U.S. national women’s soccer team set to play in the 2019 World Cup

By Aislinn Walsh
November 13, 2018

In 2019,  the U.S women’s soccer team is set to compete in the World Cup in France. On Oct. 14, the team secured a position in the 2019 World Cup after winning a qualifying match against Jamaica 6-0 at the CONCACAF Women’s Championship in Frisco, Texas.

During the game, the United States had 26 shots on goal and seventy-eight percent possession of the ball.  

U.S Women’s soccer team rejoicing over their win against Jamaica, 6-0.

The game ’s key leaders were forward Tobin Heath,  forward Megan Rapinone, midfielder Julie Ertz and forward Alex Morgan.    

The World Cup is set to take place in France between June 7 and July 7.   The opening match in July will take place in Paris and the closing match will take place in Lyon, a city just about five hours south of Paris.   Other matches will be held in the surrounding cities including Montpellier and Nice.

There are twenty-four slots allotted in the tournament.  The eighteen qualifying countries include France, Spain, Italy, Germany, Norway, Sweden, Scotland, England Brazil, Chile, USA, Canada, Jamaica, Australia, China, Japan, South Korea and Thailand.  The final eight slots are to be determined and will be announced shortly.

Details pertaining to game times, venues and opponents will be determined at the World Cup Final Draw on December 8. 

Since its inception of the World Cup in 1991, the U.S. has made eight consecutive appearances.  Three of which has brought them the World Cup title in 1991, 1999 and 2015. The 2015 winning match garnered a record-breaking 23 million views in U.S households.

However, the women’s soccer team did not always receive the publicity that it gets now.  The initial women’s soccer team came home from winning the 1991 World Cup- with no reaction from the country whatsoever.  No fanfare, no parade, no applause. Nothing.  

Despite this, players on the 1991 U.S Women’s soccer team were driven to succeed out of passion and love for their sport.    Nowhere along the line were they rooted in the desire for fame and fortune. These characteristics have transcended far beyond the 1991 team and have been integrated into the core values of the national team today. 

From the beginning, the U.S women’s soccer team has been fulled by passion and love of the game. Image: Pexels

Cabrini assistant women’s soccer coach, Jess Huda acknowledges all of the women on the team,  both past and present, as trailblazers to leading U.S women’s soccer team to forge national success and acceptance.

“To be honest, there isn’t one individual that hasn’t inspired me,” Huda said. “Instead it is every single woman that has played for the US team from the beginning until now.”

She acknowledges that there is still a ways to go before they gain the same recognition and success as the National men’s team, even though

Players on the U.S women’s soccer team has served as a source of inspiration to young female athletes. Image: Wikipedia

the women’s team has reaped more international success.

Despite their underrated talent, the passion, drive and work ethic evident in the team members has raised up a generation of women’s soccer players eager who look up to them as role models.

Sophomore early childhood education major, Maria Hagan, notes that Julie Ertz, center midfielder has inspired her because of her work ethic and is excited to watch the World Cup.  

Senior middle-level Education major, Theresa Mignogna, mentioned that she looked up to Mia Hamm as a child, continued to be inspired by Hope Solo’s talent and integrated Carli Lloyd’s work ethic into her own training.

Mignogna credits the U.S national team members as being crucial influencers in gaining national acceptance of professional women’s soccer.

“They also created the sport we know,” Mignogna said, referring to the U.S national team members and alumni. “A lot of what they did build the foundation for women who wanted to play soccer.”

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Aislinn Walsh

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Perspectives

Special Project

Title IX Redefined Website

Produced by Cabrini Communication
Class of 2024

Listen Up

Season 2, Episode 3: Celebrating Cabrini and Digging into its Past

watch

Scroll to Top
Share via
Copy link
Powered by Social Snap