The United States Women’s National Team has faced a lot of criticism throughout the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup from their silence during the national anthem to their play on the field. But according to a couple of former UWSWNT stars, it’s unlikely that criticism is actually affecting the team.
During a recent interview with SB Nation, USWNT stars Tobin Heath and Christen Press made it clear that the team has laser focus on the task at hand while they’re competing in the World Cup.
“They’re in win mode,” Press told SB Nation. “And there’s no team better in the world to handle this kind of noise than our team.”
“Nobody cares,” Heath said. “it’s so funny because we’re all here giving our opinions and think we matter. Honestly, it’s the biggest [lie] that anybody notices because all these players are fully focused on getting the job done.”
“That’s true for praise as much as it is criticism,” notes Press. “For myself as a player I find that the positive press just as toxic, if not more toxic than the negative press — because you kinda become a little addicted to it. It’s external validation. […] You have to ignore the praise as much as you ignore the criticism.”
So people can say what they want, it won’t bother the team one bit.
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