USWNT: Is their Reign over?

The United States Women’s National soccer Team (USWNT) has been going through some serious growing pains recently. Following their 2019 Women’s World Cup win, the team has been dealing with some serious changes. Starting with the introduction of new coach, Vlatko Andonovski, just after their World Cup win. Much of the world expected the continued domination of the American team. In many ways, they continued to, but their reign didn’t last. The USWNT took home bronze at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics. For the rest of 2021, the team continued to win or draw international friendlies. They did not lose.

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Once 2022 rolled around, Vlatko hoped to build momentum through friendlies, the SheBelieves Cup, and World Cup Qualifiers. When it came to SheBelieves and World Cup Qualifiers, he did just that. They went undefeated between those two competitions. Even beating the reigning Olympic Gold Medalist Canadian team in the CONCACAF Championship game, thanks to an Alex Morgan penalty. However, it seemed like things were going just a little too well. In October, Vlatko took the team to Europe to take on England and Spain. For the first time since 2017, the USWNT lost two games in a row.

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Fans have made a myriad of excuses for the struggles of the USWNT, including Vlatko’s coaching, injuries, and age. It is no secret that there are quite a few notable players out due to injury/ pregnancy. Kelley O’Hara, Emily Sonnett, Julie Ertz, Catarina Macario, Christen Press, and Tobin Heath to name just a few. Alex Morgan and Mallory Pugh missed both the England and Spain games in October but are expected to play in their upcoming friendlies with Germany on November 10th and 13th.  We’ll have to see if their presence makes a difference. There are arguments that the team is both too old and too young. Players like Lindsey Horan, Megan Rapinoe, Crystal Dunn, and Kelley O’Hara have been long tenured players on the National Team, and some fans are beginning to wonder if it’s time for them to hang up their cleats. This is despite all their impeccable NWSL club seasons. Vlatko has also been known to love to call in young players. Sophia Smith, Mallory Pugh, and Trinity Rodman are frequently called up, and they’ve shown their value to the team. Fans haven’t been afraid to call out Vlatko for not playing Trinity as much. Vlatko is also unafraid to call up a young player here and there. Most recently, Alyssa Thompson joined the team in Europe, due to Morgan’s absence. She performed well in the few minutes she was given, but fans aren’t convinced that players as young as her are the best course of action for the team. As with every coach of every sports team (good or bad), Vlatko has been thrown into the fire so-to-speak. Fans have not ever been thrilled by his on-field decisions or his off-field behavior. In early June, prior to World Cup qualifiers, Christen Press, a national team regular, tore her ACL in a club match. A few days later, Andonovski was asked if Press would have been on the team if she was healthy. He openly said that she wouldn’t. This rubbed a lot of fans the wrong way because Press has long been a fan favorite and was instrumental in the US’s 2019 World Cup victory.

It's still far too early to say what’s going to happen at the World Cup in Australia/New Zealand next summer, but their November games are sure to set a course for what’s next for the USWNT in the new year. It won’t be all that surprising to see older players make a return to the team, and fewer young players called up.

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