U.S. U-17 Women’s National Team heads to HDC for final camp before 2012 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup

The U.S. Under-17 Women’s National Team enters its final training camp before the 2012 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup as head coach Albertin Montoya brings 23 players to a training camp at The Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif., running from Aug. 19-26.

The USA will take on China’s U-17s twice during the camp, squaring off on Aug. 22 and 25 with both games kicking off at 3 p.m. Both matches are open to the public and admission is free.

The U-17s are coming off a successful tour of Eastern Europe in which it won all four matches, three against the women’s club champions of Hungary, Austria and Slovenia before finishing with a 2-1 victory over the full Slovenian Women’s National Team.

The U.S. U-17s have compiled an overall record of 16-2-1 this year while going 10-0-2 in international matches.

Montoya will name his 21-player Women’s World Cup Team following the training camp.

The 2012 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup is being staged in Azerbaijan from Sept. 22 through Oct. 13 and the Americans open Group B play at Lankaran Stadium in Lankaran on Sept. 22 against France (1 p.m. local / 4 a.m. ET) before facing Gambia on Sept. 25 (5 p.m. local / 8 a.m. ET) at Dalga Arena in Baku. The USA will finish group play on Sept. 29 against Korea DPR (5 p.m. local / 8 a.m. ET) at Bayil Stadium in Baku.

The Republic of Azerbaijan, which is slightly smaller than that state of Maine and has a population of almost nine million, is located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe and is bound by the Caspian Sea to the east, Russia to the north, Georgia to the northwest, Armenia to the west, and Iran to the south. Five of the tournament’s six venues are in Baku with one stadium located about 175 miles south in Lankaran.

U.S. U-17 WNT Roster By Position:
GOALKEEPERS (4): Jane Campbell (Concorde Fire South; Kennesaw, Ga.), Cassie Miller (Sereno FC; Cave Creek, Ariz.), Morgan Stearns (McLean MPS Power; San Antonio, Tex.), Claire Wheatley (Solar SC; Plano, Tex.)
DEFENDERS (7): Brittany Basinger (FC Virginia; Purcellville, Va.), Maddie Bauer (Slammers FC; Newport Beach, Calif.), Mandy Freeman (Lady Renegades SC; Royal Palm Beach, Fla.), Gabbi Miranda (Colorado Rush; Highlands Ranch, Colo.), Lizzy Raben (Colorado Rush; Greenwood Village, Colo.), Morgan Reid (Chelsea Ladies; Cary, N.C.), Claire Wagner (Chelsea Ladies; Cary, N.C.)
MIDFIELDERS (7): Morgan Andrews (FC Stars of Mass.; Milford, N.H.), Joanna Boyles (Chelsea Ladies; Raleigh, N.C.), Lauren Kaskie (Heat FC; Las Vegas, Nev.), Toni Payne (Concorde Fire; Birmingham, Ala.), Arielle Ship (Real So Cal; Thousand Oaks, Calif.), Morgan Stanton (Colorado Rush; Lakewood, Colo.), Andi Sullivan (Bethesda SC; Lorton, Va.)
FORWARDS (5): Emily Bruder (Utah Avalanche; Sandy, Utah), Summer Green (Michigan Hawks; Milford, Mich.), Darian Jenkins (Sparta SC; Riverton, Utah), Amber Munerlyn (So Cal Blues; Corona, Calif.), Margaret Purce (Freestate Soccer; Olney, Md.)