Americans, came off the bench in the Vietnam match, playing the final 27 minutes plus stoppage time. She came close to scoring, but her header rattled off the crossbar.

In Lavelle’s place once again is World Cup rookie Savannah DeMelo, who made her first career start for the USWNT in the opener in Auckland. Trinity Rodman also retained her place on the right wing over fellow forward Lynn Williams, who scored against the Netherlands in the quarterfinals of the Tokyo Olympics two years ago. The Americans went on to win that match in the penalty-kick tiebreaker. Lavelle scored the first U.S. goal in the shootout in that match.

Lavelle, who suffered a knee injury in an April friendly against Ireland that kept her out until the opener, said after the Vietnam game that she told Andonovski she was capable of playing however many minutes he needed her to, including the entire match if necessary.

“Rose is fine and I’m happy that she’s available for selection,” the coach told reporters Tuesday.

It’s also worth nothing that U.S. co-captain Lindsey Horan is sitting on a yellow card from the first match against Vietnam. Should she receive another against the Dutch, she will miss the USWNT’s third group game against Portugal. The Oranje‘s Danielle van de Donk is in the same situation for her squad.

The Dutch will also be without a projected starter Wednesday night. As expected, the Netherlands will be missing starting forward Lineth Beerensteyn because of an ankle injury. Katja Snoeijs will take her place.

Both teams came into this World Cup shorthanded up top; star Dutch striker Vivianne Miedema was ruled out before the competition because of a long term knee injury, same as U.S. forwards Catarina Macario and Mallory Swanson.

Doug McIntyre is a soccer writer for FOX Sports. Before joining FOX Sports in 2021, he was a staff writer with ESPN and Yahoo Sports and he has covered United States men’s and women’s national teams at multiple FIFA World Cups. Follow him on Twitter @ByDougMcIntyre.

Laken Litman covers college football, college basketball and soccer for FOX Sports. She previously wrote for Sports Illustrated, USA Today and The Indianapolis Star. She is the author of “Strong Like a Woman,” published in spring 2022 to mark the 50th anniversary of Title IX. Follow her on Twitter @LakenLitman.