For much of this year, something was missing from the U.S. women’s soccer team.
One might say many somethings, given all the players who’ve been injured. But this particular something was intangible: the sense of swashbuckling confidence that has long been the American program’s defining trait. Even during the lean years of the World Cup drought that ended in 2015, they always believed they were going to win — and that was often enough.
In recent times, the team seemed to look like it didn’t always have all the answers. Shots and passes went astray, the defense was unsteady and there was a general sense that things just weren’t working.