There are six players on the U.S. Women’s National Team roster with more than 100 international appearances, or caps, to their credit.

There are nine more with at least 50.

And there is Keeley Dowling, a 25-year-old defender from Carmel, Ind. She is the only one of the 25 players with the team during its domestic three-match tour who has yet to appear for the senior national team.

“It’s interesting,” Dowling said after training Thursday at WakeMed Soccer Park, where the U.S. will begin its tour against Australia on Sunday. “Playing in college, you’re usually the superstar. And then when you come here, everybody’s the superstar. … It’s obviously very humbling, but not everybody’s going to start. It’s not about me. It’s about the team, and it’s about having that perspective.”

Dowling has been a part of the national team program for years. In 2002, she helped the U.S. win the U-19 world championship in Canada. In 2004, she helped the U-21 team win the Nordic Cup.

She also had a standout collegiate career at Tennessee. From 2001-04, she was a three-time All-American, four-time All-SEC selection and two-time SEC Defensive Player of the Year. She also scored 25 goals and had 15 assists in 89 games (with 89 starts).

Last year, she did a five-week residency with the senior national team in Carson, Calif. Earlier this year, she signed a one-year contract with U.S. Soccer, giving her the opportunity to compete for a spot on the roster for this summer’s Olympics.

If Dowling doesn’t get capped or if she does not make the Olympic roster, she is absorbing everything she can by being in the environment, and she will take what she can back to her new job. On April 18, she was hired as an assistant at her alma mater. Last fall, she served on an interim basis when another coach went on maternity leave.

“Being on the other side helps me as a player as well,” she said. “It’s also nice, if I’m not going away on the international trips, to be able to train, have those facilities, train with the girls and have that experience.”

Pia Sundhage, the national team coach, said no one’s spot on the Olympic roster is secure yet, and neither is the starting 11 for the Games or the exhibition tour. But just because players don’t see game action does not mean their contributions are not valuable.

“We have 25 players here,” Sundhage said. “It’s not only games. We need every single body in order to prepare for the games. I have emphasized that. We’re talking about 18 going to the Olympics. But that’s so many good players helping us to get that gold medal in the Olympics. And [Dowling’s] one of them. Her presence in the air is exceptional, both in the defense and in the attack. She’s been helping us a lot defending in the box, air balls, position of the center back. Whether she will play or not, that I don’t know yet. There’s so many factors. I have not promised anyone will play. We need to find a core of the team, beginning with the starting 11. We have some big decisions to make. We have 25 players, and at the end of the day, we’ll have 18.”

Dowling has no idea when or if her chance will come. But she has envisioned that moment where Sundhage looks down the bench and tells her to get warmed up because she’s going in.

“Obviously, you’re waiting for that moment,” she said. “Anything can happen at this point. You have to be ready. You have to be fit. You have to be focused. You have to be paying attention. When or if that happens, hopefully I’ll do what she wants me to do.”

Homecoming

The last time most people saw the U.S. Women’s National Team, the Americans were trounced 4-0 by Brazil in the semifinals of last fall’s Women’s World Cup in China.

The collateral damage in the wake of that was widely publicized. But what has happened since has garnered little attention.

Since Pia Sundhage was named the WNT coach in November, the U.S. has been nearly flawless.

In 2008, the Americans are 10-0-1 and have outscored their opponents 34-4. They have won the Four Nations Tournament in China, the Algarve Cup in Portugal and the Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Mexico.

This Sunday at WakeMed Soccer Park will mark the team’s first match on American soil this year. And Sundhage hopes fans will come out to see the revamped team.

“To get a chance to see these players is big,” Sundhage said. “The way they’ve been playing, they are very successful. Last year they were successful with a bronze medal [at the World Cup], and this year hopefully even more successful.”

The three-game exhibition tour, which kicks off Sunday against Australia in Cary, will serve as a tune-up to this summer’s Beijing Olympics. Since 1996, the U.S. has won the gold medal twice (1996, 2004) and appeared in the gold-medal match at all three Games. In 2000, they took silver after losing 3-2 to Norway in the final.