“Joy” was the operative word around the United States women’s national team on Thursday as players and staff prepared to leave their Auckland base camp and fly to Australia for the round of 16 match against their old foes Sweden in Melbourne.
USA captain Lindsey Horan and forward Lynn Williams spoke for the first time since Tuesday’s 0-0 draw with Portugal. Each player reflected on the differing emotions provoked by the result: they know they played poorly, but they also advanced to the knockout stage.
“It was a World Cup game,” Horan said. “That’s how it goes. It’s not a good feeling to have and that’s why we’ve looked at ourselves and looked at these last few games, and we know that part is over. Now, we have to find this inside of ourselves, find this joy. We go to the round of 16 and we bring that.”
The USA were bailed out by the post in second-half stoppage time on Tuesday when Portugal substitute Ana Capeta struck the woodwork. A loss for the US would have marked the first World Cup group-stage elimination for them – or any defending champion.
Sluggish performances from the Americans thus far have drawn widespread criticism, including from those not far removed from the team. Carli Lloyd, who was part of the 2015 and 2019 World Cup-winning squads and now works as a pundit for Fox Sports, questioned the team’s will to win. Lloyd has since walked back some of the criticism, but on Thursday Horan was quick to dismiss her former teammate’s original comments.
“It’s noise and again, it’s an opinion, and everyone is entitled to their own opinion, and we know that’s how it goes. But for me, it’s like, I always want to defend my team and say, you have no idea what’s going on behind the scenes. You have no idea every single training, what we’re doing individually, collectively, etc,” said Horan.
“So for anyone to question our mentality, you know, hurts a little bit, but at the end of the day, it doesn’t really matter. I don’t really care. It’s what’s going on inside of here, it’s what’s going on inside of the team and getting ready for that next game.”
Next up are Sweden. The Swedes won Group G comfortably with three victories, including a 5-0 thrashing of Italy. Sunday will mark the seventh time in nine World Cups that USA and Sweden face each other, but it will be their first meeting in the knockout stage.
Sunday will also mark the first time 14 of the 23 players on the USA roster have faced a World Cup knockout game. Williams, playing in her first World Cup at 30, is among them. As disappointed as she was with the Portugal draw, she wanted to celebrate making it out of the group stage. She spoke of the “human side” of the sport, something she believes has been lost in the discourse around the team.
“We have a young team,” she said. “We all want to put our best foot forward. We want this so badly that sometimes I think we lose track of why we started to play and why we’re here; it’s because we loved a game, and we loved absolutely playing and we love these moments on the world stage.”
Horan stepped to the microphone on Thursday as part of the captaincy duties she has taken on since Becky Sauerbrunn was injured before the tournament. As she faced a fresh set of questions about her team’s struggles, Horan referenced the numerous upsets taking place at the tournament as evidence of the growth of the game. Jamaica eliminated Brazil the night prior with a scoreless draw. Colombia defeated Germany last week. Portugal taking the USA to the wire is part of that change, too.
Horan finds delight in change. She is a soccer purist, a student of the game who skipped college and went to play professionally in Europe as an 18-year-old. As a fan, she loves the increased parity – even if it challenges USA’s place on the throne. The Americans have never finished worse than third at the World Cup; and they’ve won half of the eight to date. Winning a fifth title would arguably be their greatest achievement to date.
“I think it’s a joy for women’s football,” she said. “If you’re not supporting it by now, it’s insane. Being in this and being a part of it is truly incredible.
