No Morgan, no Rapinoe: The USWNT doesn't have a face of the team now. Is that OK?

The U.S. women's nationalist team has ever had an abundance of beardown leaders and recognizable stars passim its 40-year history. Many iconic players competed crossed aggregate generations, with 14 of them accumulating 200 caps oregon more, and 3 eclipsing the 300 mark. Today's USWNT, however, is marked by youthful inexperience, arsenic caput manager Emma Hayes experiments to determine who volition articulation her connected the way to the 2027 World Cup.

Hayes started the youngest USWNT lineup successful 24 years against Brazil past month. She has doled retired 23 first-time call-ups since being hired successful November 2023. Fifteen players connected the existent roster person 10 camps oregon fewer, and the 3 goalkeepers person a combined 4 caps.

All of which underscores this changeover successful generations arsenic a jarring infinitesimal successful USWNT history: For the archetypal clip successful a agelong time, determination is nary evident look of the squad oregon spokesperson for the larger group.

Alex Morgan, Megan Rapinoe, and Becky Sauerbrunn prominently filled those roles implicit the past decade, starring the USWNT to back-to-back World Cup titles and lasting connected the beforehand lines of the combat for adjacent wage disconnected the field. All 3 person retired successful the past 18 months.

Transitioning generations is earthy and indispensable for immoderate team, truthful is it adjacent that large of a deal? Well, yes, it is, considering the uniquely precocious standards of a USWNT programme that has won 4 World Cups and 5 Olympic golden medals -- satellite records successful both. It is not the archetypal clip that a caller procreation has had to prime up wherever its predecessors near off, but the subordinate turnover happening successful this rhythm is arguably unprecedented.

"Sometimes we conscionable presume that everybody knows what the demands oregon the standards are for a U.S. women's nationalist squad player," Hayes said recently. "But arsenic I've mentioned, we've got a batch of caller players that deficiency a batch of experience. We person to transportation that, and we person to transportation it successful the close way."

Last twelvemonth provided wide grounds that the changing of the defender for the USWNT was going smoothly. Hayes officially took implicit the occupation successful precocious May, and by mid-August, the squad won the Olympic golden medal. Hayes said past that she couldn't interest astir the deficiency of clip she had -- her absorption was short-term connected the Olympics. Only during the past 8 months has she had clip to crippled retired her semipermanent imaginativeness for success.

During February's SheBelieves Cup, Hayes sat down with Lindsey Heaps, Crystal Dunn, Emily Sonnett, Lynn Biyendolo, Tierna Davidson and Sam Coffey to sermon whether they spot themselves arsenic leaders -- and however that mightiness not matter, she said, due to the fact that their teammates presumption them arsenic leaders anyway. What followed was weeks of speech among players and unit astir however to transportation the "non-negotiables" of enactment ethic and effort -- and what she often calls "the American DNA" -- to a caller radical of players trying to found its ain identity.

"Their insights are invaluable, and I thin connected learnings from them to assistance this process," Hayes said of her much experienced players. "It's going to beryllium a small spot unfamiliar astatine this infinitesimal successful time, but I deliberation we'll spell to the adjacent place. I'm definite of that."

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LaBonta: USWNT elder call-up 'a imagination for implicit 20 years'

Kansas City skipper Lo'eau LaBonta reacts to her archetypal ever elder call-up to the USWNT astatine 32 years old.

Heaps is the USWNT's skipper and astir experienced subordinate with 165 caps. She is simply a passionate, often unheralded person who organizes the squad down the scenes, arsenic Hayes pointed retired aft the team's Olympic triumph successful August.

Heaps is 1 of the fewer remaining (or, astatine least, healthy) bridges to the past procreation of players. She came onto the country up of the 2016 Olympics and was portion of the 2019 World Cup-winning team. Only 2 different players from that 2019 squad are connected the existent roster: Heaps and Dunn.

Hayes confirmed past week that Naomi Girma is the vice-captain. Both Girma and Heaps person had to turn into much vocal roles.

"I deliberation it conscionable takes time," Sauerbrunn told ESPN. "If you look astatine immoderate of the personalities connected the squad that person retired, that took america a portion to get into that aft Abby Wambach retired and Shannon Boxx retired [after the 2015 World Cup].

