(Reuters) – Twice World Cup winner Alex Morgan, who recently tested positive for COVID-19, will not participate in a January training camp in Orlando that will be followed by two friendlies against Colombia, the U.S. Women’s National Team said on Wednesday.
The 27-player training camp roster, which marks the return of World Cup winners Megan Rapinoe, Carli Lloyd and Mallory Pugh, was revealed a day after Morgan said she tested positive for COVID-19 over Christmas.
The team said Morgan was “observing the prescribed quarantine protocols and doing well”.
Nineteen players on the training camp roster were with the United States squad in the Netherlands in November for their final action of 2020 when they won a rematch of the 2019 World Cup final 2-0.
Rapinoe, Lloyd and Pugh were not in the national team’s previous two camps and saw limited or no action for their National Women’s Soccer League clubs in 2020.
Christen Press, a forward for Manchester United of the Women’s Super League, will remain in England as she works to regain fitness after sustaining a non COVID-19 illness.
Forward Tobin Heath, who also plays for Manchester United, will remain in England to play in Women’s Super League fixtures in January.
The camp concludes with friendlies against Colombia on Jan. 18 and Jan. 22. Capacity for each match will be limited to no more than 4,000 ticketed fans.
(Reporting by Frank Pingue in Toronto, editing by Ed Osmond)
