The United States' Rose Lavelle and Lynn Williams will start in the 2023 Women's World Cup for the first time as the team concludes group play against Portugal on Tuesday.
Lavelle, awarded the Bronze Ball as the third-best player in 2019 as the US team won its second straight Women's World Cup, had come off the bench in the side's opening two matches this year. The United States beat Vietnam 3-0, then tied 1-1 with the Netherlands.
Lavelle has 24 career goals in 90 appearances for her country, including the second goal in the United States' 2-0 win over the Netherlands in the 2019 championship match.
Savannah DeMelo moved to the bench to clear a spot for Lavelle in the starting line-up.
The XI in Auckland ????#USWNT x @Visa pic.twitter.com/s189ve123O
— U.S. Women's National Soccer Team (@USWNT) August 1, 2023
Coach Vlatko Andonovski's other move ahead of the Portugal match was to plug Williams into the line-up ahead of Trinity Rodman. Williams was set to make her Women's World Cup debut, which will be her 54th appearance in a US jersey. She has 15 career international goals.
The United States' back line – Crystal Dunn, Naomi Girma, Julie Ertz and Emily Fox – was unchanged, and goalie Alyssa Naeher was set to make her 10th Women's World Cup start.
A win or a draw against Portugal (1-1-0, 3 points) would send the United States (1-0-1, 4 points) to the round of 16, though a multi-goal win might be needed to secure the top spot in Group E. The Netherlands (1-0-1, 4 points) was set to face Vietnam (0-2-0, 0 points) in a game kicking off at the same time.