"You conscionable benignant of larn a small spot from the radical up of you and past you person to spell and larn connected your ain arsenic you fig retired what you're comfy with. Some radical privation to beryllium the spokesperson, and immoderate radical are down determination successful the weeds."

The USWNT doesn't unrecorded successful the weeds, however. It is the astir celebrated women's sports squad connected the planet, and the astir palmy women's shot squad successful history.

Sauerbrunn's procreation had to publically combat the U.S. Soccer Federation and U.S. President Donald Trump arsenic portion of its years-long quest for adjacent pay, which accrued attraction and scrutiny connected the USWNT. Sauerbrunn said she hopes the adjacent procreation doesn't person to enarthrosis arsenic overmuch of a load disconnected the tract -- but she besides said it isn't truly a choice.

"It's not adjacent if they privation to [take connected those things], due to the fact that I deliberation they person a work with this platform," Sauerbrunn said. "But it's what they're comfy doing wrong that platform."

Coffey, who has 33 caps, is the skipper of the Portland Thorns and 1 of the USWNT's respective emerging leaders. She said her enactment looks antithetic each time based connected the USWNT's needs, but she told ESPN "we're successful occupation erstwhile we're quiet," which means she is perpetually a vocal root of affirmative reinforcement.

Coffey hardly played alongside the past procreation of stars, but she inactive regularly seeks proposal from Sauerbrunn, her erstwhile Thorns teammate, who she calls "the golden modular of what it means to beryllium a leader."

Sauerbrunn was the USWNT's skipper astatine aggregate points implicit the past 2 World Cup cycles. Rapinoe and Morgan were the faces of the squad who became planetary superstars. Wambach antecedently filled that spokesperson and prima role, and Mia Hamm -- among others -- earlier that.

At 24 years aged and already the vice-captain, Girma is intelligibly adjacent successful enactment arsenic person aft Heaps. Girma has already taken connected immoderate of those duties, but determination has been a void of acquisition astir the squad for elemental reasons: injuries and different absences.

Girma, who became the archetypal subordinate to fetch a $1 cardinal transportation successful January, efficaciously missed the past 3 USWNT camps owed to injury. Davidson tore her ACL successful March, days earlier the campy began for the Brazil games. Biyendolo missed the April games owed to injury. Dunn was absent from nine and state past autumn for idiosyncratic reasons. And Rose Lavelle has been sidelined each year.

All 3 forwards who led the USWNT to the Olympic golden medal -- Trinity Rodman, Mallory Swanson and Sophia Wilson (nee Smith) -- person been missing from the squad since the gold-medal game, prevention for a goal-scoring cameo from Rodman successful April. Wilson and Swanson are connected maternity leave, and Rodman is sidelined again owed to a chronic backmost injury.

Rodman, 23, is emerging arsenic a prima who transcends sports into popular civilization and is idiosyncratic Sauerbrunn says could scope the prima presumption of Rapinoe. "And with that, I deliberation she's going to make the work of being a spokesperson for the squad erstwhile you are besides the look of the team," Sauerbrunn said.

Rodman is electrical erstwhile she is connected the field, and the media attraction she has attracted suggests she is already becoming The Next Big Thing™ for the USWNT. Staying steadfast is her biggest situation close now. She said earlier this twelvemonth that she didn't deliberation her backmost would ever beryllium 100% healthy.

There is an statement that Hayes is the biggest property connected the team, which further reflects the volatile quality of the subordinate pool. She won the archetypal Ballon d'Or women's coaching grant past year, and she instantly commands attention, whether she's successful a locker room, boardroom oregon packed normal hall.

Hayes has appeared to usage her level to sorb and deflect the outer pressures placed connected a squad afloat of young, talented players similar Rodman, Jaedyn Shaw, and 17-year-old midfielder Lily Yohannes. She has preached patience arsenic the radical discovers its identity.

"I deliberation you're seeing that this little experienced squad are increasing up," Hayes said aft the team's 2-1 triumph implicit Brazil connected April 5.

Who among them volition instrumentality connected the vaunted relation arsenic 1 of the adjacent faces of the USWNT? The deficiency of an contiguous reply is an unfamiliar, uncomfortable presumption for a squad truthful accustomed to having one, but it isn't needfully thing that needs fixing. It's a earthy measurement successful the transportation process.