SheBelieves Cup returns to Talen Energy Stadium on February 27 when Brazil takes on England at 4 p.m. before the United States Women's National Team faces off against Japan.
Tickets to SheBelieves Cup along with a Club and Country Deal that includes tickets to the Union home opener against Toronto FC on March 2 can be found here.
When the 2019 SheBelieves Cup opens at Talen Energy Stadium on February 27, Crystal Dunn will be part of the US Women's National Team side that will play against Japan. Four years ago, Dunn was the final cut from the 2015 US Women's World Cup roster. .Since that time, she has proven to be one of the most versatile, intelligent, and dangerous players in the United States player pool, capable of performing at a high level all over the pitch. Lauren Green spoke with Dunn about how the North Carolina Courage player is preparing for this year's World Cup, how she has developed since 2015, the growth of the NWSL, and who her athletic role model has been.
How has the SheBelieves Cup helped prepare the U.S. women’s national team for tournaments like the Women’s World Cup?
It’s some of the top competition in the world. The last few years, the She Believes tournament has been some of the top European sides, but because it’s a World Cup year it’s kind of been changed around. So we’re playing [Brazil and Japan], which is great. It mimics the tournament setting of a major tournament like the World Cup or the Olympics because you’re playing a top side and the next day, you’re traveling, you’re doing your recovery, there’s a day or two of prep and then you’re playing another world power. It’s nice that it reflects that and it prepares you so you know what to expect going into a world tournament.
What are you most looking forward to about being back and playing in the Philadelphia area?
Usually when we’re visiting Philly in February it tends to be pretty cold. It’s just a beautiful stadium. I think that’s one of the best stadiums that I’ve played in. You see the bridge in the background and we play great teams there. I have good memories of the stadium itself so it’s just a place I look forward to going to.
The NWSL is in its seventh season entering 2019 - longer than each of the previous two leagues combined. How do we continue to grow the women’s game in the United States?
I think we need to keep finding people who are willing to make investments into the league. When we got Dell Loy Hansen with Real Salt Lake to join in, I think that really helped make the league a bit more stable. I think it’s finding people like Dell Loy or Merritt [Paulson] from Portland that are very invested in the women’s game and want to see it grow. I hope that more teams can find ownership like that. I also think that if we staff up the league and some of these front offices for the league, then we can market and put our names out there. We can put more fans in the seats. I think it’s really just finding investment.
How has having that consistent pro-league experience in the United States helped the USWNT prepare for the World Cup and the Olympics?
I think you’re playing against some of the best players - domestic and international - in the world, day in and day out. You’re either practicing with them or you’re playing them on the weekends. I think it’s just helpful to be in a professional environment where you’re getting the training every single day. You’ve got strong technical staff, you’ve got good medical staff and so your body’s prepared, your soccer is prepared. Having that for a longer duration of the year is super helpful for those who then have to go away to national team duty. You’re played in, you’re feeling strong, you know what to expect so I think it’s been monumental for the national team in preparation for world tournaments.
And, I’ll add, you find more players for the player pool. The NWSL has shown that it can produce high quality players that have been given chances with the national team and have become regular call-ins or even starters with the team.
Is there added pressure going into the World Cup as defending champions?
We’ve been ranked number one or number two for the last decade or so when it comes to rankings so in a way we’ve always had a target on our back. So yeah we’re defending champions and that carries a certain amount of weight. But I also feel like this team has always gotten everyone’s best all the time. We’re used to this feeling and the feeling of how to defend our title of being the best or one of the best in the world. Now we just have to do it in a tournament setting.
What’s one thing that fans should watch for from each of these teams?
I think you can’t really expect anything. You’re going to have teams that are doing their last little bit of experimentation when it comes to players, when it comes to playing styles, when it comes to relationships on the field. I think it’s going to be coaches setting up their teams probably the last time before they really solidify ‘okay this is how we’re going to play, this is our formation, this is our starting 11.’ I think you’re going to see potentially what the team could look like at the World Cup, but then I also think you could see a coach giving a player that one extra chance to show what they have against the top teams.
How has your role evolved during this Women’s World Cup cycle?
We lost a few mainstays after 2015 when you think about Christie Rampone, Abby Wambach, Shannon Boxx, Lori Chalupny and Lauren Cheney. You had a bunch of players who had been the cornerstones of that team during that time. New players had to step up and I was one of those players who was expected to take on more of a leadership role. Over the last four years, that’s been trying to develop into the leader that the team needs.
What’s been the most challenging aspect of stepping into that role?
Getting out of your comfort zone. Many people lead in different ways and sometimes the team needs something and the next week the team needs something completely different. It’s being able to get out of your comfort zone. One day maybe you need to hold people accountable and really get on them. The next day, you need to pull someone aside and just see how they’re doing. On game day, you need to be the organizer, but then the next game day you need to be the rah-rah energy person. It’s being able to fill a lot of different roles. It’s also figuring out what’s needed at what time, which is also difficult.
What’s your leadership style?
My leadership style is more lead by example. Show up every single day, be consistent, work hard, demand the people around you to work hard if they’re not. I’m not usually a huge vocal leader, but that’s something that I’ve been working on for the last four years.
Who was your women’s sports role model growing up?
You could pretty much pick the 1999 Women’s World Cup team. I was really a big fan of Carla Overbeck because she was a defender and she was fantastic. And then it’s hard not to notice people like Michelle Akers and Mia Hamm. Mia Hamm was just a prolific goal scorer and whenever she got the ball at her foot, you just knew that something amazing could happen. You had Michelle Akers who was a fantastic soccer player and you could just tell sacrificed everything every single day on the field. When they won the World Cup in 1999, I wanted to experience the joy they were having on the field because it just seemed amazing. I wanted to be able to know what that felt like.
Which of your current U.S. women’s national team teammates would you pick as a tour guide in a foreign country?
I would choose Sam Mewis because she would do all the research before we went out. So she would be able to direct us and tell us everything we were looking at and when it was built and the significance of it. And probably pick out some good restaurants too.
Lauren Green is a freelance contributor for PhiladelphiaUnion.com. She is currently a reporter at Sports Illustrated.
Twitter: @Lauren_Green08
