This past Sunday, Spain’s Women’s National Football Team won their first World Cup title after defeating England in the final. An outcome many fans of the United States Women’s National Team (USWNT) had not expected.
The USWNT had a chance to win the World Cup for the third time in a row, after a victory in both 2015 and 2019. During the tournament, the USWNT had 4th-time returning players Alex Morgan, Kelly O’Hara, Julie Ertz and Megan Rapinoe, as well as new additions, such as 18-year-old Alysa Thompson and 22-year-old Sophia Smith.
The USWNT was favored to win it again this year but was knocked out of the tournament in round of 16 by Sweden after Megan Rapinoe, Sophia Smith and Kelley O’Hara missed their penalty kicks.
Sophomore Christian Wamba said he believed the loss was due to an overall lack of effort from the whole team.
“I guess they just weren’t trying as hard as they should have. I feel like they weren’t playing to their best ability and they could have played better,” Wamba said.
BVNW’s soccer coach Michelle Pothoven said she felt bad for Rapinoe ending her season on a missed shot, but believed she should not have been on the field in the first place. Although Rapinoe helped win other World Cups, Pothoven said she’s not the most impactful nor fastest player anymore.
In response to the team losing, Pothoven said she was initially disappointed and frustrated.
“The team as a whole could’ve done better, but we lost one of our best offensive players, Mallory Swanson, right beforehand and our best defensive player, Becky Sauerbrunn. But in the four games, we only gave up one goal,” Pothoven said. “The competition has also got so much better.”
According to the U.S. Soccer Federation, The USWNT announced former coach Vlatko Andonovski would no longer be coaching the team. Pothoven said she agrees with this decision and hopes for the best for the next coach.
“I think [Andonoviski] does things right but maybe this wasn’t his best fit. I have no clue who they will hire next. I wish whoever does it well, they’re under a lot of scrutiny. [They are] the team that everyone wants to beat,” Pothoven said.
