The U.S. plays Vietnam in its first World Cup match on Friday and faces the pressure of winning an unprecedented third consecutive World Cup
The United States women’s national team plays Vietnam in its first World Cup match on Friday, and the team faces the pressure of winning an unprecedented third consecutive World Cup.
The expectation and goal is to win, and head coach Vlatko Andonovski didn’t shy away from that while talking to reporters during the team’s media day on June 27, according to Just Women’s Sports.
“Would I be happy with anything short of a third straight win? No, absolutely not,” he said. “Our goal is to win the World Cup, there’s no question about it.”
Days after scoring a brace in the team’s send-off match on July 9, Trinity Rodman spoke to ESPN’s “Fútbol Americas” ahead of her first World Cup with the same confidence as Andonovski and said that the U.S. is “going to get the title.”
“Obviously the team has changed so much over the last couple of World Cups, even the past couple of months, but this team is something special. We want it more than ever, so I expect a gold medal,” she said, per Just Women’s Sports.
Team co-captain Alex Morgan, who is playing in her fourth World Cup, was asked by a reporter last week during media availability how often the team discusses the word “three-peat.
