Such is the standard that the U.S. women's national team has carried through its many iterations over the last three decades, that a puzzling result might be cause to sound a light alarm—even if it's all part of a greater plan.
Thursday night's SheBelieves Cup opener is a case in point. Coach Vlatko Andonovski has been clear about his desire to bring along a new wave of talent, and taking a long view means that the results in the short term could be collateral damage. A 0–0 draw against the 24th-ranked Czech Republic, for instance, doesn't do much to inspire confidence when the expectation, regardless of who is on the field, is a win by any means necessary. This is a down year for the SheBelieves Cup in terms of the strength of the field (Iceland, New Zealand and Czech Republic are not quite on the same level as past participants France, Brazil, Japan, Canada, Germany and England), but the same can be said about the squad the U.S. has brought to the competition.
Stating the obvious, the U.S. looks a lot differently when the likes of Alex Morgan, Christen Press, Tobin Heath, Megan Rapinoe, Sam Mewis, Julie Ertz, Crystal Dunn, Lindsey Horan and Abby Dahlkemper (seven of those nine started the 2019 Women's World Cup final; Press came off the bench) are not involved. As it was, the average age for the U.S. lineup Thursday night (25.5) was its youngest in almost four years, and the caveats go beyond just that. Despite the multiple U.S. camps during the NWSL offseason, it's still preseason for this entire group except Lyon's Catarina Macario, who, unsurprisingly, was one of the brightest spots in the attack and had her chances to score.
