CHRISTEN PRESS

Megan Rapinoe and Alex Morgan have been included on the U.S. national soccer team roster for the upcoming CONCACAF W Championship, which will determine four of the region’s teams in the 2023 Women’s World Cup.

Carli Lloyd scored a career-high five goals and the United States routed Paraguay 9-0 on Thursday in the national team’s first game since the Olympics.

Jessie Fleming scored on a penalty kick in the 74th minute and Canada earned a 1-0 semifinal victory over the United States in the Olympic women’s soccer competition.

Mental health has been a discussion in sports the past year but became the topic of these Olympics when gymnast Simone Biles chose self-care over sporting success.

The Americans rebounded from their opening loss to Sweden with a 6-1 rout of New Zealand in front of the First Lady in the women’s soccer tournament at the Tokyo Olympics.

While it certainly wasn’t the Olympic start the U.S. women’s soccer team had anticipated, a rare loss didn’t skewer the squad’s hopes for gold.

The U.S. women's national team has become adept at shutting out all the outside distractions at big tournaments and the Tokyo Olympics are no different.

With the Olympics right around the corner, the final rosters and teams are shaping up, and that includes the U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team.

Carli Lloyd is headed to her fourth Olympics.

The defending champion U.S. team blanked Canada in the round-robin tournament opener and then downed Brazil 2-0 on Sunday. Argentina, a late addition after Japan dropped out because of coronavirus concerns, did not win a match but did impress with gritty performances. Rapinoe is the top SheBelieves career leader with seven goals, including three in this edition. It was Lloyd's 124th international goal and it came in her 299th appearance with the national team. “It's always nice to be recognized, but I think there were other people that deserved it more.”The United States improved to 4-0 against Argentina.

The United States sits atop the SheBelieves Cup standings with two wins. But not only a goal, the way we played our attack in the first 20 minutes," Brazil coach Pia Sundhage said. It was Press' 10th goal in her last 13 national team games and 59th international goal. Alex Morgan made her first start for the national team since giving birth to daughter Charlie last year. The U.S. beat Canada 1-0 in its SheBelieves Cup opener on Thursday, while Brazil beat rival Argentina 4-1.

Tottenham Hotspur's Alex Morgan warms up ahead of the the English Women's Super League soccer match between Tottenham Hotspur and Reading at the Hive stadium in London, Saturday, Nov. 7, 2020. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)LONDON – Nearly two months after signing, American superstar Alex Morgan finally made her debut for Tottenham as a second-half substitute in a 1-1 draw against Reading in the Women’s Super League on Saturday. Morgan came on in the 69th minute and didn't score in her first match in around 15 months, having given birth in May to daughter Charlie Elena Carrasco. She is among a raft of American players to have moved to English soccer for this season, with Rose Lavelle and Sam Mewis at Manchester City, and Tobin Heath and Christen Press at Manchester United. ___More AP soccer: https://apnews.com/Soccer and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

Manchester United's Tobin Heath celebrates scoring against West Ham United during the FA Women's Super League match at Victoria Road Stadium, London, Sunday Oct. 18, 2020. (John Walton/PA via AP)LONDON – England’s soccer leadership has a couple of priorities for the women’s teams. “We, of course, want to win a major tournament. But to do that, we don’t want to just win a major tournament once. We want to continue to win a major tournament for years ahead."

FILE - In this March 8, 2020, file photo, United States forward Christen Press looks for a pass during the second half of a SheBelieves Cup soccer match against Spain, in Harrison, N.J. Press says she wants to honor Kobe Bryant by playing for Manchester United wearing a No. The American's usual No. 23 was already taken when she signed for a season with the English club earlier in September, 2020. (AP Photo/Steve Luciano, File)

23 jersey already claimed, Christen Press had a decision to make when she joined Manchester United. 24 Kobe Bryant dying in a helicopter crash at the age of 41. “When I wasn’t able to wear my normal number, I definitely chose this (24) with a little nod to Kobe, because I’m an LA girl,” Press said. “For most of my career, I would have said I’m a nine,” Press said, referencing the traditional jersey number for a center forward. “I’m reluctantly accepting that I’m a veteran player and that I’m now one of the oldest players on the team, but younger than Tobin," Press said.

LONDON – Stepping back inside Old Trafford this week took Tobin Heath back eight years, to one of the wildest Olympic soccer matches ever played. Heath will soon be hoping to play at Old Trafford again. “This is huge for a club like this to have a women’s team,” Heath said. Strange too for Heath that the scheduled November meeting with Arsenal will be at the Leigh Sports Village on the outskirts of Manchester rather than Old Trafford. “I had all the feels when going back there," she said, “and any footballer’s dream would be to play for Manchester United and to play at Old Trafford.”___More AP soccer: https://apnews.com/Soccer and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

ORLANDO – A poor start to the season didn’t get much better for the Orlando Pride on Saturday. The Pride are now winless in four games to start the year following a 1-0 loss to the Utah Royals at Orlando City Stadium. Christen Press scored the game’s only goal in the 19th minute for the Royals, who ended up outshooting the Pride, 17-15. The Pride did have 10 corner kicks to Utah’s five, but they couldn’t cash in on those chances and fell to 0-3-1 on the season. Next up for the Pride is a game at the Houston Dash on May 5.