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The U.S. women’s national team is doing something it traditionally doesn’t do very often: It’s heading overseas to play a pair of friendlies against a tough opponent on hostile turf. In this case, it’s Australia, a team that’s been steadily on the rise thanks to the talent of players like Samantha Kerr, Caitlin Foord and Ellie Carpenter.
Fresh off a disappointing Olympics over the summer, these games — on Friday at 11 p.m. ET and then Tuesday at 4: 05 a,m. ET (stream the second match LIVE on ESPN) won’t be easy for the USWNT, but that’s the whole point. The Americans want these games in Australia to be tough — and, the players probably won’t admit to this part, if they lose one or both of the games, even better. That’s because losing paves the way for winning, as we have seen over and over again with the USWNT.
Consider this: Coming into the Tokyo Olympics earlier this year, head coach Vlatko Andonovski had never lost a game since taking the helm of the USWNT, and the team was riding a 44-game unbeaten streak when it arrived in Japan. That, of course, didn’t work out very well.
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In retrospect, is it any wonder the U.S. players looked frazzled in their opening game of the Olympics, when Sweden clobbered them in a masterful showing? The U.S. players hadn’t experienced the sting of a loss in too long, and the USWNT’s send-off games before the Olympics were on U.S. soil in front of packed home crowds — something many teams in the Olympics couldn’t enjoy due to the pandemic.
These games in Australia, which are open to fans, will be the USWNT’s first time playing in front of away fans since the World Cup more than two years ago in France, which saw a sizable American contingent travel to see the games anyway. The USWNT’s last time playing an away game against a hostile crowd outside a major tournament was in Europe in January 2019, including a 3-1 loss to France.
Lindsay Horan…
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Source : espn
