AUCKLAND, New Zealand — After entering as a second-half substitute in the United States’ first two games at the 2023 Women’s World Cup, Rose Lavelle will make her first start of the tournament Tuesday against Portugal (kickoff at 3 a.m ET on FOX and the FOX Sports app.) in both teams’ Group E finale.
U.S. coach Vlatko Andonovski made just one other change to the lineup that started the Americans’ first World Cup two games, bringing in veteran forward Lynn Williams for the 21-year-old Trinity Rodman.
Lavelle, who helped the Americans win the 2019 World Cup, replaces Savannah DeMelo, as she did off the bench against both the Netherlands and Vietnam. The 28-year-old Lavelle’s will partner with Lindsey Horan in central midfield for the USWNT.
It was Lavelle’s pinpoint corner kick that set up Horan’s equalizer against the Dutch in the comeback draw against the Dutch last week in Wellington, New Zealand.
“Rose is one of the best players in the world,” Andonovski said the day before the match. “And not having her fully for 90 minutes in the first two games obviously impacted the team because coming into this World Cup, she was penciled in as a starter a long time ago.
“The impact of Rose’s injury is not just the games or the minutes that she didn’t play because we had to restructure things, or we had to find that next starter, and figure out how the players around would play with Rose. But when she’s on the field, I mean we can see how she can impact the game and how important she is for the team.
“From the defensive standpoint and also from the attacking standpoint, she does generate chances and make things happen on the field individually or in combination with other players. So, we’re very happy that her minutes have been increasing and looking forward to the next game and to see her more on the field.”
This is Williams’ first World Cup appearance. The 30-year-old was a member of the U.S. squad that won a bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics two years ago, scoring in the quarterfinal victory over the Netherlands.
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 at @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.
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