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The United States will play five friendly matches with Sweden before the opening of the Olympic Games on July 21
The head coach of the US women’s national team, Vlatko Andonovski, is looking forward to the important duo Julie Ertz and Tobin Heath to participate in the Olympics in time.
Heath hasn’t seen the stadium since January Due to an ankle injury and knee problems, Oetz sprained his right knee MCL during the NWSL game against the Chicago Red Stars last month.
Although Andonowski is optimistic about the progress of the two men, he did warn that Heath-training with the US national team before their upcoming three friendly matches-is farther than Oetz.
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Speaking of Oetz on the conference call, Antonovsky said: “We are excited about where she is now, but we have to be very careful about our methods and make sure she fully recovers before the game.”
“Both of them are participating in the Olympics as planned,” the coach added.
“I would say Tobin is a bit ahead of Julie in terms of her progress. She is training every day in the camp here, and she is medically prepared.
“The only thing for Tobin right now is that we have to prepare her and increase her endurance.”
Heath’s long-term layoffs “let us think”
Unlike Ertz, Heath is preparing to play against Portugal, Jamaica and Nigeria at the USWNT training camp.
However, Heath will not participate in any of the three games, after which Andonovsky will name his 18-man Olympic lineup.
The coach admitted that he had to make a decision on her before seeing Heath in a live game “let us think”, but he was still confident that she would go to Tokyo if healthy.
“The last time we saw Tobin, Tobin was probably the best player on the court,” Andonowski said. “That was the camp in the Netherlands in November.
“From all our analysis on both sides of the ball, I think she is the highest ranked on the court, so it is very beneficial to her.
“There are many other things to her advantage. In fact, we can’t see [her play], This is not a problem or problem for us, but it makes us think a little bit.
“But if she is 100% or we know she will be close to 100% before the Olympics, then her chances of joining the team are very good.”
What’s next for USWNT?
The United States will face Portugal on Thursday, then Jamaica on Sunday and Nigeria next Wednesday.
After the Olympic roster is announced, USWNT will face Mexico twice in the farewell matches on July 1st and 5th.
Andonowski’s team will start their Olympic race in the game against Sweden on July 21.
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