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Sports Stadium Shrinkage Is A Trend. Who's To Blame For Attendance Drop?

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Some baseball teams, the Tampa Bay Rays for example, have torn out seats because of a drop in attendance. Teams have explanations for stadium shrinkage, but commentator Mike Pesca has his own ideas.



STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Attending a major league baseball game is expensive. Bringing the whole family can be almost impossible for some, so many people don’t. Although some teams, like the Yankees, still attract big crowds, the Tampa Bay Rays are acknowledging a new reality. Having priced many fans out of the park, they’ve torn out many of the seats. Commentator Mike Pesca sees a trend.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “TAKE ME OUT TO THE BALLGAME”)

MIKE PESCA, BYLINE: “Take Me Out To The Ballgame” was written 101 years ago, and most of the sentiment still stands. You can still buy peanuts and Cracker Jack. It’s still one, two, three strikes, you’re out. The only update might be the line, take me out with the crowd. Sixty-seven million fans attended a regular season baseball game last year, but those numbers were down from the year before. And some of that is, actually, by design, as in the design of ballparks. The seating capacity of stadia across American sports – not just baseball – is shrinking. The Tampa Bay Rays will be playing for about 26,000 fans maximum. That’s 5,000 fewer seats than they have now. The Las Vegas Raiders will soon debut in a stadium that will be among the three most compact in the game. All 16 major league teams that have moved in the past 20 years are playing in tighter confines than they once did.

The reason for this shrinkage, the leagues will tell you, is that televised sport has beaten the live experience. As the TVs got better, the traffic got worse, I guess. And the couch beckoned. I just got back from Disney World. Disney movies are clearly cheaper and easier to get to than the live experience. And yet millions more people flock to the Magic Kingdom than did 10 years ago. There is an “Avatar” ride that had a wait time of – let me check the app. It’s on an app now – three hours, five minutes. But with baseball and football, there is so little attention paid to the experience in the park. How about good Wi-Fi or some milling-about zones and food that challenges our collective delusion that Dodger Dogs aren’t inferior, cylindrical foodstuffs? We have been gaslit about Fenway Franks.

Then there’s the gouging. The New York Jets will charge you 40 to $50 for parking. And when you enter the stadium, you have to watch the New York Jets. Owners can continue to shrink their stadiums and their ambitions or they can start rewarding fans who literally give their teams the home field advantage as something other than chickens to be plucked or geese to be fattened before slaughter. Don’t the fans have enough experience with slaughter, especially when we’re talking about fans of the Jets, Rays and Raiders?

(SOUNDBITE OF BILLY JOEL’S “TAKE ME OUT TO THE BALLGAME”)

INSKEEP: (Singing) Take me out…

No, I’m not going to do that. Commentator Mike Pesca hosts the Slate podcast The Gist, which is still very affordable and welcomes new fans. He also wrote the book “Upon Further Review.”

Copyright © 2019 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by Verb8tm, Inc., an NPR contractor, and produced using a proprietary transcription process developed with NPR. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

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Jon Champion On Calling Play-By-Play Soccer

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Lulu Garcia-Navarro speaks with renowned British soccer commentator Jon Champion, who is joining ESPN as the new play-by-play voice for Major League Soccer.



LULU GARCIA-NAVARRO, HOST:

For almost two decades, Jon Champion has called the play-by-play on some of the most watched soccer games in the world.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

JON CHAMPION: Trying to run Georginio, making a great job of it. Solo away. What a fabulous goal lighting up Wembley.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: From the Premier League to FIFA games to the World Cup and Olympic Games. Now Champion is taking his family and moving across the pond to the U.S. to cover Major League Soccer for ESPN and, as he puts it, to live the American dream. Jon Champion, welcome to WEEKEND EDITION and to the United States (laughter).

CHAMPION: Thank you so much. It’s lovely to be here.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: What brings you to our shores?

CHAMPION: I think a challenge and an opportunity to have an adventure, both on a personal and a professional level. So as you rightly pointed out, I’ve been commentating on soccer matches for 34 years now. I started when I was at university as a teenager. But you do get to a stage where you’re recognizing that you’re covering an event or a storyline for the fifth, sixth, seventh, maybe eighth time. And I just got to the stage where, in 2014, ESPN hired me to cover the World Cup in Brazil. And off the back of that, the suggestion was made that maybe I’d like to consider, at some point, coming and making my home here and commentating full time on American soccer rather than European or, specifically, British soccer. And that was the gestation, really, of an idea that took four years to grow into a fully fledged offer to come in and work here full time.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: Do you have to remind yourself to call it soccer, though?

