USWNT to play friendlies vs. Colombia in October: Source

The United States women’s national team will play friendlies against Colombia in October, a source briefed on the schedule confirmed to The Athletic. Here’s what you need to know:

  • The teams will face off in Sandy, Utah, on Oct. 26 and in San Diego on Oct. 29.
  • The games, which have not been publicly announced yet, were promoted on the ad boards surrounding the field at TQL Stadium during the U.S. Open Cup semifinal match between Inter Miami and FC Cincinnati.
  • Colombia reached the quarterfinals at this summer’s World Cup, the country’s best all-time finish at the tournament.

Backstory

The USWNT, which won the World Cup in 2015 and 2019, failed to at least reach the semifinal in the tournament for the first time in history. They were eliminated by Sweden in a penalty shootout in the round of 16. Colombia was eliminated in the round of 16 after losing 2-1 to England.

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USWNT coach Vlatko Andonovski stepped down from his position on Aug. 17. Twila Kilgore was named interim head coach.

Before the Colombia friendlies, the U.S. will host South Africa on Sept. 21 in Cincinnati and Sept. 24 in Chicago.

What they’re saying

USWNT midfielder Lindsey Horan discussed the team’s Women’s World Cup exit, captaining the squad and more with former USWNT players Tobin Heath and Christen Press on their podcast, “The RE-CAP Show,” on Tuesday.

“We did not get the best out of every single individual,” Horan said. “I don’t think everyone was fully prepared, and that’s on us as well.”

Horan also addressed feeling like the USWNT was not set up to succeed, and she suggested the players came together to adapt during the Sweden game.

“At the end of the day, you’re set up in a structure to do this, and your opportunity individually (is) just go play within the structure,” Horan said. “But if you’re not set up — like the game against Sweden, I don’t think we were necessarily set up to play the way that we played. That was just us, finally coming together and being like, this is what we’re gonna do. And then it worked. Then it’s like, ‘Okay, keep doing it.’ Could that have happened earlier? Maybe.”

Required reading

(Photo: Brad Smith / USSF / Getty Images).

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