Emma Hayes won't blame luck as misses sink USWNT in 2-0 loss to Spain: 'Unlucky is being struck by lightning'

A missed penalty and wasted opportunities doomed the Americans despite dominating expected goals, but Sophia Wilson WASHINGTON, D.C. — Finishing is the name of the game, and even more so when facing top teams in the world, as the United States women's national team found out in a 2-0 loss to Spain on Saturday. Crystal Dunn spoke before the game about wanting the team to play the best in the world, and on a day when she was honored — including getting a bobblehead that she was quite fond of — they did just that, which showed where they are and how far they need to go on the road to the 2027 World Cup in Brazil.

"The legacy of the national team is no joke. You come onto the team, and people are like, 'we win everything', that's what we are expected to do, right? So there's this huge, you know, stress on you to basically uphold the standard. But I think what I see now is people on this team; they understand the legacy, but they also understand they're playing in a time when the rest of the world is getting better in many ways, and that's what we want. I want games to be competitive. I don't want us to win easily because that means that the