Cardinal alums aim to bring gold medal back home.
U.S. Soccer unveiled the Tokyo Olympics squad for women’s soccer on Wednesday, and there were three Stanford Cardinal products among the selections.
Defender Kelley O’Hara, forward Christen Press and defender Tierna Davidson are all on the 18-player squad selected by head coach Vlatko Andonovski and unveiled on morning television on Wednesday.
O’Hara is the most veteran of the trio, with this selection to the Olympics being her third in her career. She played every minute in the 2012 Olympics in London, where the USWNT won the gold medal.
Press is going into her second Olympics, the striker having to battle through considerable depth at the attacking positions but pushing her way into the reckoning. After a 2019 World Cup in which she was deadly off the bench, she’s arguably played her best soccer of her career in the interim, although she’ll still face stiff competition to get in the XI for matches.
Davidson is the baby of the group and the youngest on the full roster, at 22 years old. With a tiny roster and a compressed schedule, expect the defender and set piece specialist to get some run during the tournament.
The U.S. will face a tough opening opponent in group play in Sweden on July 21, followed by New Zealand on July 24 and Australia on July 27.