CHAMPION: I do at the moment. I do and…

GARCIA-NAVARRO: (Laughter) I can just imagine, I’m afraid, you slipping up because, obviously, the rest of the world does not call it soccer.

CHAMPION: No, no, no. It is football around the rest of the world, and I’m in the midst of the penalty or PK debate. What do I call a penalty kick?

GARCIA-NAVARRO: (Laughter).

CHAMPION: So I’m somewhere betwixt and between. I’m mid-Atlantic at the moment.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: (Laughter) All right. U.S. soccer is gaining in popularity, but it is definitely not at the level of the Premier League or other leagues around the world. You’ll be calling matches for a sport that is not watched by everyone, as it was back home. How do you feel about that? What is your plan to bring soccer to everyone’s living room?

CHAMPION: Well, I’m not sure…

GARCIA-NAVARRO: You’re responsible for this alone, by the way.

CHAMPION: Personally?

GARCIA-NAVARRO: Yes, absolutely.

CHAMPION: Oh, that is…

GARCIA-NAVARRO: I’m going to put it all on you.

(LAUGHTER)

CHAMPION: I mean, I’m fortunate in that my voice is associated with big, worldwide soccer events. So if my voice becomes associated with big, American soccer events, there is a school of thought that that helps to add a certain validity to the occasion and to the broadcast. Now, whether that’s the case is probably not for me to say, but that is the suggestion and the theory behind this.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: But why do you think it hasn’t really caught on here in America the same way? Because kids do it. You have soccer clubs all over the United States. Kids grow up playing soccer. And then, it kind of just stops.

CHAMPION: Yeah. It does at the moment, or it has done up until this point. And it is the most played sport in that age group. For teenagers, soccer is the No. 1 participation event. And, gradually, that is translating into a greater interest in the professional game of soccer in this country. So one of the attractions of this job coming now, for me, is that if you look at the context of league soccer in this country, it began, effectively, in 1996. So this is season number 24 that begins over this weekend. If you translate that into the English game, league soccer there started in 1888. So, in the same terms, we’re in 1911 now, here in America. So…

GARCIA-NAVARRO: We’re a young country in many ways (laughter).

CHAMPION: Yeah. But it means that it is an evolution. And, obviously, the American game is at a very early stage of that evolution. But I think the graph shows that the acceleration in interest in the game – it’s gathering pace. It’s quite attractive to come and be a little part of trying to tell the story of a growth of a sport that’s conquered the world with one exception, and we’re sitting right in the middle of that exception. And I’d love to play a very, very small role and be a close observer of the breakthrough of soccer. I’m not suggesting that it’s going to displace the NFL, but it is capable of nibbling at the heels, perhaps, of baseball and of ice hockey, certainly. It’s very exciting to be at the stage of one’s career where one’s been lucky enough to do most things, but this is an unconquered frontier.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: Jon Champion, longtime British soccer commentator and now ESPN’s lead announcer for Major League Soccer, thank you very much.

CHAMPION: It’s been a great joy. Thank you.

Copyright © 2019 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by Verb8tm, Inc., an NPR contractor, and produced using a proprietary transcription process developed with NPR. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

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Saturday Sports: SheBelieves Cup, Enes Kanter

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NPR’s Tom Goldman discusses the sports stories that grabbed his attention this week – including the SheBelieves Cup.



SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

And now a sober, contemplative look at sports.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

SIMON: The U.S. women’s soccer team takes on England today – no Brexit once they get on the field. And the Portland Trail Blazers are the latest to light up the NBA. NPR’s Tom Goldman joins us. Morning, Tom.

TOM GOLDMAN, BYLINE: Good morning, Scott.

SIMON: The SheBelieves Cup is underway – U.S. women’s national team plays England today in Nashville. Earlier this week, team USA opened the cup. They had a 2-2 tie against Japan. England beat Brazil 2-1. I know, Tom, this is a sensitive topic in your family, but is Enguland (ph) favored? And notice I pronounced that with a U in the middle.

GOLDMAN: Is that how I’m supposed to pronounce that?

SIMON: I believe so, yes.

GOLDMAN: Well, done from now on. Yeah. In answer to your question, I don’t think any team playing the top-ranked U.S. is the favorite going in. But England is sitting atop the SheBelieves Cup standings. And Phil Neville, the English coach, is sounding like he wants the Lionesses, as they are called, to act like they’re the favorites. He wants his team to emulate the swagger of the U.S. And that U.S. swagger is because, Scott…

SIMON: Rrr (ph).

