After the thrill of winning successive Women’s World Cup titles, the 2023 tournament – so far – has brought the US team very much down to earth with a bump.
Hearts must have been in the mouths of US fans during Tuesday’s tense 0-0 draw with Portugal as the four-time world champion came within inches of being knocked out of the tournament altogether.
Portugal was desperately unlucky not to engineer one of the great Women’s Cup shocks, notably when Ana Capeta’s shot deflected off the post in the last few minutes of the game.
For a team that has been so historically dominant at the Women’s World Cup, performances throughout the 2023 edition so far have been underwhelming for women’s soccer’s most dynastic team.
Head coach Vlatko Andonovski admitted his side “did not play well” against Portugal, while TNT soccer analyst and the US Women’s National Team (USWNT) great Julie Foudy told CNN: “They just haven’t been clicking – the thing I keep coming back to is it doesn’t feel like there is a lot of chemistry.
Their three matches at this tournament represents the US women’s worst group stage performance in World Cup history – and no team has ever won the competition having picked up so few points in the preliminary stage.
R&I ~ MJM
RandyMarsh
Article URL : https://www.cnn.com/2023/08/01/football/uswnt-performances-womens-world-cup-2023/index.html