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FRISCO, Texas – Megan Rapinoe has won 143 caps for the US Women's National Team since 2006. She has competed in two World Cup finals and won one. She knows what quality is, and what it is not, and she has never hesitated to be honest, even brutally, to call things as she sees them.
That's why it is worth paying attention to what Rapinoe had to say about the current status of the USWNT after its 6-0 win against Jamaica on Sunday to qualify for the World Cup next summer.
"I think this team is more talented than any other team that I have participated in on the national team – at every level, in every position," Rapinoe said. "You can say that young players just have something different about them. It was just a matter of putting everything together. Obviously, we went through a lot of frustrating moments when it was not all together, and we sometimes got stuck on the ground. But I feel that everyone is sort of in the same furrow now and on the same page for what we want to try and do. "
Jamaica was not good on Sunday, but it was not inept either, and the United States took a 5-0 lead after 33 minutes, thanks to the most beautiful goals of all time, be it Abby Dahlkemper or Rapinoe. Crystal Dunn to Julie Ertz or Lindsey Horan to Tobin Heath. It should be noted that Dahlkemper, Dunn and Horan were not even involved in the victory of the World Cup in the United States four years ago.
Eight months into the start of France 2019, the team of coach Jill Ellis meets.
"Just the variety among the players who score goals," Ellis said. "You can not stop a single threat. We talk a lot about the goals of the team. Our central backs penetrate and our outer backs become higher. The way we attack is consistent. Everyone is involved. … Overall, our positioning, our ball movement, our tempo throughout the tournament were very good. It does not matter who we play. It's really about challenging ourselves to improve every game. "
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Has the American defense been challenged in this tournament? No, this is not the case. The United States dominated Jamaica 26-3 on Sunday after beating Trinidad and Tobago 59-0 in the previous match. But the US defense came earlier in the year, as defender Becky Sauerbrunn said on Sunday.
"I am convinced that we have a busy schedule this year," she said. "We won SheBelieves, we won the Nations Tournament. These were the top ranked teams and the defense performed well in many of those games. We were discovered in a few, but then we quickly worked on these things to revive things. We do not want to be too excited, but everyone is now on the defense. So, it does not seem that the central defenders do a lot, because the people in front of us work very hard to do their job. "
One of the hallmarks of modern football is having rear riders capable of bombarding the wings and creating a danger for the attackers. In Crystal Dunn and Kelley O'Hara, the United States certainly has it on both sides. Horan's rise to NWSL's most valuable player status has impacted the performance of his national team. She is a monster. And the more recent integration of Rose Lavelle after her injury at this tournament was a positive addition for a player who could become very special. For Heath, Rapinoe and Alex Morgan, the suit can not work much better than today.
"We have an excellent pool of players, an incredible 25 to 28 players that Jill has recruited over the last year," Morgan said. "Obviously, with this tournament, there are only 20 players, but we have 23 for the World Cup. So I think the depth is incredible and the younger ones have a lot of experience, although it's only been a year or two since many of them are getting 10, 20, 30 selections. I am really impressed by their calm and composure throughout this tournament. "
The goalkeeper is perhaps the only place on the field where important questions remain, but you can not blame Alyssa Naeher for not having been busy in this tournament. It should undergo a few more tests against Canada Wednesday, but according to current trends, even Canada is not really a challenge.
These days, Australia is the only team in the world that seems to cause a lot of problems in the United States. This may change in the next eight months before the World Cup. Maybe it's not okay. But it's time to think, as Rapinoe does, that this team has the chance to become the biggest USWNT of next year.
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