Less than a minute into her Washington Spirit return last Saturday, Ashley Sanchez showed no signs of the enormous disappointment that followed her back from U.S. women’s national soccer team duty at the World Cup.
A second-half substitute in a scoreless match, the 24-year-old midfielder combined with Ouleymata Sarr and whistled a 12-yard shot into the near side of the net.
The Houston Dash is not the Swedish national team and a National Women’s Soccer League match is not a World Cup knockout game. But to those who also watched the U.S. squad sputter throughout the group stage and fail to capitalize on myriad opportunities in the round of 16, Sanchez’s instant impact last weekend rekindled questions about coach Vlatko Andonovski’s decision-making.