AUCKLAND, New Zealand — With their World Cup campaign on unstable ground entering the knockout stage, U.S. women’s national soccer team players said Thursday that they recognize their shortfalls but remain confident about making a deep run in the tournament.

“We are not panicking,” forward Lynn Williams said in a news conference. “We haven’t played our best soccer yet, which is the most exciting part for us.”

The two-time reigning champions did not lose any of their three Group E matches and conceded just one goal. But they did not perform at their usual high levels, finishing second in the group behind the Netherlands – the second time in history they failed to win their group – and will face Group G winner Sweden in the round of 16 on Sunday in Melbourne.

The top-ranked Americans (1-0-2) have advanced to the semifinals in each of the previous eight World Cups, but based on performances in the group stage, Sweden (3-0-0) will enter the game as the favorite.

“We don’t want to be disappointed in ourselves,” captain Lindsey Horan said. “We still made it to the round of 16, and obviously we want to play better. We want to entertain our fans more and for ourselves, as well. The expectations are always going to be there for this national team, and they’re always going to be great, and we’re always going to be in the pressure cooker. We love that. So we just need to raise our standards, which we always do.”

Horan said the team needs to rediscover its joy of the game.

“We’re so passionate about this game,” she said. “We want to win as much as possible and we want to play better … and to find those little pieces of the joy in the game as well. Once we get that, things are going to move a little bit better on the field. We’re going to have more rhythm, we’re going to have more confidence, and more chances will come.”

The U.S. team scored three times in the opener against Vietnam but missed numerous opportunities. It then had to come from behind against the Netherlands to earn a point. Against Portugal, it created few quality chances and was fortunate to escape with a 0-0 draw.

Williams echoed Horan’s comments, saying, “We just need to get back to what makes us great.”

Midfielder Rose Lavelle, the team’s most creative player, will miss the match because of a yellow-card suspension. It remains unclear how Coach Vlatko Andonovski will fill Lavelle’s slot and whether, amid the team’s sputtering attack, he will make other lineup changes. Andonovski’s next media session is Saturday.

The players said they are aware of the disappointment expressed by fans and commentators, including former U.S. star Carli Lloyd.

“It is noise,” said Horan, Lloyd’s teammate on the 2019 championship squad. “Sometimes you hear it, you see it, and sometimes it’s hard to get away from it. It’s [media’s] job to have the opinion of our team. You guys are all watching us. Everyone in the world gets to have their opinion. And it’s the World Cup.”

Asked about Lloyd questioning the U.S. team’s desire, Horan said, “It’s kind of frustrating for me to hear, especially knowing this team and knowing how much we put into every single game, how much preparation we put into every single game, seeing our trainings, seeing how hard we work. You can’t question we didn’t want to win the game. You can’t question we weren’t working as hard as we possibly could. We know that things could have been better. We know we could have done more.”

Copy the Story Link