GOLDMAN: …Once again, it is a very – roar – it is a very talented American team, especially on offense. Now, defense needs to shore things up before the World Cup, which is coming up – just a little over three months away. In that draw against Japan that you mentioned, the U.S. gave up the lead twice due to some defensive miscues. And U.S. coach Jill Ellis says it’s critical the back line and the goalkeeper start building cohesion. We’ll look to see if they make strides today.

SIMON: NBA – the Portland Trail Blazers lost to the Toronto Raptors by just two points last night at the last second in Toronto. And that left Portland fans crying in their Willamette Valley pinot noirs.

GOLDMAN: (Laughter).

SIMON: Portland center Enes Kanter has been on this show. He’s welcome back any time. He couldn’t go to Canada because he’s an outspoken critic of the repressive regime in his native Turkey. He could have made a two-point difference, right?

GOLDMAN: You know, Portland fans like to think so, and they may have a case. In his four games since joining the Blazers from the Knicks – lucky him – Kanter has averaged nearly 13 points and seven rebounds a game as a backup center. It might have helped but not to be. Kanter couldn’t play because he says outside the sanctuary of the U.S., he’s worried that he could be harmed by Turkish agents – which he told you in January – or else nabbed due to what’s called a red notice, which Interpol uses to locate and arrest a person pending extradition. After the game, Kanter tweeted (reading) man, freaking hate that #DictatorErdogan.

Guaranteed a lot of Blazer fans feeling the same way. Although, there probably are better reasons to feel that way beyond basketball.

SIMON: Beyond – right. Beyond…

GOLDMAN: Yeah (laughter).

SIMON: …Basketball. The Trail Blazers are on a five-game winning streak. Where did this come from?

GOLDMAN: Yeah. Well, Kanter’s been a big part of this post All-Star Game surge that’s starting to turn NBA heads toward the remote Pacific Northwest with its very nice red wines. The knock on Portland has been if you stop its great guards, four-time All-Star Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum, you stop the Blazers. But suddenly with Kanter and starting center Jusuf Nurkic of Bosnia and others on the team playing well, Portland’s become less predictable and tougher to handle. Now, no one’s talking championship, Scott, as long as Golden State walks the Earth. But Portland could be tougher in the playoffs.

SIMON: And it’s – this league is a team in Portland that looks like it will stay together for a while.

GOLDMAN: Yeah, it does. It’s a small market with a very loyal fan base in Portland. And Damian Lillard is the team’s leader. And he has endeared himself even more with his recent comments about being happy in Portland and not thinking about leaving for a super team. You know, that’s been the rage in the NBA in recent years. The speculation continues about which other stars will join LeBron in LA to form a super team, you know, that can challenge Golden State. But there are players, like Lillard or Bradley Beal in Washington, Russell Westbrook in Oklahoma City, who’ve stayed committed to their non-championship winning teams. And the fans seem to love them even more for it.

SIMON: Bryce Harper, $330 million to join the Phillies – good idea?

GOLDMAN: (Laughter) Anytime you signed a six-time All-Star, yeah. That’s a good idea. I’d say so.

SIMON: It’s not a clown question, bro?

(LAUGHTER)

SIMON: That’s a Bryce Harper quote. NPR’s Tom Goldman, thanks so much.

GOLDMAN: You’re welcome.

Copyright © 2019 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by Verb8tm, Inc., an NPR contractor, and produced using a proprietary transcription process developed with NPR. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

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U.S. Women's Soccer Team Takes Next Step To World Cup

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U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team forward Megan Rapinoe, right, tries to get around Japan’s Risa Shimizu, left, with the ball during the first half of SheBelieves Cup soccer match, Wednesday, Feb. 27, 2019, in Chester, Pa. The U.S. tied Japan 2-2 in a friendly match in the run-up to the World Cup in June.

Chris Szagola/AP


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Chris Szagola/AP

The top-ranked U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team is back on the field Saturday afternoon playing against number four England in Nashville, Tenn. The SheBelieves Cup also includes top-ten powerhouses Brazil and Japan. The U.S. and Japan played to a 2-2 tie on Wednesday.

While the U.S. is hoping for a better result today, the real focus is on preparations for June. That’s when the Women’s World Cup begins in France. The U.S. is heavily favored as the defending champion (and three-time winner of the event).

At a news conference on Friday, Coach Jill Ellis said these ‘international friendly’ games in the round-robin tournament are a good gauge to see where the team is strong and where it’s not. “The most important piece is we’re playing against world class teams before we get ready for the summer,” Ellis said. “All of the experiences we take in now are massive in terms of having us be ready.”

