Thailand Women’s World Cup
The USWNT defended itself against criticism that it humiliated Thailand in its record 13-0 Women’s World Cup victory in France on Tuesday. “We knew that every goal could matter in this group stage game and when it comes to celebrations this was a really good team performance and I think it was important for us to celebrate together,” said the striker.
‘I respect Thailand’
The 29-year-old, who played a limited role in the US’ World Cup triumph four years ago because of injury, said she felt she was at the “peak of her powers.” “In the preparation days before this, the team in general was just feeling great,” she added .Jill Ellis, said her team had showed Thailand respect.”I think to be respectful to opponents is to play hard against opponents,” she said.”As a coach, I don’t find it my job to harness my players and rein them in because this is what they’ve dreamed about. This is it for them, this is a world championship.”I respect Thailand. I celebrate that they’re here. For us, the players are excited and I said afterward when you go into a World Cup you can talk tactics, but it’s about mentality, it is also about confidence, and so getting off on the right foot is important.”But the reality is we also believe we have more to do no doubt. We’re going to stay humble and we go back to work.”
‘We have to improve’
With the US 3-0 up by halftime, the match was effectively over. With the title holders then proceeding to score four goals in the space of six minutes early after the break, it was a rout by the 56th minute. “If this is 10-0 in a men’s World Cup are we getting the same questions?” she said. “A World Cup is about competing. It is about peaking. It is about priming your players ready for the next game.”You can tell by my substitutions, you play players who can get hot. And if you can play as many hot as you possibly can, feeling good, feeling the back of the net, that’s so important for a forward and for a midfielder. Thailand’s manager did not believe the team’s opponents were morally wrong to continue to press for goals until the end. “In football, everybody is following the rules, so our opponent is trying their best. The US team was very good. We don’t have any excuse and we accept that they are better,” the coach told reporters.”We know where we are. Playing the US is not easy, and we know we have to improve in every aspect and improve in our mentality, and the players’ experience cannot be compared to them.” “We have limited resources in terms of the players. We have a limited number of players available, and we are small in build. We have to improve on this aspect.”