As USWNT look forward to a W Gold Cup final vs. Brazil, Sophia Smith and Alyssa Naeher enjoy redemption tour

The shadowy overcast of a historic 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup elimination has lingered around the U.S. women's national team for over half a year now as they've looked to turn the page on their historically disappointing elimination to Sweden in the round of 16. Over the last seven months, there have been some positive moments, wins, and goals scored since they played in the global tournament, but there hasn't quite been that feeling of closure, of truly moving on from the summer's disaster.

Years of buildup towards that World Cup were over, gone in a digitized snapshot, measuring their tournament elimination by a literal millimeter. Missed penalty kicks didn't help their case. Iconic players have since retired and a new incoming manager, Chelsea FC's Emma Hayes, is on the way.

The 2024 W Concacaf W Gold Cup is the first tournament post-World Cup for the program in its first steps into a new era. The tournament has presented itself almost as a clean slate, as an opportunity to try new things for interim head coach Twila Kilgore, her coaching staff, and players. 

Viewing info

Date: Sunday, March 10 | Time: 8:15 p.m. ET
Place: Snapdragon Stadium-- San Diego, Calif. 
Stream: Paramount+
Pre-game coverage: CBS Sports Golazo Network at 7 p.m. ET

Unpausing the reset button

The build-up to the Olympics is short and the situation with Emma Hayes' impending arrival means it's been a collaborative effort to manage the team, present new tactics, and evaluate players. It's a unique circumstance. 

The Gold Cup has offered numerous scenarios as extra preparation for the Paris Games. There have been comfortable wins with multiple goal scorers. There's also been the stunning defeat against Mexico. And, then, in knockout rounds we've seen gritty play, and even waterlogged pitches to deal with. There have been invited CONMEBOL teams and long-standing Concacaf regional rivalries to witness. And, throughout it all are the overall lessons of a major tournament to learn from. 

It's part of what Kilgore has been focused on in her role since August 2023. Her time as interim was extended after the U.S. Soccer Federation worked out a timeline to conduct an extensive coaching search and hire their preferred candidate in Hayes. Kilgore was with the team during their 2023 World Cup as an assistant and is set to remain with the program as an assistant coach with Hayes' staff. 

She's seen the players carry memories of the World Cup elimination. As the team progresses through Gold Cup knockout games, player confidence has risen and perhaps some personal demons have even been cast out. 

"I think these moments are actually really critical to building towards major events. You know, this is a major event. Obviously winning tonight [against Canada] it's huge because it puts us in a final," Kilgore said after the Game.

"But these are also the kind of moments that you need going into major tournaments. This is an Olympic year for us, and sometimes, it just, it takes a grind. It takes a mentality and the fact that we can do that we can do that in two must win games, back-to-back, speaks volumes."

The USWNT ended their group stage on a 2-0 loss to Mexico, resulting in their first defeat to Tri Femenil in over a decade. They had a tenacious response against Colombia, 2023 World Cup dark horses, with periods of spirited and sometimes abrasive play. 

Against the backdrop of torrential downpours and a soggy field, they took down their Canadian rivals, even if the weather (or individual errors) took them out of the Game at times. Despite the questionable conditions, Kilgore and the group are taking the lessons, and momentum, with them into the final on Sunday against Brazil. 

"You look at some of our less experienced players putting back-to-back games, major minutes, doing a great job asked to do two totally different jobs from game to game and from what they were asked to do earlier," said Kilgore.

In any major tournament, a competitive roster is often a balanced one. As coaches assemble their ideal list of players, there's often a mix of those who are in their prime, along with some veterans and young up-and-coming players. For the USWNT during the Gold Cup, Alex Morgan and Alyssa Naeher have been providing the experience and delivering on the pitch. 

Morgan's efforts against Colombia earned an early penalty and the U.S. never looked back as they secured a 3-0 win. Naeher came up with big saves when tested, and against Canada, she put in a shift that will go down in Concacaf History.

The long-time goalkeeper conceded a penalty at the very end of extra time and was unable to save it to close out the match but then went on to stop two penalty shots in the shootout before converting an attempt of her own. She made a third save to seal USA's place in the final. 

"That just speaks volumes about her mentality and also how these types of experiences that she's faced, over and over again in her career lead to absolute confidence in her ability to do these things. We know she's gonna step up," Kilgore said. "Sometimes life and the game goes a different direction. You gotta adjust and that's part of it, too. So we're really pleased."

Letting go

The last time the team faced a penalty scenario to decide a match was in the World Cup against Sweden. Among the missed penalties was one by Sophia Smith (others were Megan Rapinoe and Kelley O'Hara). Then, despite her best attempts, Naeher's diving effort to sav went up against physics and goal line technology and the USA was out of the World Cup. 

Smith has been vocal about the moment. It's one that she's carried with her ever since. For pro athletes in the NWSL, there was little room for compartmentalization, with the regular season running concurrently with the World Cup. 

Sometimes getting back into a routine can be helpful for players. It didn't take Smith long to make an impact for club with Portland Thorns and she scored in her return from the tournament, but later she sustained an MCL sprain that left her with even more time to dwell on her World Cup exit. In the semifinals not only did Smith score what seemed like the game winning goal in extra time, before Canada's late late equalizer, but she also took, and converted, the team's first penalty.

"I think, you know, to come into a game like that and to be able to score a big goal in extra time this huge, it was great goal," Naeher said on Smith's performance against Canada. "She worked hard all day getting in and then to step up and take the first penalty just speaks to the kind of player she is, kind of person she is, to be ready to step up in that moment."

Smith's efforts in the Gold Cup semifinal against Canada felt equal parts like she was routinely getting the job done and emotional catharsis. You could see it in her extra-time goal celebration. "It was an emotional goal. I haven't scored in a while and I've just been kind of on an emotional roller coaster since the World Cup. So that was a big relief and it just felt really good, and [for the] team I put us in a position to win this game, and that's more important than anything," Smith said after the game.

"Last penalty I took in a big game was the World Cup and didn't go how I wanted it to go. I think going up to this one. I was just calm. I've been practicing. I know I can put those away. And I just didn't overthink it. I felt good about going first. I wanted to set the tone and I just did my routine, did what I know how to do and put it away," she explained.

Both Smith and Naeher were complimentary of each other post game with Naeher having just gone through a tough 2023 for club and country. The goalkeeper has even discussed the weight of elimination during a podcast episode with her former teammate Sam Mewis saying she'd go to her grave claiming she's saved it the penalty against Sweden. Against Canada in the Gold Cup, she made navigting a penalty shootout look easy. 

"She's insane," Smith said on Naeher's performance. "She made some incredible saves. She stepped up, took a PK, calmly. Like the coolest person I've ever seen take a PK. She was a hero tonight. I think she's getting a lot of recognition that she deserves and has always deserved. She stepped up big time and we wouldn't be here without her "

Looking ahead

Despite the questionable conditions, Kilgore and the group are taking the experiences of each result into the Gold Cup final on Sunday. Fans can watch the main event on Paramount+.

They'll face a Brazil side that is peaking at the right time and searching for a bit of redemption to move on from the memory of a disappointing World Cup themselves. The South Americans failed to advance out of their group and spent only a short time in the tournament. They have been without their most iconic player Marta and Kerolin is out with an ACL injury she sustained in October. 

The two sides will meet for the 40th time and the USWNT leads the all-time series (31-3-5) comfortably. Still, that's all just history, and this is what is officially a new era for the U.S. senior program. What will truly help the team move on and look forward will be to win and hoist the cup together.