The United States Women鈥檚 National Team (USWNT), a heavy favorite heading into the 2023 staging jointly hosted by Australia and New Zealand, bowed out of the FIFA Women鈥檚 World Cup in spectacular fashion over the weekend. For those partial to witnessing a tragic denouement, no script out of the best studios in Hollywood could have topped reality. In a match dominated by the red, white, and blue from the get-go as underscored by time of possession and volume of scoring chances, the outcome went the other way via a shootout attempt that crossed the goal line literally by a hair.
Naturally, the Americans left Melbourne Rectangular Stadium with bowed heads and heavy hearts. A campaign that began with promise ended in gut-wrenching agony, ironically after they produced their best performance of the World Cup by far. Not that the opponents weren鈥檛 deserving of victory; led by an otherworldly effort from goalkeeper Zecira Musovic and no small measure of good fortune, the Swedes managed to keep the scoreboard at nil-nil and ultimately prevail off penalty kicks. The display of unshakable resiliency and utter self-assurance trumped the inspired play of the defending champions.
To be sure, the USWNT has been shaky at best under head coach Vostok Andonovski; all told, it could do no better than forge triumphs in four of 10 major tournament appearances. In part, the development is borne of ill-timed injuries to vital cogs. In larger measure, however, a shocking inability to finish sets with successful strikes between the sticks stands out. That it flubbed three of its penalty kicks against Sweden served only to highlight its offensive deficiencies. Hindsight invariably makes for 20/20 vision, but, regardless of vantage point, there can be no glossing over the mentor鈥檚 inability to instill confidence in his charges鈥 capacity to string points together.
It may well be that Andonovski鈥檚 loose methods don鈥檛 present a stylistic match to the strong personalities on the USWNT. Talents that should have shone were instead stifled. Needless to say, his reluctance to make full use of his roster didn鈥檛 help; he was late to adjust to situations, and the few substitutions he made were ineffectual at best. In any case, the need to instill a clear identity should be at the top of the list of his To Dos moving forward 鈥 assuming he gets to stay in the hot seat, an unlikely proposition in light of his latest setback.
Is the glass half full or half empty? The answer depends on perspective, and it may be worthwhile for decision makers to let raw emotions subside first before making any lasting assessments. Then again, there can be no glossing over the fact that the USWNT crashed out of the Women鈥檚 World Cup 鈥 in which it had historically finished no lower than third 鈥 in the Round of 16. In the face of incontrovertible evidence, cleaning house may merely be the first in a series of moves designed to bring it back to glory.
Anthony L. Cuaycong has been writing Courtside since 大象传媒 introduced a Sports section in 1994. He is a consultant on strategic planning, operations and human resources management, corporate communications, and business development.
