USWNT co-captain Lindsey Horan: ‘Most American soccer fans aren’t smart’

USWNT co-captain Lindsey Horan has criticized American football fans in an interview The Athleticsquestioning their knowledge of the game.

“American football fans, most of them are not smart,” Horan said. “They don’t know the game. They don’t understand. (But) it’s getting better.

Horan has been the captain of the national team since 2023. She shares captaincy duties with Alex Morgan, but wears the armband when the two are on the field together.

“I’m going to piss some people off, but the game is growing in the US. People are becoming more informed, but people often take what the commentators say, right? My mother does it! My mom says, “(Commentator and former USWNT player) Julie Foudy said you had such a good game!” And I’m here just saying, ‘I was fucking bad today.’

After a poor performance at the 2023 World Cup, the USWNT came under fire. National coach Vlatko Andonovski resigned after the team was eliminated by Sweden on penalties in the round of 16. Chelsea coach Emma Hayes will become the new full-time boss at the end of the Women’s Super League season in England.

Horan was frustrated with the coverage of the US during the World Cup. “I always want to defend my team and say that you have no idea what is happening behind the scenes. You have no idea what we’re doing individually, collectively, etc. in every training session, so when someone questions our mentality it hurts a little bit,” Horan said, referring to Carli Lloyd’s comments on Fox Sports that the team was “arrogant ” used to be.

“If you don’t support it on the field, people will come and talk about what you’re doing, where your priorities are,” Horan said. “Like, ‘Are you getting ready for the game? Are you more concerned about this shit? You have to be with this team for a while to know what it takes. It is one of the most competitive national teams to be a part of.”

Horan plays her club football for Lyon in France, where she says the fans understand the game better. “From what I’ve heard, people understand my game a little bit better, a feeling for my football and the way I play,” Horan said. “It’s French culture. Everyone watches football. People know football.”

Horan was optimistic about the team’s prospects at the Paris Olympics later this year. The USWNT has been criticized for falling behind the best teams in the world technically, and instead focusing on a physical game.

With Julie Ertz and Megan Rapinoe retiring, the U.S. has embraced a younger team, hoping to combine physicality with more precise offensive play. “Even in the last few games you don’t see many glimpses of that (how good the team can be),” Horan said. “But it’s the end product, you keep doing that throughout the game so that everyone gets on the same page, not just four or five players.

“If you can develop that more, and it’s inherent to every player in the team, do you want to play the combinations, all these things? No idea what this team can do.

“Then there is the mentality aspect, where if the football doesn’t go well, we know we can go crazy. We have players on the pitch who are faster, stronger and more capable at the back, and we are going to get them out, right? The world will be very afraid.”

Hayes will need more than two months before the Olympics, leaving little time to work with a group of players looking to win gold in Paris.

“We have to change every piece of culture that we had before the last World Cup and the Olympics because we have to win,” Horan said. “And that starts now.”