Remembering A Tournament To Forget for the USWNT
Under Pressure: The U.S. Women's World Cup Team (2023)
A Quick TV Review
To say that the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup was a disappointment for the U.S. Women's National Team (USWNT) is a serious understatement, especially considering the overall and imposing success Team USA has had in its history (including four Olympic championships and six total Olympic podiums).
A Quick TV Review
To say that the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup was a disappointment for the U.S. Women's National Team (USWNT) is a serious understatement, especially considering the overall and imposing success Team USA has had in its history (including four Olympic championships and six total Olympic podiums).
A recap of what happened, and perhaps why, is the focus of Netflix's Under Pressure: The U.S. Women's World Cup Team, released in late 2023 to review what had been the world's top-ranked team's build-up and run through the World Cup.
Clearly, the producers had been hoping, and perhaps expecting along with the rest of us, that the USWNT would romp its way to the final, letting this (likely) pre-planned documentary be a celebration of another strong record. Starting off with introductions to team newcomers like Kristie Mews and Lynn Williams while receiving call-ups to the final squad could just have easily been the lead off to that celebration of a team that persevered through huge changeover from previous iterations.
Of course, fate had other plans. The team - generally struggling with a lack of familiarity with each other - limped through the Group Stage in second place, before losing in its first knockout game against old nemesis Team Sweden. And so naturally turned the tone and focus of Under Pressure.
Was it a function of that unfamiliarity? And/or that the rest of the women's soccer world has 'caught up" significantly in recent years? Simply under-coaching? Under Pressure doesn't provide concrete answers. Williams laments that in the days immediately following the team's exit there wasn't closure of debriefing, and we, the viewers, feel that way a bit, too, with an Under Pressure that doesn't offer answers. Perhaps one can just leave it to a basic fact of life in sports...evolution continues, sport moves on, and no dynasty is forever.
There are bright moments to celebrate here, particularly Mewis scoring a penalty kick in her first tournament touch, and a nice look at her support of partner Samantha Kerr's Team Australia. And Under Pressure's bit of an left turn addressing the eventual champion Team Spain's behind-the-scenes federation travails is an opportunity to remind everyone of the history of the USWNT - both on-the-field and off-the field with its championing of its players' rights. That's definitely something worth remembering.
And so is the fact that Paris 2024 beckons soon. The USWNT is qualified. Will a win there erase memories of 2023? Such things do have a funny way of providing some closure...
Clearly, the producers had been hoping, and perhaps expecting along with the rest of us, that the USWNT would romp its way to the final, letting this (likely) pre-planned documentary be a celebration of another strong record. Starting off with introductions to team newcomers like Kristie Mews and Lynn Williams while receiving call-ups to the final squad could just have easily been the lead off to that celebration of a team that persevered through huge changeover from previous iterations.
Of course, fate had other plans. The team - generally struggling with a lack of familiarity with each other - limped through the Group Stage in second place, before losing in its first knockout game against old nemesis Team Sweden. And so naturally turned the tone and focus of Under Pressure.
Was it a function of that unfamiliarity? And/or that the rest of the women's soccer world has 'caught up" significantly in recent years? Simply under-coaching? Under Pressure doesn't provide concrete answers. Williams laments that in the days immediately following the team's exit there wasn't closure of debriefing, and we, the viewers, feel that way a bit, too, with an Under Pressure that doesn't offer answers. Perhaps one can just leave it to a basic fact of life in sports...evolution continues, sport moves on, and no dynasty is forever.
There are bright moments to celebrate here, particularly Mewis scoring a penalty kick in her first tournament touch, and a nice look at her support of partner Samantha Kerr's Team Australia. And Under Pressure's bit of an left turn addressing the eventual champion Team Spain's behind-the-scenes federation travails is an opportunity to remind everyone of the history of the USWNT - both on-the-field and off-the field with its championing of its players' rights. That's definitely something worth remembering.
And so is the fact that Paris 2024 beckons soon. The USWNT is qualified. Will a win there erase memories of 2023? Such things do have a funny way of providing some closure...
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