Meet 2015 U.S. women's soccer team
As the U.S. women's national soccer team pursues another quest for World Cup glory, here's your chance to get to know the players.
In this photo, Sydney Leroux #2 and Christen Press #23 celebrate after Leroux scored the game-winning goal against the Canadian Women's National Team.
Alex Morgan
Alex Morgan combined her love of soccer with her desire to help kids by authoring the first book in a series about four soccer players called "The Kicks," a collection of books for fourth through sixth graders. The first in the series, "Saving the Team," started at number seven on The New York Times Best Seller List.
Morgan was the U.S. Soccer Female Athlete of the Year in 2012 and a finalist for FIFA World Player of the Year in 2013. She was a member of the gold medal winning 2012 U.S. Olympic women's soccer team.
Morgan was sidelined by a bone bruise in her left knee and wasn't in the starting lineup for the team's first World Cup match against Australia, but did sub in at the tail end.
Position: Forward
Age: 25
Hometown: Diamond Bar, California
Club: Portland Thorns FC
Abby Wambach
Striker Abby Wambach is the youngest of seven children, and she says excelling at sports was an easy way for her to get familial attention, growing up.
Despite being one of the United States' most famous players -- heroically heading in numerous notable goals to advance her team to the next round at the last possible second -- Wambach has never actually won a World Cup.
"I want to change that in 2015," she says.
Position: Forward
Age: 35
Hometown: Rochester, New York
Club: Unattached
Hope Solo
Hope Solo is the starting goalkeeper for the U.S. National Women's Team. She led her 2011 team to the final in Germany and was named the Golden Glove winner. Solo is also an Olympic gold medalist from 2008.
Megan Rapinoe
Megan Rapinoe is expected to be a central figure in the pursuit of the 2015 World Cup for the U.S. She assisted the winning goal with an incredible cross to clinch the U.S. gold medal victory against Japan in the 2012 London Olympics. Rapinoe also scored two goals in the exciting semi-final against Canada.
Position: Midfielder
Age: 29
Hometown: Redding, California
Club: Seattle Reign FC
Carli Lloyd
According to her official bio, her coach would tell her stories of the greats - how Mohammad Ali would train on Christmas morning because he knew no one else would be, how Bruce Lee would do 10,000 sits up a day. That made an impression on Lloyd, so she always gives that little something extra to her efforts.
She lists her most memorable goals as the game winning one she scored in the 2012 Olympics against France and the two she racked up against Japan that helped the U.S. win the gold medal.
Position: Midfielder
Age: 32
Hometown: Delran, New Jersey
Club: Houston Dash
Christie Rampone
Rampone is the captain of the U.S. National Team. She's started more international matches than any other active player on the planet. She's the only "99-er" still on the field, in reference to the legendary team that transfixed the country by wining the 1999 World Cup..
Position: Defender
Age: 39
Hometown: Point Pleasant, New Jersey
Club: Sky Blue FC
Ali Krieger
Because the U.S. pro league was shut down when Ali Krieger graduated from Penn State she headed to Germany to continue playing soccer. Krieger means "warrior" in German so her teammates called her "The Warrior Princess."
And Krieger is a warrior in more ways than one. She survived the horrific experience of having a broken leg lead to blood clots after flying. Those clots led to a pulmonary embolism and series of mini heart attacks. It took her six months to recover.
In the 2011 Women's World Cup, Kreiger played every minute of the six U.S. matches.
Position: Defender
Age: 30
Hometown: Dumfries, Virginia
Club: Washington Spirit
Alyssa Naeher
Alyssa Naeher was the starting goalkeeper for the team that won the FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup in Chile in 2008. The reigning National Women's Soccer League goalkeeper of the year, Naeher is Hope Solo's understudy.
Position: Goalkeeper
Age: 27
Hometown: Bridgeport, Connecticut
Club: Boston Breakers
Amy Rodriguez
Amy Rodriguez is called "A Rod" by her teammates. She was still a high school senior at the time she first joined the U.S. women's national team in 2005. Rodriguez was a member of the 2012 Olympic Gold medal-winning team.
Position: Forward
Age: 28
Hometown: Lake Forest, California
Club: FC Kansas City
Ashlyn Harris
Ashlyn Harris played on all boys teams up through high school, which taught her how to defend herself. Once when an opposing player called her a boy, Harris picked up a dead catfish and smacked the kid in the face with it. As one of her teammates at the time, Nick, said, "She could always protect herself," and clearly she's good at standing her ground AND protecting the net too.
She's also got stamina: Harris played every minute of all 19 games she started in 2014 with a 10-5-4 record. She did the same in 2013.
Position: Goalkeeper
Age: 29
Hometown: Satellite Beach, Florida
Club: Washington Spirit
Becky Sauerbrunn
One of the biggest moments in the U.S. match against Australia, June 8, 2015 came when Becky Sauerbrunn chased down Sam Kerr to block her goal attempt. The winning goal for the Americans came a few minutes later, thanks to Christen Press.
