Emma Hayes names squad for European friendlies, and the Pride will play the Spirit for the NWSL title

Emma Hayes announced the roster on Monday morning. Trinity Rodman, Sophia Smith and Mallory Swanson will get an extended holiday vacation as they heal from nagging injuries and get some rest heading into January camp.

The roster’s newcomers include Manchester United goalkeeper Phallon Tullis-Joyce and Utah Royals forward Ally Sentnor.

Also on the roster is 17-year-old Lily Yohannes, who announced last week she would play for the United States on the international level. Yohannes was born in Virginia but she’s lived in the Netherlands since she was a child, and was eligible to play for either national team.

“My job is to provide opportunity. That’s all I kept saying to myself last year was, that’s what I want to do. I want to give caps to less experienced players because if you don’t give them the exposures, how are we ever going to know? And I’ve been so pleasantly surprised ever since at the quality that’s there, the depth — that yes, we have to develop — but really pleasantly surprised. “

The roster includes 15 players from the team that won gold at the Olympics this past summer, including captain Lindsey Horan and defender Naomi Girma.

The United States will face England at Wembley Stadium on Nov. 30 before visiting The Hague to play the Netherlands on Dec. 3.

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Here’s the roster:

Goalkeepers: Mandy Haught (Utah Royals), Phallon Tullis-Joyce (Manchester United), Alyssa Naeher (Chicago Red Stars)

Defenders: Tierna Davidson (Gotham FC), Emily Fox (Arsenal), Eva Gaetino (Paris Saint-Germain), Naomi Girma (San Diego Wave), Casey Krueger (Washington Spirit), Alyssa Malonson (Bay FC), Jenna Nighswonger (Gotham FC), Emily Sams (Orlando Pride), Emily Sonnett (Gotham)

Midfielders: Korbin Albert (Paris Saint-Germain), Sam Coffey (Portland Thorns), Hal Hershfelt (Washington Spirit), Lindsey Horan (Lyon), Rose Lavelle (Gotham FC), Lily Yohannes (Ajax)

Forwards: Yazmeen Ryan (Gotham FC), Emma Sears (Racing Louisville), Ally Sentnor (Utah Royals), Jaedyn Shaw (San Diego Wave), Alyssa Thompson (Angel City), Lynn Williams (Gotham FC).

Emma Hayes held a conference call with reporters on Monday morning after the roster was released .

“I’m excited about the roster and there’s opportunities for so many different players, or so many different permutations within that,” Hayes said in response to a question from ESPN’s Jeff Kassouf. “We’re in a different stage, I’m not preparing for a Euros next summer like England and Netherlands are. I’m preparing to qualify for a World Cup in [20]27. So I need to do this, I like doing these things. I’ve developed rosters over a long period of time. Well, they don’t improve just by having [players] on the roster, we have to give them the opportunities to do that.”

One fun tidbit: The team will have Thanksgiving dinner in England. Cat Macario and Mia Fishel are invited to dinner. Hayes said her son Harry thinks that Thanksgiving means s’mores.

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Moving on to the National Women’s Soccer League, the final is set. The Orlando Pride will face the Washington Spirit on Saturday for the league title at CPKC Stadium in Kansas City.

On Sunday, the Pride’s Barbra Banda scored the go-ahead goal and Marta wowed everyone with her not-done-yet skills. The top-seeded Orlando Pride defeated the Kansas City Current 3-2. Haley McCutcheon also scored for Orlando, a team that lost just two games this season and won the NWSL Shield. The Pride didn’t lose at home all season.

One day earlier, the Spirit advanced to the final on a penalty shootout after a 1-1 draw against defending champions Gotham FC in the other semifinal.

“This is this is a game I want to see,” Hayes said about the final. “I’m a huge Barbara Banda fan, and I love watching her play, really. And I’ve said it even before, I think she’s I think she’s the best striker in world football in this year, in the current form. And what she’s done, it’s been amazing. But I also like — I can never pick a side, I never pick favorites — but I love to see this for Marta. Marta is someone we all like, admire and are grateful for. And that goal was just like prime Marta at her best. And so grateful for and thankful for her that she she got the opportunity with with another game with her team.”

Some links! There was a lot of coverage of the semifinal matches, so I’m not including the game stories.

Story from SI on Eva Gaetino

Also from SI, Jenna Tonelli did a nice comprehensive look at Gotham before the semifinal

Jessica Berman addressed Wave lawsuit and filed conditions before the semifinal

This sucks: Kadeisha Buchanan sustains ACL injury with Chelsea

Here’s a handy link to the NCAA’s College Cup playoffs page! You can keep track of the scores and upcoming matches.

ESPN ranked the 50 best players in women’s soccer

NPR on the NWSL’s record-setting year

The NWSL announced the Best XI this morning.

Super League players have voted to unionize

Marta adds another big moment to her resume, from The Equalizer

The Equalizer had a lookahead at the storylines surrounding the title game

USA Today’s For The Win with a nice photo essay on Marta.

Exciting news from Monday morning: