Kristie Mewis will get an opportunity to play with the USWNT at the SheBelieves Cup. (USA TODAY Sports)
Eight NJ/NY Gotham FC players have been called up this month to represent their respective national teams.
That included midfielder Kristie Mewis and forwards Midge Purce and Lynn Williams of the U.S. women’s national team, forward Ifeoma Onumonu of Nigeria, midfielder Bruninha of Brazil, midfielder Victoria Pickett of Canada, and Svava Rós Guðmundsdóttir of Iceland.
Gotham FC goalkeeper Hensley Hancuff, on loan to Brisbane Roar FC of the A League in Australia, has been named to the U.S. Under-23 women’s youth national team for training and two games in France.
In the 2023 SheBelieves Cup from Feb. 16-22, Williams, Purce, and Mewis will play against Canada on Feb. 16 in Orlando, Japan on Feb. 19 in Nashville, Tenn., and against Gotham FC teammate Bruninha and Brazil on Feb. 22 in Frisco, Texas.
Mewis has earned 46 caps, scored seven goals, and tallied four assists since her 2012 USWNT debut. Purce has four goals and three assists in 22 matches since first appearing in 2019. Alongside Mewis and Purce, Williams joined the UWSNT last month for a two friendlies against New Zealand, which featured a goal against the host country in her return to the field for the first time since a season-ending injury last season. Williams has 15 goals and 11 assists in 49 international appearances.
Brazil’s Bruninha also will participate in the SheBelieves Cup, with matches against Japan on Feb. 16 in Orlando, Canada on Feb. 19 in Nashville, and the UWSNT on Feb. 22 in the tournament finale in Frisco, Texas. She has made six appearances for the national team and has served as captain at the U-20 Women’s World Cup.
Pickett, who joined Canada’s 18-player pre-tournament roster for the SheBelieves Cup, has appeared in three matches since making her senior team debut in 2021.
Coverage of the 2023 She Believes Cup will air on TNT and HBO Max, with additional coverage on Telemundo, which can be streamed live on fuboTV.
Gotham FC forward Onumonu and Nigeria will participate in the Revelations Cup in Guanajuato, with matches against Mexico on Feb. 15, Columbia on Feb. 18 and Costa Rica on Feb. 21. A key player for Nigeria in the Women’s African Cup of Nations in 2022, Onumonu has two goals in 10 international appearances, after earning her first call-up in June 2021.
While Guðmundsdóttir earned the call to represent Iceland in the Pinatar Cup in Spain, the forward with two goals in her 36 international appearances will instead join Gotham FC in preseason camp in the near future.
Hancuff and the U.S. U-23 squad will train in Paris from Feb. 12-21 and play France on Feb. 17 and Feb. 20 at Clairefontaine, the country’s famed National Training Center.
On March 26, Gotham FC begins the National Women’s Soccer League regular season at Angel City FC at BMO Stadium. The team’s home opener is against OL Reign on April 1 at Red Bull Arena.
