"Women's World Cup 2023: USWNT Seeks Third Straight Victory Amidst Growing Competition"

 

By:ReportRealm Desk

Courtesy:CNN 

Date:7/20/23

Megha Rapinoe middle in the field

(ReportRealm Desk)-

Women's World Cup: Who can dethrone the US football team? The long-dominated United States faces a tough challenge from other rising teams amid injuries, inexperience and a sport that is rapidly expanding globally. 

This has never been done before. But the United States Women's National Soccer Team (USWNT) is trying to make history by becoming the first team in sports history - whether men's or women's - to win the World Cup three times in a row. 

 So all eyes are on Team USA as the FIFA Women's World Cup kicks off in New Zealand and Australia on July 20. The USWNT has won four of its eight World Cups since the tournament began in 1991. Last time in France, the United States lifted the trophy without losing a single game, conceding just three goals in seven games. The team also set a record for the heaviest win in the 13-0 win over Thailand in 2019. 

But traumatized and undergoing a generational change, Team America may not be as dominant as it once was. And with the increasing quality and popularity of women's soccer around the world, other countries are emerging as major powers and threatening US hegemony as the sport's strongest team. England, Spain, France and Germany, countries where women's club football are booming, will present a serious challenge to the United States. The Netherlands, Sweden, Japan, Olympic champions Canada and hosts Australia will look to mark the tournament. Many analysts also expect Brazil to be the dark horse of the World Cup. 

So can any of these teams dethrone the United States? What are the strengths and weaknesses of the defending champions? And who will be their strongest opponent? Short answer: USWNT is always the team to beat. Accountants have them as undisputed favorites. Their winning mentality coupled with unquestionable quality has made them the highest ranked team in FIFA. But they don't automatically become champions because they want to achieve something that no one else has. Their injury crisis and the rise of several other teams mean it wouldn't be a big surprise if the United States lost the championship. How did the United States become dominant? 

Men's football - or football as the Americans call it - is not the most popular sport in the United States. But it is a high level women's sport. This dominance in the United States is also reflected in the international performances of the women's team. In eight World Cups since the first in 1991, the United States has reached the semi-finals of every tournament, never finishing below third place. Some of the first professional women's soccer leagues were established in the United States, and the nation's current elite league - the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) - is one of the most famous and prestigious in the world. According to experts, one of the main reasons beyond this success is the popularity of the game at the college level. In a country where male athletes are often drawn to basketball, American football and baseball, soccer is the sport of choice for girls and young women. Bekki Morgan, a freelance writer on women's football, said: With a large country of 330 million people and strong academies and college sports programs, this structure creates a talent "pipeline" that ensures success. "Women's football is just thriving and pretty much every girl in the country played it as a child," said Morgan. "So there's only the level of interest." 

The USWNT has rewarded that interest with titles – four world championships and four Olympic gold medals – as well as many memorable “where were you when” moments. 

After scoring the final goal in front of 90,000 spectators near Los Angeles in a penalty shootout during the 1999 World Cup final against China, Brandi Chastain took off his shirt and fell to his knees, creating a defining moment in sports history.

Megha Rapinoe 

Chastain has become one of the legends of her generation alongside Kristine Lilly and Mia Hamm. Stars including Carli Lloyd, Hope Solo, Megan Rapinoe and Alex Morgan followed in their footsteps. And with many players retiring, big prospects in their twenties and late teens are emerging. 

A key factor behind this talent factory, experts say, is Title IX, a 1972 law that prohibits sexism by federally funded educational institutions, including in athletic programs. To comply with the law, schools must provide equal athletic opportunities for girls. Regulation has promoted women's sport in recent decades. 

“Title IX has really helped a lot to retain women in the sport. You start playing young; you can keep playing and you really have a path to college,” said Andre Carlisle, co-host of the Diaspora United podcast, which focuses on black women in football. “So college softball is huge. Volleyball became very important. Football is already our thing. It is necessary. » 

Jennifer Gruskoff, editor of Girls Soccer Network, which covers women's soccer at all levels, said the relative low popularity of men's soccer in the United States created an opportunity for early women to take the lead in the sport. Gruskoff told Al Jazeera: “Because there are so many popular sports for men in the United States, I think there was an opening and girls and women alike started playing the sport. “They claim it as their own in their own right. And they started paying a lot of attention to it and getting pretty good [when] other countries were still focusing on their men's game. 

"The world is catching up" However, while the United States may have had a head start in developing and professionalizing women's soccer, the rest of the world is now increasingly focused on women's soccer. "The world is catching up" is a phrase often used by American commentators when talking about the US team's chances in Australia and New Zealand.

