Kelley O'Hara - International Career

International Career

She competed on behalf of the United States in various youth teams from 2005 through 2010. O’Hara scored 24 goals in 35 Under-20 caps, the third-most ever for a U.S. player in that age group. She was a member of the fourth-place United States U-20 women's national soccer team that competed in the 2006 FIFA U-20 Women's World Championship in Russia. O'Hara scored two goals in the tournament: one against the Congo (for which game she was named FIFA's player of the match) and one against Germany. She was also the first player in the tournament to be ejected from a game, having picked up two yellow cards in the game against Argentina.

O'Hara would rejoin the U-20s at the 2007 Pan American Games. She scored four goals in the women's football tournament, against Paraguay, Panama, and Mexico. The United States, which only sent their U-20 women to the tournament, would fall in the final game, 0–5, to a full-strength Brazilian senior team featuring Marta.

In February 2008, O'Hara returned to the U-20 women's national team to play in the U-20 Four Nations Tournament in Chile. Her last appearance for the U-20s would be in July 2008, at the 2008 CONCACAF Women's U-20 Championship in Puebla, Mexico. O'Hara helped the U-20 team qualify for the 2008 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup in Chile. She did not play in the U-20 World Cup, instead remaining with her college team in its NCAA postseason campaign.

She was called into the senior national team's training camp in December 2009 and attended the January 2010 training camp in the lead-up to the 2010 Algarve Cup. O'Hara earned her first senior national team cap in March 2010, coming in as a substitute during a friendly match against Mexico.

O'Hara competed at the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup and 2012 Summer Olympics. Throughout her national U-20s, collegiate, and club career, O’Hara has been one of the top young offensive players in the United States, but has converted to play outside back in 2012. Against Guatemala on Jan. 22, 2012, she started her first-ever game at left back and registered three assists. She then got her first-ever start at right back against Costa Rica in the match that qualified the USA for London.

She is one of 3 players on the USA team that played every minute that the USA team played at the Olympic Games. Coincidentally, the other 2 team members, goalkeeper Hope Solo, and captain Christie Rampone have exactly the same statistics; playing all 570 minutes in all 6 matches and each made 1 assist.