Alex Morgan thought for a second earlier than answering the query.
During a CONCACAF W Gold Cup press convention on Friday afternoon, the veteran striker was requested if the United States girls’s soccer group has one thing to show. Among loads of different accomplishments over the past 30+ years, this can be a program that has received extra World Cups than every other nation and has fought for and received equal pay. It set the usual different international locations attempt to satisfy.
But given latest historical past, it is not a very unfair query. Last summer season the USWNT was knocked out of the World Cup following a penalty shootout with Sweden in the spherical of 16, marking the squad’s earliest exit in main event historical past. More lately, on Monday, the group misplaced to Mexico for simply the second time in 43 conferences in its last Gold Cup group stage match. The 2-0 consequence value the U.S. the highest spot in Group A, which suggests the Americans now must face a harder opponent in Colombia on Sunday in the quarterfinal. While the USWNT remains to be a favourite to win this event, advancing to the semifinal is not assured.
“Just because we dropped a few games in the past doesn’t mean we don’t show up with the same intention every single day,” Morgan stated. “And I think that’s really important to remember. We have a very high expectation set on ourselves. Everyone does. And that’s for good reason because we have won major tournaments — the most of any country in the history of women’s soccer.
“But in fact, as everybody has seen and as we like to see, the standard of ladies’s soccer globally is evolving and getting higher and there is extra alternative for girls to play soccer yr spherical, for extra respect and alternative for progress, and for monetary stability.
“I don’t know if this next game is something we’re saying we need to prove something, but every single game is just a step in a direction that we’re trying to make as this team right now.”
The USWNT is in a time of transition. Emma Hayes, the longtime Chelsea supervisor who was employed because the group’s new head coach in November, has but to take over full time. That is not anticipated to occur till later this spring, as soon as the WSL season has ended. Interim coach Twila Kilgore stated Friday that she and Hayes are “in lockstep” in the case of the imaginative and prescient and course of the group, however actual change probably will not happen till Hayes is on the bottom.
So whereas the Americans’ loss to Mexico on Monday could have appeared beautiful, the USWNT understands there might be extra challenges alongside the way in which whereas they develop as a program, add younger gamers to the nationwide group atmosphere, determine totally different participant combos, and evolve their fashion of play.
“It’s a process,” Kilgore stated. “There’s gonna be some bumps in the road. But we’re moving forward.”
Morgan stated the group has “regrouped” and refocused itself since shedding to Mexico. Younger gamers have been leaning on skilled ones like Morgan, Alyssa Naeher, Becky Sauerbrunn, Crystal Dunn and Lindsey Horan. There have been group conferences this week the place “we dive into not only how we’re going to work on the field, but off the field and what to expect and how to support each other in different ways,” Morgan stated.
“So I think it’s been a really good five days so far as we’ve processed the last game and moved onto the next game and I think we’re in a good place.”
The U.S. has confronted its subsequent opponent Colombia 4 instances since June 2022, the newest being a pair of friendlies final October. The first match ended in a 0-0 draw and the USWNT received the second 3-0.
Las Cafeteras are additionally in a interval of transition, hiring a brand new coach after their Cinderella run to the World Cup quarterfinal final summer season. The group is led by 19-year-old sensation and Real Madrid ahead Linda Caicedo, who’s considered one of soccer’s brightest younger stars. None of that phases the U.S., which is making an attempt to constantly be the very best model of itself. Kilgore stated Friday the important thing for them is to win first balls, win second balls and push the tempo in opposition to an aggressive group like Colombia.
“When we talk about our style of play, hopefully it’s evident that there’s things like width in new areas and looking to play in new areas of the pitch and starting to have these repeated moments in front of goal,” Kilgore stated.
“But all of those things mean nothing if you don’t first approach the battle, and we expect that this is going to be a big battle and we’re up for it. We’re ready for it.”
Things did not go in response to plan the final time the USWNT was in the knockout spherical of a significant event. But Kilgore stated they’re treating this match as a “totally new tournament” and can proceed “with the style of play, the tactical adjustments and the systems that we’re using to make sure that we’re moving forward and continuing to evolve so that we can not only compete at our very best this tournament, but when we enter our next tournament, we are well rehearsed.”
“We all understand that there’s not an athlete in the room – and most people in life — that their trajectory has just been [upward],” Kilgore continued. “The standards for this team are very high, and the expectation is to win in this program all the time.
“But the truth is, generally if you’re engaged on issues, it does not fairly come off. And generally the opponent is de facto good. But these are moments which can be nonetheless transferring in the fitting course, and we perceive that how we reply to them is all the pieces.
“And while we’re known for winning, we’re also known for competing and bouncing back and being proud of who we are and will continue to step forward in the right direction.”
Laken Litman covers faculty soccer, faculty basketball and soccer for FOX Sports. She beforehand wrote for Sports Illustrated, USA Today and The Indianapolis Star. She is the writer of “Strong Like a Woman,” printed in spring 2022 to mark the fiftieth anniversary of Title IX. Follow her on Twitter @LakenLitman.
Alex Morgan
United States
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