If there’s one thing that’s been apparent for the U.S. women’s national team on the biggest stages over the last three decades, it’s that it has a habit of winning. Some games during tournaments don’t go its way. Some tournaments as a whole don’t go its way. It’s far from faultless. But it persists and tends to bounce back quite emphatically if and when missteps occur.
So for the USWNT, Tuesday was a day that was nearly six years and two World Cup cycles in the making and has all the hallmarks of another resounding triumph in the face of adversity.