U.S. heads to World Cup with players struggling for game time
The U.S. is in a unique situation at the 2015 women’s World Cup. It has players that are coming off ACL injuries and others whose knees need work, yet the roster lacks depth, because the roster is comprised mostly of high-salary players. Because of that, some young players could find themselves without game time.
The U.S. won’t be lacking talent either, but with a squad that is mostly made up of high-salary players, the U.S. will be facing a tough task.
“I think you have to take each and every loss with a grain of salt,” U.S. Women’s National Team head coach Jill Ellis said. “You have to look at the talent on each team and you’ll see that the U.S. had an amazing group of young players; and you want to see that kind of group on the field.”
The Americans will also be facing a World Cup that will include England, Canada, Australia and New Zealand among the top four teams in the group. This is a huge challenge.
“It’s very difficult to play against four world-class teams,” Ellis said. “That’s four elite teams with very capable, very well-coached and extremely competitive teams. And it will be four very good teams in a very competitive group who can win the group or win the match and advance. So we have to prepare for that.”
The U.S. has had an uphill battle in securing the players it needs for the 2015 World Cup roster and the team has had to fight hard just to secure the top players.
As the Americans head into the tournament, they are at a crossroads. For the first time since 1990, the U.S. hasn’t won a title on the world stage. Now, instead of a collection of U.S. national team prospects, the U.S. will be faced with a tough battle on the world stage.
The U.S. has qualified for the World
