Los Angeles Times

Kevin Baxter: Youth movement brings a boost to USWNT's World Cup three-peat aspirations

The U.S. Women's National Team's starting lineup poses for the team photo prior to playing the Wales National Team in the Send Off Match at PayPal Park on Sunday, July 9, 2023, in San Jose, California.

Sophia Smith has never used a CD player and is a little hazy about whether websites existed before Google. Alyssa Thompson doesn't understand the music her teammates like. And Naomi Girma remembers feeling sorry for Alex Morgan when she explained she had to use a map — not Mapquest, an actual paper map — to find her way to soccer games as a girl.

"That was such a hard time," Girma gushes, as if Morgan, the most experienced player on the U.S. women's World Cup team, rode to games in a covered wagon.

Although the U.S. team, with an average age of 28, will again be among the oldest when the tournament kicks off in

You’re reading a preview, subscribe to read more.

More from Los Angeles Times

Los Angeles Times4 min readInternational Relations
In Talks With Putin Amid Ukraine War, Xi Calls Russia-China Ties A 'Strong Driving Force'
Russian President Vladimir Putin and China's Xi Jinping put their countries' partnership on red-carpet display in Beijing on Thursday, aiming to project a unified alternative to the West as each faces pressure amid Moscow's war on Ukraine. President
Los Angeles Times10 min read
Ben Gibbard On That Glow-up Of A Haircut And His Love-hate Relationship With LA
LOS ANGELES — Twenty-one years ago, Ben Gibbard's life changed twice in the span of eight months. In February 2003, the frontman of Seattle's Death Cab for Cutie released "Give Up," the first (and only) album by his electro-pop side project the Posta
Los Angeles Times3 min read
Robin Abcarian: 'Diaper Don'? Trump's Supporters Turn The Tables On His Puerile Critics
The political ascendance and staying power of Donald Trump have forced this country to confront so many existential questions: Can our democracy survive another Trump administration? Can an American president really and truly be above the law? And:

Related Books & Audiobooks