USWNT vs. England: Strong emotions heading into friendly at Wembley

By Laken Litman
FOX Sports Soccer Writer

When it was announced over the summer that the United States would play England at Wembley Stadium this October, tickets sold out within 24 hours. The U.S. women’s national team has played the Lionesses plenty of times over the years, but this match wasn’t going to be an ordinary friendly.

Friday’s game (3 p.m. ET on FOX and the FOX Sports App) is the reigning World Cup champion against the newly crowned European champion. A budding rivalry. A battle between frenemies. A potential preview for next year’s World Cup final. All in front of a sold-out crowd — the maximum capacity at Wembley seats more than 80,000 fans, and it’s expected to be the second-largest crowd ever to watch the USWNT, coming in behind the 90,185 fans who witnessed the 1999 World Cup final at the Rose Bowl.

For the U.S., England is an opponent that will test them tactically, physically and mentally. For England, this is a measuring stick. How do they stack up against a stacked front line that has speed, athleticism and the ability to score goals?

After Friday’s game, the USWNT will travel to Pamplona where they will face Spain at Estadio El Sadar on Oct. 11. Both England and Spain have also qualified for next year’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.

The timing is opportunistic and exciting. Women’s soccer is sweeping across Europe right now at a historic rate, just in time for next year’s World Cup to be the most competitive ever. For the first time, the field has expanded from 24 teams to 32.

But on Monday, a horrific reality set in when the long-awaited independent investigation into player abuse in women’s professional soccer conducted by former U.S. Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates was released in full. The report included a lengthy list of failures by National Women’s Soccer League coaches and executives, as well as by the U.S. Soccer Federation. The report details examples of how those in positions of power failed to provide a safe environment for players and repeatedly ignored allegations of abuse and sexual misconduct by coaches.

The USWNT is in England preparing for what should be a joyous time for the growth of their sport. Earlier this year, the U.S. men’s and women’s national teams agreed to a historic collective bargaining agreement that achieved equal pay. The women are preparing for a World Cup next year at which they plan to defend their title by winning a third consecutive time.

So how do the USWNT players balance the excitement of so many positive things with the emotions from the Yates report casting a shadow?

“It’s not easy,” starting defender Alana Cook said. “I think we’re all actively trying to do the same thing. We’re all reckoning with the things that were said in the report and still trying to work through that.

“We have such a momentous occasion on Friday, playing at a sold out Wembley Stadium. But it’s marred by this report, and it’s marred by the atrocities that have been condoned and tolerated and allowed to go on.”

Couple all of that with the fact that the Spanish national team, their next opponent, is going through something similar. In August, a number of players expressed concern over coach Jorge Vilda’s management style and wrote letters threatening to quit the national team unless their coach, who has held this position since 2015, was fired. The federation responded sternly, saying they would not fire Vilda and that the players had to apologize before returning to the team. It’s unclear at the moment which players will be available for the game against the U.S.

“It’s hard not to draw similarities to what seems like their complaints going unheard by those meant to protect them,” Cook said. “I think we’re all working to recognize that, and it seems there’s a pattern. I think we’re just hoping these things are remedied and the solutions are being listened to.”

U.S. coach Vlatko Andonovski attended the Euros over the summer and witnessed the women’s soccer boom firsthand. He said he’s thought about that experience every day since, which is why he pushed for the U.S. to play England in this international window. He wanted his players to experience the explosion around their sport outside America and knew playing in front of a pro-England crowd at Wembley would provide the right kind of adversity his young team needs before next summer’s World Cup.

Alex Morgan will miss this window due to a knee injury, and outside of players like Megan Rapinoe, Becky Sauerbrunn, Rose Lavelle, Crystal Dunn and Lindsey Horan, the team features plenty of youngsters who have not played in a World Cup.

The players are supposed to be focused on this opportunity and preparing for the World Cup. But when they take the field on Friday, they will do so with heavy hearts.

“The players are not doing well,” said Sauerbrunn, who is the president of the players association and played a key role in the fight for equal pay. “We are horrified and heartbroken and frustrated and exhausted and really, really angry.

“For so long, this has always fallen on the players to demand change and that is because the people in authority and decision-making positions have repeatedly failed to protect us and they have failed to hold themselves and each other accountable.”

The U.S. women have always played for something bigger than themselves. These upcoming matches against England and Spain will be no different.

Here’s what to expect on the field on Friday when the USWNT takes on England:

This is not about bragging rights

Or so Andonovski says. Since winning the 2019 World Cup — in which the USWNT beat England in the semifinal match and Morgan celebrated scoring a goal by sipping tea — the U.S. has been in a bit of a transitional state. Veteran players, such as Carli Lloyd, have retired and Andonovski has brought in younger, up-and-coming stars like Ashley Hatch and Sophia Smith.

Andonovski was asked recently if he was planning to tinker with the lineup, make substitutions and give more players experience or if this was more about bragging rights and a friendly with more of a World Cup feel to it.

“I don’t think anyone looks at this as bragging rights because nobody will remember this if we lose, and we win the World Cup or vice versa,” he said. “So it’s all about the preparation for the World Cup. That’s how we take every game that we go into, that’s how we take every training that we go into from now until the first game of the World Cup.”

Is the USWNT still the team to beat?

The U.S. made history in 2019 by winning back-to-back World Cups and has a chance to win its third straight next summer. That’s this team’s goal.

But as we’ve been hearing for years, the rest of the world is catching up when it comes to talent, support and popularity. The Euros this summer were a perfect example of that and Andonovski witnessed it firsthand.

While he loved experiencing the tournament, does it make him more nervous for tougher challenges against better teams in the future?

“No,” he said. “Actually, it makes me more excited and generated this drive [to schedule this friendly] and desire to be part of this. That’s why I was like, I want my team to experience this. I want my team to be here and see the community. At the same time, I knew it would be a good learning opportunity for us because I didn’t want them to go into Australia, first game, and experience something like that.”

Players to watch

As far as the No. 9 spot goes, the USWNT will be without Morgan, who is taking care of a knee injury, and Catarina Macario, who is still recovering from a torn ACL. Andonovski said earlier this week that the only true No. 9 on his roster right now is Hatch, but said he could plug Smith into that role because that’s where she plays for the Portland Thorns. Trinity Rodman could come in, too. 

Additionally, Mallory Pugh won’t be available after pulling out of training to tend to a family commitment back home. Regardless of how the American’s front line looks on Friday, their speed and athleticism will take some getting used to for the Lionesses.

Meanwhile, Ellen White, England’s all-time record goalscorer (52 goals) retired after the Euros. Alessia Russo was expected to come in behind White, but she was ruled out of this match due to an injury. So the U.S. backline will have to focus on Ella Toone and Euro hero, Chloe Kelly.

Laken Litman covers college football, college basketball and soccer for FOX Sports. She previously covered college football, college basketball, the U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team and the Olympics at Sports Illustrated, USA Today and The Indianapolis Star. Her first book, written in partnership with Rizzoli and Sports Illustrated and titled “Strong Like a Woman,” was published in spring 2022 marking the 50th anniversary of Title IX.