February 17, 2025

Soccer Monday: In honor of Bunny Shaw, looking forward to SheBelieves

Manchester City forward Khadija “Bunny” Shaw didn’t travel with her team for League Cup semifinal because racist and misogynistic abuse targeted at her.

Apr 9, 2024; Columbus, Ohio, USA; United States players hold the trophy as they celebrate after defeating Canada in penalty kicks at Lower.com Field. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports

Earlier this month, Manchester City forward Khadija “Bunny” Shaw didn’t travel with her team for League Cup semifinal because racist and misogynistic abuse targeted at her. She needed to protect her mental health.

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The abuse came after a Women’s Super League match against Arsenal the weekend before. Manchester City rightfully did not share the messages because they did not want to give them oxygen, but said they were forwarded to authorities.

“When you are affected by things like that it’s really, really difficult,” Manchester City coach Gareth Taylor told Sky Sports. “I’ve not really had time to have a good conversation with her about it, but she knows and she needs to know that the whole team and the whole club are behind her on this.”

Shaw scored last weekend in a Leiscester City in an FA Women’s Cup match, then scored two goals on Sunday in a WSL match against Liverpool.

After the first goal, Shaw raised her fist — an act of defiance against racial injustice that recalled the protest of sprinters Tommie Smith and John Carlos on the podium at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics.

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Shaw has 11 goals this season with Manchester City, which is in fourth place on the table. The Guardian’s Suzy Wrack shared her observations about the situation on the Women’s Football Weekly podcast that can be found here.

She Believes this Week!

The 10th annual She Believes Cup opens on Thursday in Houston. Japan plays Australia in the first match before the U.S. faces Colombia and star Linda Caicedo in the nightcap.

This past week, coach Emma Hayes announced her roster for the tournament. The thing that probably sticks out most is the return of Catarina Macario, who hasn’t played for the United States since a friendly against South Korea last June, before she tweaked her knee and couldn’t go to the Olympics.

Also, still no Triple Espresso. Trinity Rodman is still recovering from her lower back issue, Sophia Smith (now Wilson) is out of game shape, likely because she’s been busy getting married, and Mallory Swanson is still dealing with the personal reason that is also keeping her away from the Stars.

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Midfielder Rose Lavelle wasn’t included because she is still recovering from offseason ankle surgery. Defender Naomi Girma, who recently moved from San Diego to Chelsea for a record $1.1 million transfer fee, was not called up because of a calf injury.

“Of course I would love those players to be with us, but they are not,” Hayes said. “So what an opportunity it is for everyone else to develop as a result of that,” Hayes said. “I’d rather take these learning now than I would, say, six months in the lead up of a major tournament.”

There were also some interesting tidbits about the roster, too.

Both Alyssa and Gisele Thompson have been called up together. Guessing Gisele was impressive during Futures Camp. Just the third set of sisters to appear together on a U.S. roster. The last set was the Mewis sisters.

Four players have never appeared in a game for the national team, and 10 have four or fewer appearances.

Here’s something that stood out to me: Hayes included just two goalkeepers on the active roster, Jane Campbell of the Houston Dash and Mandy McGlynn of the Utah Royals (Manchester United goalkeeper Phallon Tullis-Joyce is training with the team but won’t play).

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Hayes explained that Tullis-Joyce has had just one camp with the team and hasn’t yet developed connections and relationships. Campbell and McGlynn haven’t yet started their seasons, “so for that reason, I’ve gone with one less goalkeeper and one more outfield player, so that allows me to develop the players and give them playing time, but also protect them going into the NWSL season where they don’t have a bank of games behind them.”

She also said for the goalkeepers who were not in camp (notably Casey Murphy, Alysaa Naeher’s Olympic backup) knew what they need to work on and would have plenty of opportunities in the coming international windows. The competition at goalkeeper was still “very open.”

Hayes explained she’s in “Block Three” of her plan to develop a pool of players ahead of the World Cup in 2027. Ten of the players selected for the SheBelieves roster have four or fewer appearances. Tara McKeown, Gisele Thompson, Claire Hutton, and Michelle Cooper have never played in a game for the United States.

“Whenever I can get the opportunity to play what we would consider our best team together, we will definitely look at that. But we’re not. We do not have a World Cup today, and my job is to prepare a team to compete come that period. So I have to provide these players the opportunity to do it. And if I solely play just to prepare a group for a World Cup today, I wouldn’t take the risks that I’m taking right now and that’s something that I want to do through the entirety of this block three,” Hayes said.

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Here’s the roster:

Goalkeepers: Jane Campbell (Houston Dash), Mandy McGlynn (Utah Royals)

Defenders: Tierna Davidson (Gotham FC), Crystal Dunn (Paris Saint-Germain), Emily Fox (Arsenal), Tara McKeown (Washington Spirit), Jenna Nighswonger (Arsenal), Emily Sams (Orlando Pride), Emily Sonnett (Gotham FC), Gisele Thompson (Angel City)

Midfielders: Korbin Albert (Paris Saint-Germain), Sam Coffey (Portland Thorns), Lindsey Heaps (Lyon), Claire Hutton (Kansas City Current), Jaedyn Shaw (North Carolina Courage), Lily Yohannes (Ajax)

Forwards: Lynn Biyendolo (Seattle Reign), Michelle Cooper (Kansas City Current), Catarina Macario (Chelsea), Yazmeen Ryan (Houston Dash), Emma Sears (Racing Louisville), Ally Sentnor (Utah Royals), Alyssa Thompson (Angel City)