'Pressure is a privilege': Lindsey Horan, USWNT prepare for Sweden test
The noise around the USWNT has reached a fever pitch this week, but captain Lindsey Horan isn't letting it get to her head.
"People are always going to have opinions, and they're entitled to them," she told FIFA after her team's 0-0 draw with Portugal earlier this week. "We have the highest of expectations. We want to keep it that way... I've said it a lot to the team and to the press: pressure is a privilege."
The pressure on the USWNT is stronger than it's been in years. After a joyous but relatively unbothered journey to World Cup victory in 2019, the team is struggling -- against its own demons in the form of an injury-rattled lineup, but also against a stronger women's soccer field. Traditional "big" teams like England, Japan and Australia have improved significantly to challenge the USWNT's dominance. Meanwhile, traditional "small" teams such as Jamaica, Colombia and South Africa are right behind them.
In a World Cup full of challenges, the biggest one lies ahead: a crucial, do-or-die Round of 16 matchup with Sweden on Sunday. As the third-best team in the world, Sweden is the most difficult opponent the USWNT could have drawn in the knockout rounds. It's fully capable of an upset.
"I feel like it wouldn't be a major tournament if we weren't facing Sweden," Horan
USWNT captain Lindsey Horan said she's aware of what it will take for against the Swededs.
"It's going to be a battle," she said with deadpan humor.
Horan's got a point. This is the most-played matchup in women's World Cup history.
The teams have met in every World Cup since 2003. The USWNT has the edge with a 4-1-1 all-time World Cup record, but recent history is not in its favor. The Swedes beat the USWNT, 3-0, in the opening stages of the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.
So how can the USWNT emerge victorious and change the narrative around its World Cup progression? For Horan, the answer might lie in the question itself. She's a full-hearted captain who isn't afraid of a battle, and her best performances come when she's cornered, doubted or pushed aside. In the last World Cup meeting between the two teams, it was Horan who scored the winning goal.
"That belief is always here, that mentality is always here," Horan said of the USWNT's famous confidence. "The belief is we're going to go out and win the World Cup. And the first step of doing that is beating Sweden."
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