Future not as bleak as you might think!

The rest of the world has finally caught up to the oncedominant United States To watch the womens national team fall at the hands and feet of Sweden over the weekend in the World Cups Round of 16 was tougher than I could imagine The dream of winning a thirdstraight World Cup seemed no longer achievable It was the earliest exit ever for the fourtime tournament championsIn some ways being forced to head home after a solid performance and one of the narrowest penalty shootout decisions one will ever see was brutally cruel Though in other ways the end of their campaign is more than fitting for a team that has regularly flopped under manager Vlatko AndonovskiA shootout in the 1999 World Cup with a much different outcome supercharged the US teamrsquos prominence atop the sport globally The Americans beat China on penalties in front of a sellout crowd at the Rose Bowl and Brandi Chastain doffed her jersey in celebrationExcept for some desperate energy in its last match this US team appeared uncharacteristically timid and disorganized throughout this World Cup The twotime defending champions squeaked by in the group stage with just a win against Vietnam and disappointing draws against Netherlands and PortugalThe Americans have fallen victim to growing parity in womenrsquos soccer Former powerhouse teams like the United States Germany and Brazil were all sent home early while teams including Jamaica Colombia and firsttimers Morocco surpassed expectationsldquoI think it says a lot about the growth of the gamerdquo defender Crystal Dunn said ldquoI think so many people are looking for us to win games 50 and World CupsldquoWe should be proud that those days arenrsquot here We as members of the US womenrsquos national team have always fought for the growth of this game globally and I think that is what yoursquore seeingrdquoAlso Read Examining Roger Federerrsquos claycourt legacyAfter a bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics and now the early exit from the World Cup coach Vlatko Andonovskirsquos future with the team is uncertain as it prepares for the next big tournament the Paris Olympics next yearAndonovski took over the job for Jill Ellis who led the Americans to their backtoback World Cup titles in 2015 and rsquo19 He has gone 5159 during his time with the teamldquoI never came into the job never came into the locker room with the mindset that I wanted to do something to save my jobrdquo Andonovski said on Sunday clearly shaken ldquoI was always focused on doing a good job doing my job in the best possible manner to prepare this team for the challenges they have in front of them and to prepare them to represent our countryrdquoUS Soccer issued a brief statement Monday morningldquoWhile we are all disappointed our journey has ended at the Womenrsquos World Cup we want to thank the players coaches and staff for their remarkable effort and to our fans both in the stands and at home for their unwavering supportrdquo the federation said ldquoAs we always do after a major tournament we will conduct a review to identify areas of improvement and determine our next steps As we look ahead we embrace the hard work necessary to become champions againrdquoIn addition to a stronger level of competition the United States also struggled with inexperienceThe United States brought 14 players to the World Cup who had never played in the event Indeed 12 of them had never played in a major tournamentThe changes were part of a US youth movement after the disappointing Tokyo Games Andonovski focused his attention on developing young players like Sophia Smith Trinity Rodman and 18yarold Alyssa ThompsonOne player midfielder Savannah DeMelo had never appeared in a national team match when she was named to the World Cup roster She appeared as a substitute in a sendoff match against Wales in San Jose before starting in the first two World Cup gamesSmith the US Soccer Player of the year for 2022 had a good start to the tournament with two goals against Vietnam but went scoreless the rest of the way She missed her penalty attempt against Sweden along with Megan Rapinoe and Kelley OrsquoHaraThe only other scorer for the team was cocaptain Lindsey Horan who also had two goalsldquoEven though it didnrsquot end up the way we wanted itrsquos a huge experience for some of these young playersrdquo Andonovski said ldquoTherersquos a group of players that will make a mark in the futurerdquoThere was backlash on social media and among pundits following the match critical of both Andonovskirsquos tactics and Rapinoersquos reaction after missing her penalty attempt She laughed explaining later that she had fully expected to make itRapinoe the outspoken star on the 2019 World Cup known for her iconic victory pose wasnrsquot the same gamechanger she once was At 38 and after a pair of World Cup titles and an Olympic gold medal her role had diminished She announced before the tournament started that it would be her last World CupldquoI know itrsquos the end and thatrsquos sad but to know this is really the only time Irsquove been in one of these this early says so much about how much success Irsquove been able to have and just how much Irsquove loved playing for this team and playing for this countryrdquo Rapinoe said tears in her eyes ldquoItrsquos been an honorrdquoAfter the match defender Julie Ertz also said it was likely her last time wearing the US jerseyIt was also clear the United States was missing several important playersMallory Swanson the teamrsquos top scorer this year tore her patella tendon in an exhibition match with Ireland in April Becky Sauerbrunn the teamrsquos captain announced in June that she was unable to get over a foot injury in time for the tournamentAlso Read lsquoCourage to Soarrsquo The return of Simone BilesDynamic forward Catarina Macario hailed among the future stars of the team tore her ACL last year playing with French club Lyon and didnrsquot recover in timeIn the end however the United States struggled most with its identity It could never muster the confidence of teams past mdash including the legendary lsquo99ersldquoAll we want to do is be successful be able to uphold the legacy that this team deserves We failed at that this timerdquo said forward Alex Morgan who like Rapinoe was playing in her fourth World Cup ldquoBut Irsquom still hopeful with the future of this team I still stand by that This game is evolving the game is getting better and thatrsquos not going to change Itrsquos only going to continuerdquoThe struggles from Tokyo should not be forgotten so the USWNT must go back to the drawing board with underwhelming performances outnumbering quality ones in the window between that tournament and this summers World Cup Not all is lost yetWith AP inputs