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The Washington Spirit are enjoying some good times these days. The team currently sits atop the NWSL standings as they prepare to take on Portland on Friday night, currently second in the standings in what should be a thrilling match.
On the international side, the Spirit announced this week that a handful of its players have been called up to represent their countries in this Summer’s 2023 Women’s World Cup.
On Thursday, it was announced that Midfielder Riley Tanner has been called up to the Panama national team to represent her home country in its first ever World Cup appearance.
The 23-year-old Tanner has just two appearances for Panama, both in 2023, and scored her only goal for her country on February 19 against Papua New Guinea in a World Cup Qualifying match.
Tanner is the only Spirit player that will play in the World Cup for a country besides the United States.
The USWNT called up four Washington players for the World Cup, who will all be making their World Cup debuts.
Goalkeeper Aubrey Kingsbury, Forward Trinity Rodman, and Midfielder’s Ashely Sanchez and Andi Sullivan are all heading to Australia/New Zealand to represent the United States this Summer.
Sullivan, 27, has 44 appearances for the national team, the most of any Spirit player. Kingsbury has just one appearance for the U.S., where she kept a clean sheet, while Sanchez has scored 3 goals in 24 appearances and Rodman has scored twice in 17 appearances for the national team.
In Group E, the United States will take on Vietnam on July 21, Netherlands on July 26, and Portugal on August 1.
The USWNT is looking to become the first team in history to win three World Cup’s in a row, and the youth that these Spirit players are bringing paired with the veterans across the roster could be enough to get it done.