Ashlyn Harris, Ali Krieger among 4 Orlando Pride players allocated for 2021 season
The Orlando Pride will field four allocated national team players for the 2021 season.
Star striker Alex Morgan and captains Ali Krieger and Ashlyn Harris were named to the allocated list for the U.S. women’s national team. Goalkeeper Erin McLeod earned a place on the 2021 allocated roster for Canada.
Through a partnership between the Canadian and American federations and the NWSL, allocated players’ salaries are paid by their federations for the 2021 season.
Morgan, Krieger and Harris were already allocated in 2020, creating no change in their salary status for this upcoming season.
McLeod, however, spent several years outside of the Canadian pool and the allocated list while recovering from injuries. She was last allocated in 2015, when she was the Canadian starting keeper throughout the FIFA World Cup.
The keeper has tallied 118 caps for Canada, notching 45 clean sheets across her career. McLeod last played for the team in April 2019. She earned a call-up for a preparatory camp ahead of the SheBelieves Cup, but wasn’t named to the final roster after suffering an injury.
The Pride’s long-time captain, Harris earned one cap in 2020 during Olympic qualifying ahead of the pandemic shutdown. Harris and Krieger earned call-ups for the team’s January friendlies against Colombia. Krieger started one of the matches and assisted a goal.
Morgan scored her first goal since the 2019 FIFA World Cup on Wednesday in the final match of the SheBelieves Cup, marking the next step in her return from pregnancy.
The Americans won the FIFA World Cup together in 2015 and 2019. Morgan also won Olympic gold in 2012.
All four players will continue to prepare for the postponed Tokyo Olympics this summer while leading the Orlando Pride in the NWSL Challenge Cup.
The Challenge Cup kicks off on April 9, with the regular season beginning May 15.
This article first appeared on OrlandoSentinel.com. Email Julia Poe at jpoe@orlandosentinel.com.
