The United States Women’s National Team will look a lot different this year as they head into the Olympic Games with a new head coach and several young players taking up leadership roles. But former USMNT member Stu Holden doesn’t think that the expectations should be any different for this team.
During a recent interview with Fox News, Stu Holden made it clear that despite all the changes, he still thinks the United States should come into the Olympics expecting to win and take the gold.
“I’ve seen and heard people talk about this tournament, including my colleague, Alexi Lalas, of, ‘Well, this Olympics is like a development tournament for the U.S., and it’s going to be [Emma Hayes’] first tournament in charge, and it’s going to be her first time with the team, and it’s the next crop of players. Let’s just use this to bring these girls through.’ No, you’re the United States of America. I don’t ever want that mentality to creep into our women’s national team, where we go into tournaments and not winning,” Holden said.
“That’s what makes that team great and made that team great over decades now. I used to love how they went into tournaments with an unapologetic attitude of, ‘We are the best. Come and take it from us. Good luck. We’re going to kick your butt.’”
“You’re still the U.S., you still are a top two, three nation globally in women’s soccer, and it’s your duty as an American soccer player to restore that dominance and take that crown back. I hope they go in thinking that way,” Holden continued.
In fact, Holden offered a pretty clear warning as he went as far as to suggest that it would be a “failure” if the team did not reach the championship match.
“You should [be] going into that tournament with the expectation to win, and I think anything less than the final is a failure,” Holden said.
We’ll have to see if the USWNT can live up to those expectations.
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