One example is Europe, where top football clubs are increasingly promoting their women's teams, which has in turn attracted tens of thousands of fans to watch their matches. 

Women's football is also gradually gaining popularity at the national team level. 

The English Lions drew nearly 90,000 sold-out fans to Wembley Stadium in London to watch the Euro 2022 final as they lifted the continental trophy, something their male counterparts had failed to do at the same venue a year earlier. 

And it's not just Europe. Women's football is attracting worldwide attention. As Carlisle, who describes herself as a "relentless tweeter about women's football," put it, football is a global sport with global appeal, so it makes no sense to exclude half of humanity from the sport. 

"It's the most popular sport and it's silly to assume it won't be popular just because women play it. So now we see that we're overcoming that difficulty," he told Al Jazeera. 

American striker Alex Morgan seems to realize that the gap is narrowing ahead of the World Cup. “This is going to be the most competitive World Cup ever,” she told the Los Angeles Times. "It's becoming more and more competitive." 

"Winning mentality" Despite the stiff competition expected in Australia and New Zealand, many commentators still want the US to win. This is because sometimes winning leads to winning. 

"The expectations are clear:

we have to win everything," USA coach Vlatko Andonovski told ESPN last month.

“The expectation is to win every game. And it's not even something we talk about. This is the kind of mentality that took shape a long time ago, long before I was a coach or any of these players played on the team. 

The team also boasts a wealth of talent, particularly in attack - despite the injuries of top scorer Mallory Swanson and star player Catarina Macario. 

Morgan, a successful and accomplished veteran, is surrounded by plenty of strong options, including prolific Sophia Smith and rising talents Trinity Rodman and Alyssa Thompson. Playing her first World Cup at the age of 30, Lynn Williams is also a proven goalscorer. 

At 38, legendary Megan Rapinoe is expected to play a limited role in the league, but she can still make an impact with her experience on the pitch and in the locker room. Reporter Bekki Morgan said: "The fact that even with such serious injuries, the US still has players of this caliber leading the attack shows that this is absolutely their greatest strength." 

“They are not necessarily as well connected as people have hoped for the past six months. However, if they just click - and the US has a habit of clicking only when it's game time - then they can completely refocus and be really dangerous.

For her part, Gruskoff pointed to the team's "winning mentality," which she said gives the USWNT an advantage. “We have incredible colleges and youth programs to train these players to their current level, but still have the X factor – that is a winning mentality that has been tested for generations and proven to work,” she said. What are the weak points? This winning expectation is about to be tested in Australia and New Zealand, and other teams can smell the blood. In defence, midfield and attack, the USWNT has lost key players to injury and can struggle with depth and lack of experience. The next World Cup will be the first for 14 of the 23 players named by Andonovski. 

The leg injury of captain and center back Becky Sauerbrunn kept her out of the tournament, dealing a double blow to the USWNT because of the quality and leadership they provided. 

According to experts, the defense may be the Achilles heel of the US team. Alana Cook, 26, and Naomi Girma, 23, will replace Sauerbrunn alongside Emily Sonnett, 29. Although all three defenders are capable, experience is especially important at centre-back. 

"They don't have the history and experience of Becky Sauerbrunn," Morgan said. "We're going to go in with three-quarters of maybe our starting XI that haven't made it to the World Cup. So that's a big deal. 

In the opening match against Wales, Andonovski's starting defense also included Emily Fox - the full-back who will also feature in her first World Cup. Carlisle said: "The whole back line - full-backs and centre-backs are good - but they don't have a lot of depth there. "When the players have to go deep, that's when you'll see abandonment and you'll also see incompatibility because they don't know each other in certain positions." Beyond the immediate problems, there have been rifts in the team's performance in recent years. The American women lost to England and Spain last year, and in 2021 they were knocked out of the semi-finals of the Olympics in Japan after a 0-1 loss to eventual champions Canada.

USA's Brandi Chastain celebrates scoring
the winning penalty in the 1999
 Women's World Cup

Who can win the trophy? England, Germany, France and Spain are thought to be the United States' main opponents at the World Cup, but like the defending champions, these four teams are also missing key players through injury. Both Gruskoff and Bekki Morgan predict that Brazil will go deep in the tournament and challenge for the title. The World Cup will be the sixth and possibly last tournament for veteran superstar Marta. Winning the trophy for her would be like Lionel Messi's fairytale success at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. 

With star Brazilian players playing in the NWSL - including Debinha and Ary Borges - Morgan said the South American team is "ready to play very well".

For Carlisle, the competition is wide open and all favorites have a realistic chance of winning – or losing. "Almost every great team has a question mark," he said.