Allie Long is back with the U.S. women’s national as it will play in Portugal and Scotland next month. (Andy Mead/YCJ Photo)

CHICAGO – U.S. women’s national head coach Jill Ellis has named a 24-player roster for a two-game European tour.

The Americans will travel to face Portugal in Lisbon Nov. 8 (1 p.m. ET on ESPN2) and Scotland in Paisley Nov. 13 (2 p.m. ET on FS1 & UDN).

Ellis and her staff will name 18 players to the gameday roster for each match. These will be the first friendly matches for the USA since it secured a berth to the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup.

Eighteen of the 24 players on the squad who helped the USA qualify for the 2019 Women’s World Cup at the recently completed 2018 Concacaf Women’s Championship were named to this roster. Two additional players on the Europe-bound roster, goalkeeper Adrianna Franch and defender Merritt Mathias, both of whom have seen consistent time with the USA this year, trained with the team during the qualifying tournament.

In addition, three midfielders are back in the fold. Danielle Colaprico received her first call-up since October 2016. Northport, N.Y.’s Allie Long, who missed the concacaf competition with an injury, was last with the USA at the 2018 Tournament of Nations this past summer. Andi Sullivan’s most recent call-up came in April of this year for the two friendlies against Mexico.

Forward Jessica McDonald, who had a stellar 10-goal season with National Women’s Soccer League champions North Carolina Courage and then scored once in the semifinal and twice in the championship game to help her club claim the title, received her first call-up since the 2017 SheBelieves Cup. McDonald also led the NWSL in assists (eighth).

Defender Emily Fox, a veteran of the USA’s last two Under-20 Women’s World Cup teams and one of the top outside backs in the college game, received her first senior team call-up. The University of North Carolina sophomore earned 34 caps and scored four goals at the U-20 level.

Rockville Centre, N.Y. native and defender Crystal Dunn, who also played for the Courage and participated during WWC qualifying, also was called into the team.

Sky Blue FC midfielder Carli Lloyd, the hero of the 2015 Women’s World Cup, was summoned as well.

“It’s been a year of working hard to take strides to improve, so I think finishing the year off with two solid performances would be a fitting end to 2018,” Ellis said. “The players, medical team, and technical staff worked very hard to ensure we peaked for World Cup qualifying and got the job done, so these two friendlies will be a chance to continue that work and end this period on a high note with a good feeling of what’s to come.”

These will be the final games of a highly competitive 2018 schedule in which the USA has compiled a 16-0-2 record. The next victory for the squad will be the 500th win in program history. Since its inception in 1985, the USWNT has compiled a 499-65-74 record.

The U.S. roster (Caps/Goals):

GOALKEEPERS (3): Adrianna Franch (Portland Thorns FC; 0/0), Ashlyn Harris (Orlando Pride; 18/0), Alyssa Naeher (Chicago Red Stars; 37/0)

DEFENDERS (7): Abby Dahlkemper (NC Courage; 28/0), Crystal Dunn (NC Courage; 73/24), Emily Fox (UNC; 0/0), Merritt Mathias (NC Courage; 1/0), Becky Sauerbrunn (Utah Royals FC; 147/0), Casey Short (Chicago Red Stars; 27/0), Emily Sonnett (Portland Thorns FC; 24/0)

MIDFIELDERS (7): Danielle Colaprico (Chicago Red Stars; 0/0), Julie Ertz (Chicago Red Stars; 71/18), Lindsey Horan (Portland Thorns FC; 61/7), Rose Lavelle (Washington Spirit; 18/6), Allie Long (Seattle Reign FC; 39/6), Samantha Mewis (NC Courage; 40/8), Andi Sullivan (Washington Spirit; 10/0)

FORWARDS (7): Tobin Heath (Portland Thorns FC; 142/25), Carli Lloyd (Sky Blue FC; 263/105), Jessica McDonald (NC Courage; 1/0), Alex Morgan (Orlando Pride; 151/97), Christen Press (Utah Royals FC; 106/46), Mallory Pugh (Washington Spirit; 41/12), Megan Rapinoe (Seattle Reign FC; 144/41)

These will be the final games of a highly competitive 2018 schedule in which the USA has compiled a 16-0-2 record. The next victory for the squad will be the 500th win in program history. Since its inception in 1985, the USWNT has compiled a 499-65-74 record.

Front Row Soccer editor Michael Lewis has covered 13 World Cups (eight men, five women), seven Olympics and 25 MLS Cups. He has written about New York City FC, New York Cosmos, the New York Red Bulls and both U.S. national teams for Newsday and has penned a soccer history column for the Guardian.com. Lewis, who has been honored by the Press Club of Long Island and National Soccer Coaches Association of America, is the former editor of BigAppleSoccer.com. He has written seven books about the beautiful game and has published ALIVE AND KICKING The incredible but true story of the Rochester Lancers. It is available at Amazon.com.