Against Japan, the U.S. attacked repeatedly and controlled the game at key moments. But it gave up two late goals including the equalizer in the 91st minute when it appeared the U.S would finish with a victory.

Veteran forward Megan Rapinoe said the squad needs to do a better job controlling the game and keep its focus. “I feel good where we are in our preparation,” she said. “We’ll forever have stuff to work on. But I feel like things are coming together well and we’re having a more solidified idea of the way we want to play and I think you can see that on the field.”

During the team’s pre-game training on Friday at Nissan Stadium in Nashville, the U.S. team looked loose and relaxed, despite overcast skies and a chilly wind in the 40-degree weather. Teammates joked and smiled and mugged for photographers. Defender Abby Dahlkemper said, while the team isn’t worried, the squad does need to tighten up: “Really taking advantage of every single minute we can on the field together. Tweaking the things we need to tweak, getting better and learning and really hitting our peak in June.”

FOX will broadcast the U.S./England game at 4:30pm E.T. Brazil and Japan play at 2pm E.T — the latter available to stream on ussoccer.com. The SheBelieves tournament wraps up Tuesday in Tampa, Fla., when the U.S. takes on Brazil.

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Blair Braverman And Her 'Ugly Dogs' Prepare For Her First Iditarod

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Rookie musher Blair Braverman and her dogs will compete in the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, traveling more than 900 miles across Alaska from Anchorage to Nome and facing subzero temperatures and challenging trails.

Courtesy of Blair Braverman


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Courtesy of Blair Braverman

You know LeBron, Serena and Messi.

But do you know Pepe, Flame and Jenga?

They’re another kind of super athlete on a one-name basis with fans — sled dogs preparing for the Iditarod.

Blair Braverman, the team’s musher, will take her team out for the very first time when the race starts Saturday, braving some 938 miles of trail across Alaska, from Anchorage to Nome.

It’s a grueling race that took the last winner nine-and-a-half days to complete, with unpredictable conditions, mandatory rest breaks and the notorious “Happy River Steps,” three near-vertical drops early in the course, just one of the many possible pitfalls for mushers trying not to crash.

1. Pepé

We have many dogs who can lead the team, but our true Lead Dog — the pup who makes each run happen, who gets us through every storm — is Pepe. Pepe is smarter than all of us. She will run forever and keep running. She is basically everyone’s mother. pic.twitter.com/K6ckFTvv6l

— Blair Braverman (@BlairBraverman) January 2, 2019

But this rookie is ready. Braverman has shipped food out ahead of time on bush planes, studied the weather, repaired equipment and made and remade plans.

“How can you not overthink a 900-mile race?” she tells NPR’s Ari Shapiro. “There’s just so many different things that have to fall into place. It’s like chess in the snow.”

Braverman, a dogsledder, author and correspondent for Outside magazine, is one of 17 women racing in this year’s Iditarod, a record 32.7 percent of the field. ­­­

“Mushing is one of the only sports where men and women compete together at elite level,” she says. “We are taken seriously as athletes because there’s no chance for people to tell themselves we’re not on the same playing field.”

But she doesn’t consider herself just an athlete. She’s also a coach, a nutritionist, a parent, even a veterinary tech for her team. All of her dogs, 14 hand-picked racers from a group of 20 that she’s been training, have undergone physicals as extensive as the preparations for any professional athlete in the NBA or NFL, from EKGs to vaccinations.

“They were gone over with a fine-tooth comb by this great volunteer team of vets,” Braverman says. “And I’m happy to report that they all have top marks in all their health records, and they’re doing great.”

The dogs are a sharp but motley crew of strong personalities. Pepe is the steady, “mature” head of the pack. Flame is Braverman’s “shadow,” who has raced with her in every qualifier. Jenga is Flame’s half-sister who “doesn’t suffer fools.”

2. Flame (age 5)

Flame is my souldog. She is desperately codependent and we are both happiest when we are in physical contact at all times. She is also, to my occasional surprise, a fantastic sled dog. She finished every one of my qualifiers with me and never seems to tire. pic.twitter.com/JpWVcWxb94

— Blair Braverman (@BlairBraverman) January 2, 2019

And there are others, like Boudica, who loves gentle kisses, Colbert, a “big hunk” who is afraid of heights, and Grinch, who didn’t make the Iditarod team because he had some directional trouble. On a recent outing, he stopped in his tracks and refused to run after Braverman turned the sled around to head north instead of south.

“He has the biggest heart,” she says. “The most energy. And he’s incredibly stupid.”