Position: Defender
Age: 30
Hometown: St. Louis, Missouri
Club: FC Kansas City
Christen Press
Christen Press was the WPS (Women's Professional Soccer) Rookie of the Year in 2011. She was the first American to ever be awarded the Golden Boot and is the 2010 Hermann Trophy winner. In college, she clinched the all-time scoring record at Stanford.
Position: Forward
Age: 27
Hometown: Palos Verdes Estates, California
Club: Chicago Red Stars
Heather O'Reilly
Midfielder Heather O'Reilly is a three-time Olympic gold medalist. She scored the fastest goal in Olympic women's soccer history against New Zealand to earn the team a spot in the quarterfinals.
Age: 30
Hometown: East Brunswick, New Jersey
Club: FC Kansas City
Julie Johnston
As a kid, soccer was "everything" to Julie Johnston. It also got her a full college scholarship, though at Santa Clara students had to prove themselves on campus for a year first. Her husband, fellow athlete Zach Ertz, is a tight end for the Philadelphia Eagles.
This will be Johnston's World Cup debut.
Position: Defender
Age: 23
Hometown: Mesa, Arizona
Club: Chicago Red Stars
Kelley O'Hara
Kelley O'Hara was one of three players on the U.S. 2012 Olympic team who played every minute of the competition. She showed her prowess initially at Stanford, scoring 57 goals, tallying 23 assists, and winning the 2009 Hermann Trophy as the top collegiate soccer player in the country.
Position: Defender
Age: 26
Hometown: Fayetteville, Georgia
Club: Sky Blue FC
Lauren Holiday
Even open heart surgery at three-years-old didn't slow down Lauren Holiday. She has always been a go-getter. Sports ability runs in her family. Holiday married point guard Jrue Holiday of the New Orleans Pelicans. Their wedding dress rehearsal turned into a pickup basketball game (not enough guests for soccer?).
Holiday is a key part of the U.S. team's attack. She's an adept passer and scorer.
Position: Midfielder
Age: 27
Hometown: Indianapolis, Indiana
Club: FC Kansas City
Lori Chalupny
As a five-year-old, Lori Chalupny spent all two-and-a-half hours of the after school program she attended playing soccer with the boys on the blacktop. She said, "I'd literally turn black from the asphalt."
When Chalupny isn't on the field as a player, she's an assistant coach at Washington University in St. Louis.
Position: Defender
Age: 31
Hometown: St. Louis, Mo.
Club: Chicago Red Stars
Meghan Klingenberg
Strangely enough, Meghan Klingenberg's soccer skills were enhanced by Taekwando. The now third-degree black belt credits Taekwando for helping her get over being a timid player on the soccer field. This is her World Cup debut.
Klingenberg was an alternate for the 2012 Summer Olympics and has international experience having played two seasons with the Swedish club, Tyresö FF, from 2012 to 2013.
Position: Defender
Age: 26
Hometown: Gibsonia, Pennsylvania
Club: Houston Dash
Morgan 'Plankton' Brian
At 22, Morgan Brian is the youngest member of USA's 2015 Women's World Cup Team. Brian was raised in St. Simon's Island where there was a big soccer culture and she says, "everybody played." With a small population, though, there weren't enough players for teams at every level, so Brian often played against older kids. She ended up with the nickname 'Plankton' because of her size compared to those older kids.
Position: Midfielder
Age: 22
Hometown: St. Simons Island, Georgia
Club: Houston Dash
Sydney Leroux
Sydney Rae Leroux moved to the U.S. by herself, leaving her mom behind in British Columbia, at the age of 14 to pursue her soccer dreams in Arizona.
Leroux gets her athletic prowess from both sides of her family: Her mother, Sandi, played third base for the Canadian national softball team. Her father, Ray Chadwick, did a stint as a professional baseball player with the California Angels in 1986.
Playing for the UCLA Bruins, Leroux was named First team All-American, Soccer America's MVP First Team and was a semi-finalist for the Hermann Trophy to boot.
Leroux won an Olympic gold medal in 2012 in London as the youngest member of the U.S. team.
Position: Forward
Age: 25
Hometown: Scottsdale, Arizona
Club: Western New York Flash
Tobin Heath
Tobin Heath would find her way to a soccer field morning, noon and night at the University of North Carolina.
Position: Midfielder
Age: 27
May 29, 1988
Hometown: Basking Ridge, N.J.
Club: Portland Thorns FC
Whitney Engen
Whitney Engen's first love was gymnastics, but luckily for the U.S. National Soccer Team she switched her focus to soccer. Lucky for her, she also ended up as a kid on a team with her future National teammate Christen Press. Her parents fostered her competitive spirit throughout her childhood.
Position: Defender
Age: 38
Hometown: Rolling Hills Estates, California
Club: Western New York Flash
Shannon Boxx
Shannon Boxx is playing her fourth and final Women's World Cup this year. Raised by a single mom, who worked long hours to support her kids, Boxx and her older sister spent a great deal of time at the park across from where they lived, playing sports. Boxx's sister, Gillian, went on to win an Olympic Gold Medal in softball, while Shannon found that soccer was her forte... winning three olympic gold medals. Shannon has been on the national team for a decade.
Position: Midfielder
Age: 37 (turns 38 June 29th)
Hometown: Redondo Beach, California
Club: Chicago Red Stars