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USWNT: Team of the decade

By Drew Hubbard

LYON, FRANCE - JULY 07: Megan Rapinoe of the USA lifts the FIFA Women's World Cup Trophy following her team's victory in the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup France Final match between The United States of America and The Netherlands at Stade de Lyon on July 07, 2019 in Lyon, France. (Photo by Maddie Meyer - FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images)
LYON, FRANCE - JULY 07: Megan Rapinoe of the USA lifts the FIFA Women's World Cup Trophy following her team's victory in the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup France Final match between The United States of America and The Netherlands at Stade de Lyon on July 07, 2019 in Lyon, France. (Photo by Maddie Meyer - FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images) /
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LOS ANGELES, CA – JULY 6: Captain Christie Rampone (L) holds the FIFA Women’s World Cup trophy as she walks to the bus with teammate Becky Sauerbrunn after they arrived at Los Angeles International Airport July 6, 2015 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA – JULY 6: Captain Christie Rampone (L) holds the FIFA Women’s World Cup trophy as she walks to the bus with teammate Becky Sauerbrunn after they arrived at Los Angeles International Airport July 6, 2015 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images) /

Defense

Center-Backs: Becky Sauerbrunn and Christie Rampone

Christie Rampone’s career began to wind down in the middle of the decade, saying goodbye to the team in 2015 following the World Cup. However, her presence for the first five years of the decade was vital for the team’s success. She wore the captain’s armband in both the 2011 and 2015 World Cups, as well as the 2012 Olympics, and became the oldest player to appear in a World Cup at 40 years of age until Brazil’s Formiga broke the record this past summer at 41.

Becky Sauerbrunn’s career with the national team spans the entire decade, having appeared in all three World Cups and both Olympics. Her role in the 2011 World Cup and 2012 Olympics were limited, but by 2015, she had established herself as a consistent starter and was a co-captain in 2016. In 2019, Sauerbrunn was the veteran anchor in defense that was key to their repeat as World Cup champions.

Left-Back: Meghan Klingenberg

This position is the hardest to fill in the XI, mainly due to the fact that there hasn’t been one standout player in this position throughout the decade. Crystal Dunn played the position in 2019 despite playing an attacking role with her club team and Kelly O’Hara spent time as a right-back and midfielder along with a short stint at left-back in 2012.

Meghan Klingenberg filled the role in 2015, playing every minute of that tournament and is well known for her off-the-line clearance against Sweden in the group stages. Along with her 2015 performance, Klingenberg played three of the four matches during the 2016 Olympics including the shock upset against the same Swedish team.

This position is hard to fill in an all-decade team, but Klingenberg did it as well as anyone during the 2010’s.

Right-Back: Ali Krieger

Ali Krieger’s addition to the 2019 World Cup roster came as a surprise to many, but she was nonetheless on yet another World Cup-winning team after appearing in every major tournament this decade. She started every match during the team’s 2011 run, which included her game-clinching penalty kick against Brazil that sent the USWNT to the semi-finals.

She was once again on the team sheet for 2015 where she started in every game in the team’s victory. Her time in the 2016 Olympics and 2019 World Cup was cut short but Krieger’s impact and performance all throughout the decade helped the USWNT’s success.

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