If there’s anyone who knows what the United States Women’s National Team will be facing against Sweden, it’s co-captain Alex Morgan. As the U.S. prepares for its biggest challenge in the 2023 Women’s World Cup thus far, they’re highly motivated to play world No. 3 ranked Sweden on Sunday. The last time these two teams faced, Sweden defeated the U.S. in the 2021 Olympics group stage.
“What’s happened against Sweden in the past is in the past,” Morgan said, via ESPN. “We obviously take away a lot of things in terms of their playing style and how to break them down, but I don’t think that there’s any feelings towards the games we played against them in the past that we’re bringing into tomorrow.”
That doesn’t mean there isn’t an extra sense of motivation heading into the match, especially with how poorly the group stage went for the U.S. Women.
“There’s no sugarcoating it,” Morgan said, via Fox Sports, “we had a bad game against Portugal. And we are lucky. We have moved on from that and are looking forward to this match. We’ve prepared every second we possibly could in creating the most chances, on limiting [Sweden] in chances, and I feel very motivated for the match.”
“It hasn’t been the tournament that I would have hoped,” she continued. “But at the same time, having this incredible opportunity in front of us in the round of 16, facing Sweden, a team we know extremely well, I think there’s no question we are highly motivated to play this game.”
We’ll have to see just how motivated the USWNT is come Sunday.
[Fox Sports, ESPN]
About Sam Neumann
Since the beginning of 2023, Sam has been a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. A 2021 graduate of Temple University, Sam is a Charlotte native, who currently calls Greenville, South Carolina his home. He also has a love/hate relationship with the New York Mets and Jets.