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Message: [QUOTE="Dillon77, post: 3996035, member: 6620"] I know a few of you also follow the U.S. National Women's Soccer Team that just announced their 18-person roster on Wednesday. That announcement was followed very closely because the roster size is down from 23 in the World Cup and the preliminary matches have only two days between them. I've cut and pasted an article from the excellent soccer writer, Dan Lauletta on two personnel decisions that also involved inuries: "Injuries, as they often do, also played into roster decisions. Forward [B]Tobin Heath [/B]was injured playing for Manchester United in January and has not played in a competitive match since. Middie [B]Julie Ertz[/B] was injured in mid-May and also has yet to play since. Both were included on the roster, which brings up unpleasant memories from 2016. Megan Rapinoe had torn her ACL in December 2015 and (then Coach/Manager Jill) Ellis took her to the Olympics despite no game action in between. After not being able to even play in the group stage, Rapinoe made a brief appearance in the quarterfinal, a game Ellis badly mismanaged that ended in defeat (on penalty kicks). "Ertz and Heath still have two games ahead of the Olympics to get some base back into them, but with a short roster and tight schedules, there is a lot riding on the pair being healthy enough to withstand the rigors of the event." U.S. Coach Vlatko Andonovski, who makes the personnel decisions, decided to bring not one, but two, of the starters from the World Cup, despite the fact that U.S. Soccer -- like basketball -- has depth galore. BTW, Coach A. named 4 alternates, which include one at each position. The only official public comments on Nneka's omission (from Coach Staley) have mentioned her physical condition. No one knows the true extent of her (or DT's) injury -- or those of Ertz and Heath -- but U.S. Soccer is rolling the dice twice on its vets. Hoops split the difference (unless the Nneka decision was based on more than health). [/QUOTE]

Verification: First name of men's bb coach