Here’s a sentence you see every four years: The United States is a favorite to win the Women’s World Cup.
Why should the public not believe the hype this time?
The United States’ résumé is top of its class: The team will head to this summer’s tournament in Australia and New Zealand as the No. 1-ranked women’s soccer team in the world and the two-time defending champion. And unlike any other Women’s World Cup team, it has four tiny golden stars sewn above its jersey crest to show the program’s pedigree of four World Cup titles. When the tournament begins next month, the Americans will arrive with a roster dotted by nearly 10 players who have lifted the trophy before.
But knowing what it takes to win and doing it with one of the youngest and most inexperienced teams the United States has ever taken to the World Cup are very different things. It’s likely that more than half of the roster will be World Cup rookies. And the team must find a way to play at its best, even without its respected team captain and its most dangerous striker.
Coach Vlatko Andonovski has spent the past few years trying to rebuild his squad as this tournament loomed, easing out veterans and introducing new talent in an effort to build a team that he thinks can win this summer and succeed into…
