The U.S. women’s national team are focusing on their strengths as they prepare for their Women’s World Cup opener against Vietnam, with Friday’s match serving as the first meeting between the two teams.
“[Something] we’ve been talking about a lot is just [sticking] to our game plan, what makes us great, and then also having the ability to adapt in the game,” forward Lynn Williams said Thursday.
The reigning champions are expected to demonstrate their credentials as contenders for another World Cup title against Vietnam but are not underestimating the tournament newcomers. Williams made note of the specific challenges the Asian team poses, as well as the USWNT’s recent on-pitch experiences given the rising quality of women’s national teams around the world.
“I think that they’re going to play a different style than we are probably used to,” she said. “It’s just our ability to adapt. Obviously, every single opponent that we play, we scout them and then half the time, it’s not what we scouted so just trusting each other and being able to adapt on the fly and trust that somebody behind you is seeing something and talking that through.”
Vietnam, ranked 32 in the world, arrive at the World Cup with standout attackers Nguyen Thi Thanh Nha and Huynh Nhu who will no doubt want to impress during the tournament. The pair will provide the first test for a USWNT defense that is without veteran center back Becky Sauerbrunn through injury and has had limited time to build chemistry.
“We’re ruthless,” defender Crystal Dunn said. “I think as a back line, that’s how we’ve always trained and Becky has been someone who set the tone and the standard for that and I think without her being here, we just know even more we have to be even more collective and relentless in our defending.”
Vietnam might also rely on its own defensive shape to keep out the USWNT, which is well known for its attacking prowess but has recently struggled against teams who take that approach. That was the case in the USWNT’s final friendly before the World Cup when it went scoreless against Wales until the 76th minute when substitute Trinity Rodman broke the deadlock.
Dunn expects Rodman and fellow World Cup newcomers to be essential as the USWNT aim for an unprecedented three-peat and credited head coach Vlatko Andonovski for transitioning the squad to include both veterans and young stars.
“Vlatko was given a task, obviously, to coach us through an Olympics that wasn’t ideal for everybody involved,” Dunn said of the coach, who was hired in October 2019. “Then after the Olympics [and] a couple of pregnancies [on the team] … I think it was an amazing time for young players to get their foot in the door.
“What everybody’s going to see and witness is an incredible range of talent, veterans, young players and you’re going to see people really own the opportunity and put on display the beautiful game that they play.”