Bruins fans will have reason to root for U.S. and Canada.
The two North American countries participating in the women’s soccer tournament at the Tokyo Olympics this summer revealed their rosters on Wednesday, and there’s UCLA Bruins representation on both of them.
Midfielder Sam Mewis and defender Abby Dahlkemper have been named to the U.S. women’s national team by head coach Vlatko Andonovski, while midfielder Jessie Fleming has been selected to the Canada women’s national team by head coach Bev Priestman.
While Fleming is the youngest of the trio, at 23, this will be her second Olympics, after she won bronze with Canada at the Rio Olympics in 2016. Meanwhile, Mewis and Dahlkemper, both 28, are reigning world champions with the United States after winning the World Cup in 2019, but this will be their first Olympic tournament and they will aim to add an Olympic medal — they hope it’s gold — to their personal trophy cabinets.
Both countries will play their group stage games on the same days, with Canada opening play against host Japan on July 21, and the U.S. facing Sweden the same day. The U.S. will face New Zealand on July 24 and Canada will take on Chile that day, while Canada will play Great Britain on July 27 and the U.S. will square off against Australia on that day. From there, both teams will aim to get to the medal rounds as the tournament progresses.