WASHINGTON, May 2 (Xinhua) -- US head coach Jill Ellis Thursday named the 23-strong roster for this summer's Women's Soccer World Cup in France.
"Selecting a World Cup team is a long process, and I want to thank the players - the ones that made the final team and the ones that didn't - for all of their hard work over the past two and a half years," said Ellis.
"They all pushed each other in every training session and every game and challenged the coaches to make some tough decisions. These 23 players have been through adversity and success, and it's a group that has the talent, confidence, experience and desire to help us win the World Cup," the coach added.
Among the roster, 12 players were part of the 2015 Women's World Cup championship team. Veteran striker Carli Lloyd was named to her fourth Women's World Cup roster.
"Even though this is my fourth World Cup roster, it's just as special as the first one I was named to. It's a different chapter of my career, this most likely being my last World Cup, but it's an honor to be among this talented group we have going to France. Even though we won in 2015, there's still so much hunger on this team to go after that trophy and I'm looking forward to this experience with my teammates as it will be one of biggest and most exiting challenges of our careers," Lloyd said.
The roster will not become official until it is submitted to FIFA on May 24, which is the deadline for all teams to submit their final squads.
The Women's World Cup starts June 7, and the US is grouped with Thailand, Chile and Sweden, with first match against Thailand on June 11.
