Seven Portland Thorns Players Are Competing in the Olympics

The U.S. Women's National team is currently ranked no. 1 in the world, while the Portland Thorns FC are ranked no. 1 in the country.

For soccer-fiend Portlanders, the Olympics aren't only a time to close down streets to watch games, but to also cheer on Timbers and Thorns players. It's like an extra mini-season. And this year, there's a lot of Thorns players.

Thorns players Allie Long, Meghan Klingenberg, Tobin Heath, Lindsey Horan and Emily Sonnett (alternate), are among the 18 players on the U.S. Women's National Team. Midfielder Amandine Henry is playing on France's team, while forward Christine Sinclair is playing for Canada. U.S. Women's National beat France in Saturday's game. They're playing Colombia today.

The U.S. Women's National team is currently ranked no. 1 in the world, while the Portland Thorns FC are ranked no. 1 in the country. If the U.S. team wins gold, they will have won four years in a row and be the first Women's National Team to win both the World Cup and Olympic gold medal in back-to-back years.

This year is Tobin Heath's third Olympic games; she's already scored two of three of the US National Women's Team's goals. But for the remaining Thorns players, this is their first Olympic roster, although Meghan Klingenberg was an alternate on the 2012 team.

Forward Allie Long almost didn't make the team this year. In January, she wasn't one of the players invited to the team's training camp. She was invited to play multiple spring friendlies against Colombia, where she scored two goals and earned her way to a spot on the team.

Anyway, here's a list of the best bars to watch the Olympics in Portland. One of them has pledged to play every single women's soccer game in the 'pics.

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