AUCKLAND, New Zealand — The opening match for the U.S. women’s national team at the 2023 Women’s World Cup is a little over 48 hours away. As such, the pressure ahead of the first game — even though it’s against relative minnows Vietnam, ranked 32 in the world according to FIFA — is building, and for the 14 U.S. players experiencing their first World Cup, they’re about to enter a brave new world.
The attention will be unlike anything the World Cup newbies have ever seen. Granted, the group has dealt with such difficulties over the course of their entire careers otherwise they wouldn’t have gotten this far. Players like Sophia Smith and Emily Fox have represented the U.S. at youth world championships, and there is a general knowledge of what being on the U.S. women’s national team entails.
“Being on this team, it comes with a big target on your back,” Smith said. “It comes with…
