Training hard in Loughborough the USA women's national team has some serious work to do.
Their buildup has been instructive, and featured some positives here and there, but they haven't executed as well as they'd want.
However, there's more to it all than that. What fans can do is support them no matter what, and push the players to raising the level of their play. Captain Kate Zackary said the support the team has experienced already is hugely important. Yes the Golden Gala raised a lot of money for the USA Women's Team program, but, said Zackary, the vibe from that event was important, too.
"To be frank, more than anything, it was just great to see a lot of the alumni and supporters at that breakfast we had the day after the game," said Zackary. "While it raised money, I think I, personally, what I took from it was just a heartwarming event. We had the Gala on the Thursday night, and all the players were buzzing after they felt really special that night. And then you layer in when we played the match and there were 15,000 people at that Fiji game. Then you go to the brunch after that, and that was sold out. I don't even remember how many people were there."
