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Jeff Carlisle
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Caitlin Murray
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Caitlin Murray
ESPN
- Caitlin Murray is a general editor for ESPN.com. She has reported on and written about soccer for The New York Times, The Guardian, Yahoo Sports, Fox Sports, the Associated Press, and others.
She authored a book about the history of the U.S. women’s national team called “The National Team: The Inside Story of the Women Who Changed Soccer,” which made “best of” lists in Vanity Fair, The Financial Times, NPR and The Los Angeles Times. On Twitter and Instagram, she’s @caitlinmurr.
AUCKLAND, New Zealand — It has been a difficult Women’s World Cup for the U.S. so far, to say the least.
Heading into the tournament with confidence sky-high and a super-talented roster, results have yet to match the lofty expectations: a 3-0 win over Vietnam was followed by a 1-1 draw vs. the Netherlands (in which they had to come from behind) and then a nervy 0-0 draw with Portugal in order to escape Group E and reach the round of 16.
Given their lack of dominance, the vibes around the team have swiftly soured and fans have gone from dreaming of a historic third straight World Cup title to worrying about whether they’ll be eliminated in the round of 16 against Sweden on Sunday (5 a.m. ET, Fox), which would be their worst performance at this competition.
As we’re on the ground in New Zealand and have been following the USWNT throughout the tournament, we’re sharing their thoughts about the turbulence of the group stage and whether this team can still be considered favorites to win it all on Aug. 20.
Who is to blame for the USWNT’s poor performances in the World Cup group stage?
Murray: Well, it’s clear that the players haven’t been performing well on the whole. The players’ finishing has been atrocious across the board, they manage to pass the ball out of bounds or lose possession without pressure, and they’ve…
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