USWNT World Cup camp report: Rookies leaning on veterans - ESPN

AUCKLAND, New Zealand — The opening match for the U.S. women's national team at the 2023 Women's World Cup is a little over 48 hours away. As such, the pressure ahead of the first game — even though it's against relative minnows Vietnam, ranked 32 in the world according to FIFA — is building, and for the 14 U.S. players experiencing their first World Cup, they're about to enter a brave new world.

The attention will be unlike anything the World Cup newbies have ever seen. Granted, the group has dealt with such difficulties over the course of their entire careers otherwise they wouldn't have gotten this far. Players like Sophia Smith and Emily Fox have represented the U.S. at youth world championships, and there is a general knowledge of what being on the U.S. women's national team entails.

«Being on this team, it comes with a big target on your back,» Smith said. «It comes with pressure, it comes with a big platform, and we all know that this is nothing new.»

But the World Cup is something special, with orders of magnitude more scrutiny than what they've experienced before. Expectations are also incredibly high. The U.S. has won four World Cups and is looking to achieve a historic three-peat. Nothing less than winning the tournament is acceptable.

— Meet the USWNT: What you need to know about all 23 players — Group by group predictions, picks — Team by team previews: What you need to know

So what's the best way to cope? Preparation is the key, and that can include leaning on veterans such as Kelley O'Hara for advice.

«I think it comes down to understanding what you're about to get into, and I think that this group does understand that,» said O'Hara, who has been on two World Cup-winning teams. «And then I think it's