Western Sydney Wanderers striker Lynn Williams is among the 20 players named in the United States roster for their Olympic Games qualifiers.
New head coach Vlatko Andonovski leads USA into the eight-team CONCACAF Women’s Olympic Qualifying Championship tournament, from January 28-February 9 in Texas.
The Stars and Stripes will face Haiti, Panama and Costa Rica at BBVA Stadium in Houston and they must advance and win a semi-final tie to book one of two places at Tokyo 2020 in July and August.
Should they qualify, Andonovski will need to reduce his squad to 18 players for the United States’ first major tournament since former boss Jill Ellis stepped down following back-to-back FIFA Women’s World Cup triumphs.
Williams, who has 21 caps for the USA, was left out of the squad for France 2019 but she has since impressed in a 12-goal National Women’s Super League campaign for champions North Carolina Courage, behind only Chicago’s Sam Kerr in the Golden Boot chart.
A move Down Under followed and the 26-year-old backed up her strong 2019 form with four goals in five Westfield W-League matches to help Western Sydney transform into title contenders.
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“Lynn Williams has something that probably not many players on this team [have]”
“If she plays at the nine, she’s a good complement to Carli [Lloyd],” her coach Andonovski said.
“Lynn Williams is a little more an open field player where she’s able, with her speed and explosiveness, to get behind back lines so that will just add another weapon to the team.”
USA have been crowned gold medallists in four of the six tournaments since a women’s football competition debuted at the Atlanta 1996 Olympic Games.
They missed the chance to clinch four golds in a row at Rio de Janeiro 2016 when they fell to eventual silver medallists Sweden in a penalty shootout following a 1-1 draw in the quarter finals.
Williams is set to feature in Western Sydney's home match against Perth Glory on Sunday before the Westfield W-League breaks for the international window.
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Western Sydney Wanderers v Perth Glory
Sunday, 19 January 2020
Kick-off: 4pm AEDT
Venue: Bankwest Stadium
Broadcast: ABC TV, FOX Sports
Stream: MyFootball Live App, Kayo Sports, ABC iView
