USWNT roster: Harris, Heath among talking points for Sweden and France friendlies

The U.S. women's national team roster for April's friendlies at Sweden and France had very few surprises when it was announced on Tuesday.

That is to be expected as the clock ticks down toward the kickoff of the Olympics in July. With the extremely difficult task of picking just 18 players for the tournament, USWNT head coach Vlatko Andonovski is starting to narrow down his player pool.

But that doesn't mean there weren't talking points from Tuesday's roster announcement, as well as Andonovski's comments to reporters afterwards on a conference call. Here are three takeaways from Tuesday's USWNT roster release. 

Injuries keep competition open

With 23 players named to the roster on Tuesday and at least five of those set to miss out on the Olympics, it would be easier for Andonovski if he only needed to pick from the group heading to Europe next month. 

But, due to some injury concerns, that's not the case. 

Chief among those is Tobin Heath, who suffered a serious ankle injury in January and appears set to be out until April at the earliest. Andonovski is optimistic that Heath will be able to return in time for the end of Manchester United's season, before returning to the USWNT in June's Tournament of Nations.

"I wouldn’t say it’s safe to say the 18 [Olympic roster players] are going to come from this 23," Andonovski said.

"Tobin is a very important player for this team, she’s done incredible up until the injury. So we’re anxious to see her back on the field.

"It's just unfortunate that she picked up this injury, and we’re glad at this point that she’ll at least be able to play some games with her club before she comes into camp [in June]."

Andonovski added that Casey Krueger and Mallory Pugh are both recovering from injuries. Though both are in the picture still, the lost opportunity to impress next month is a massive blow with the pair likely on the wrong side of the Olympic roster bubble right now.

For non-injured players left off the roster, such as Ali Krieger, Emily Fox, Andi Sullivan and Jaelin Howell, time appears to be running out.

Harris omitted again in ominous sign

Ashlyn Harris has been the USWNT's backup goalkeeper for some time now, but that period is now in real danger of ending. 

The veteran shot-stopper has now been omitted from two straight rosters, with Jane Campbell and Casey Murphy preferred – the former appearing to have the inside track on a role as Alyssa Naeher's backup.

Andonovski denied that Harris' recent adoption of a baby with her wife and fellow roster omission Krieger, had anything to do with her being left out of the 23-player squad.

"Family had nothing to do with that," Andonovski said. "It was merely based on their performance in camp."

Sweden and France will provide a real test

The USWNT will face Sweden in Stockholm on April 10 before taking on France in Le Havre on April 13. Both opponents are ranked in FIFA's top five and Andonovski has said they will test his side in different ways.

"These teams were selected for a reason," Andonovski said. "We felt like both of these teams will present slightly different challenges for us and that’s why we wanted to play them.

"We feel like they’re going to be able to expose different weaknesses of ours in different ways. 

"Obviously Sweden is an extremely physical team, and organized team, and the same thing goes for France.

"But at the same time [France] are a lot more dynamic and possess a little more individual creativity and quality which will force us to defend them in a different way."