Julie Ertz has been named to the U.S. roster for a pair of upcoming matches against Ireland after taking time off for the birth of her son.

Ertz has not played for the United States since the bronze medal-winning victory over Australia at the Tokyo Olympics. She and husband Zach Ertz, who plays for the NFL’s Arizona Cardinals, welcomed son Madden last August.

Ertz was among 26 players named to the roster announced Tuesday by coach Vlatko Andonovski.

The United States first plays Ireland on April 7 in Austin, Texas, before the second match on April 11 in St. Louis. They are the last international games for the United States before Andonovski selects a 23-player roster for the World Cup this summer in Australia and New Zealand.

Also returning is defender Casey Krueger, who plays for the Chicago Red Stars. She took time off for the birth of her son last July. Kelley O’Hara, who hasn’t played since last year’s World Cup qualifiers, is also back with the team.

Ertz, 30, was on the U.S. teams that won World Cups in 2015 and 2019 and is the only player on the roster who is not currently playing for a professional club.

“It’s very exciting to be back with the team again and I’m grateful to have this opportunity. I am very thankful to Zach, my family, and U.S. Soccer for the amazing support they have provided to get me back to this point,” Ertz said in a statement. “I’ve been training hard. I am going into this camp the same way I always have, to compete with the best women in the world.”

Missing from the roster was veteran Megan Rapinoe, who has a calf injury.

• Lionel Messi scored a hat trick and surpassed 100 career goals for Argentina in an international friendly against Curacao. The World Cup winners won 7-0 in their second match since clinching the trophy in December.

The 35-year-old Messi opened the scoring against Curacao in the 20th minute with a right-foot shot from the edge of the box to reach the 100-goal milestone.

Messi then scored his 101st for Argentina in the 33rd minute with a crossed shot to the right of the goalkeeper and his 102nd in the 37th. Two minutes earlier he assisted on Enzo Fernandez’s goal.

The Argentine captain trails only two players on the list of most goals scored for national teams in official matches: Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo, with 122, and Iran’s Ali Daei, with 109.

Rybakina keeps on rolling in Miami Open

Reigning Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina extended her winning streak to 12 matches by delivering 10 aces — her fourth consecutive outing with at least that many — in a 6-3, 6-0 victory over 25th-seeded Martina Trevisan in the Miami Open quarterfinals.

Rybakina has 46 aces through four matches at the hard-court tournament and a WTA-leading 201 this season.

The 23-year-old, who represents Kazakhstan, improved to 20-4 in 2023, including a run to the Australian Open final in January and a title at Indian Wells last week.

In fourth-round men’s action, No. 2 seed Stefanos Tsitsipas was beaten 7-6 (4), 6-4 by No. 14 Karen Khachanov, while defending champion Carlos Alcaraz, Taylor Fritz and Jannik Sinner all beat seeded opponents in straight sets.

Alcaraz, who returned to No. 1 in the ATP rankings last week, got past Australian Open semifinalist Tommy Paul 6-4, 6-4 to set up a meeting against Fritz, the top-ranked American man and seeded ninth in Miami.

Fritz scored a 6-3, 6-4 win over No. 7 Holger Rune.

No. 10 Sinner eliminated No. 6 Andrey Rublev 6-2, 6-4 and has yet to drop a set in the tournament.

Top Auburn recruit Traore transferring

Auburn’s top signee from last year, center Yohan Traore, plans to transfer.

The five-star recruit from France, who played a limited role as a freshman, announced his plans in an Instagram post.

The 6-foot-10 Traore initially committed to LSU but landed at Auburn after the firing of coach Will Wade a little more than a year ago. He was rated the No. 24 overall recruit and No. 5 center according to 247Sports.

He averaged 2.1 points and 1.4 rebounds after arriving from Dream City Christian School in Arizona.

Traore was a member of the U15 and U16 French National Team.

He played nine minutes in Auburn’s opening NCAA tournament game against Iowa. Traore failed to score and didn’t play in the second-round loss to Houston.

Gumbel lauded for lifetime achievement

Bryant Gumbel will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award during the 44th Annual Sports Emmy Awards on May 22 in New York, The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences announced.

Gumbel’s career has spanned more than 50 years on NBC, CBS and HBO. He has hosted “Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel” on HBO since 1995. It has received 36 Sports Emmys.

“It’s very humbling. I’ve been a fortunate, lucky guy,” said Gumbel, who is the first Black journalist to receive the award. “It makes you stop and take stock. You take a look at the guys who I admire a great deal who received this award, people like Vin Scully, Jim McKay and Howard Cosell. You never want to put yourself in their company, but it’s heady stuff.”

Gumbel started as the sports anchor at KNBC in Los Angeles before joining NBC Sports in the fall of 1975. He served as host of the network’s NFL, baseball and NCAA tournament coverage, including the famed 1979 title game between Magic Johnson’s Michigan State and Larry Bird’s Indiana State. He moved to NBC News in January 1982 to host the “Today” show, a role he had for 15 years.

Gumbel was the prime-time host of NBC’s coverage of the 1988 Seoul Olympics.

In 1997, Gumbel went to CBS News to host his own prime-time program. He also had a stint as host of “The Early Show” before departing in 2002.