WOMEN'S WORLD CUP 2023
USWNT under pressure ahead of crucial Women’s World Cup clash against Portugal
Head coach Vlatko Andonovski insisted that the United States’ team is enjoying the challenge as they go in search of a third consecutive World Cup title.
The United States Women’s National Team needs a result against Portugal on Tuesday to secure passage to the knockout rounds of the Women’s World Cup.
The US side could only manage a draw against the Netherlands in their second group stage game, meaning that they go into their final Group E fixture needing at least a draw to be sure of qualification. If they lose against Portugal, USWNT will almost certainly suffer an unthinkable group stage exit.
Speaking at a press conference on Monday, head coach Vlatko Andonovski insisted that he is not fazed by the pressure.
“I don’t know how it is with the other coaches and the other national teams, but the moment you sit in this chair - the moment I sat in this chair in 2019 - is when the pressure starts,” Andonovski told reporters. “This isn’t something new.
“The only thing that changed from 2019 to now is I just learned how to turn the pressure into excitement,” he added.
“For us the most important thing is getting into the knockout stage, first and foremost,” Andonovski continued. “We don’t want to look two, three, four steps forward. It’s the first step. Let’s make sure that we get into the next stage. If we start thinking too far ahead, our chance may never come.”
USWNT form a social media-free ‘bubble’
When the US team won the World Cup in 2019 they did so after forming a ‘bubble’ within the squad. Players agreed not to check social media during the tournament, ignoring the outside perception of their performances.
This time around the US squad is doing the same thing and Andonovski, who took over shortly after the 2019 triumph, revealed that he has followed the players’ lead.
“One thing that I do is I don’t have social media, I don’t read anything - our press officer is my main source of information,” Andonovski said.
He continued: “I’m pretty sure if I knew everything outside of our bubble, I wouldn’t be smiling right now. That’s how I deal with pressure.”
Ahead of the tournament USWNT midfielder Andi Sullivan spoke about the team’s decision to cut back on social media during the tournament.
“For a World Cup, there’s more attention, more commentary, more coverage, which is great, but at the same time I just want my perspective to be only on my circle,” she explained.
“The inner circle - that’s who I want to focus my attention on and not necessarily noise.”