It’s clear from the way she talks about them that Braverman loves her dogs. And that love affair led her to start writing and tweeting. She describes the racers like you’d write about old friends, sharing their quirks, thrills and setbacks with tens of thousands of followers. She calls her followers #UglyDogs, co-opting a phrase lobbed at her online.

“A Twitter troll actually told me, ‘Go back to your ugly dogs, Karen.'” (Her name isn’t Karen). “But I thought it was a beautiful sentence… Then some fans of the team said, ‘We should be the ugly dogs because you’ll always come back to us.’ So it took off.”

Braverman suspects her account has gained traction because dogsledding is a rural sport that takes place mostly out of sight – and her dogs give fans a way in. She spares no detail, from how to put booties on a dog that doesn’t like her feet touched, to her crew’s bowel movements.

Pleased to report that everyone’s poops have been extra great lately. pic.twitter.com/qE0rMDqCER

— Blair Braverman (@BlairBraverman) February 26, 2019

“People are getting to know these dogs as pets as friends, and they’re also seeing them as elite athletes,” she says. “It’s like rooting for your favorite sports team, but they all happen to be dogs.”

One of the biggest misconceptions that she’s trying to disperse? That the dogs are disposable. These are animals she’s been with for years, she says, and she knows each of them as individuals.

Jenga’s favorite head rest is her daughter, Hunter. pic.twitter.com/3c8E5SZdS4

— Blair Braverman (@BlairBraverman) January 4, 2019

“I think rather than telling people how much we love these dogs,” she says, “they can just feel how much we love these dogs, and how much we’re with them every step of the way.”

Braverman’s long days of preparation are winding down quickly. The Iditarod kicks in the Alaskan midmorning on Saturday, and she admits it’s terrifying to think about the race ahead.

But, she adds, “If I think about being out there with my dogs who are my best friends and my family, I just get so much strength from that.” The long days, the sleep-deprivation, the subzero temperatures – she’s tackling all of that with Pepe, Flame and the rest of her dogs. And that’s all the courage she needs.

The broadcast version of this story was produced by Dave Blanchard and edited by Matt Ozug.

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Mark Sutcliffe: Do We Overstate Hard Work In The Narrative Of Success?

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[embedded content]

Part 4 of the TED Radio Hour episode Luck, Fortune, And Chance.

About Mark Sutcliffe’s TED Talk

Mark Sutcliffe says our luck—or privilege—is determined before we are even born. He encourages people to acknowledge the role of privilege in their lives and work to lessen the opportunity gap.

About Mark Sutcliffe

Mark Sutcliffe is an award-winning journalist, entrepreneur, and community activist.

He is the host of Ottawa Today, a daily four-hour talk show on 1310 NEWS and Rogers TV.

Additionally, Sutcliffe has founded several media properties, including the Ottawa Business Journal, the Kitchissippi Times community newspaper and iRun, Canada’s leading media brand for runners.

Sutcliffe has completed more than 20 marathons and is the author of four books: Why I Run, Canada’s Magnificent Marathon, Big Joe and the Return of Football, and Long Road to Boston.

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On The Road To The World Cup, U.S. Women Tie Japan 2-2

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U.S. forward Megan Rapinoe takes the ball as Japan’s Hina Sugita stays close on the first day of the SheBelieves Cup in Chester, Penn., on Wednesday night.

Elsa/Getty Images


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Elsa/Getty Images

With just a little more than three months to go until the Women’s World Cup in France, the U.S. squad is looking for proof it has all the right ingredients to affirm its ranking as number one in the world. But as the team left the pitch Wednesday night after a 2-2 tie with Japan, they acknowledged there’s still some tinkering to do – and that if they’re to defend their World Cup title, they can’t afford to make many mistakes.

It was the first day of the SheBelieves Cup, a tournament hosted by the U.S. in the run-up to the World Cup, which kicks off June 7. The game offered a rematch of the 2015 World Cup final, when the U.S. beat Japan 5-2. But both squads have changed significantly since then, and this four-team tournament provides a chance for each team’s coach to try new lineups — and see who will be making the trip to France.

But summer felt far away on this cold night outside Philadelphia, as a biting wind rolled off the Delaware River. Many players wore gloves, and spectators hesitated to take off their hats for the singing of the national anthem.

There were many young fans in the stands to catch the doubleheader — an earlier game saw England defeat Brazil 2-1 — and a high pitched chorus rose in excitement every time Megan Rapinoe, Tobin Heath, or Alex Morgan started on a breakaway run in the game’s early minutes.

Things started to go the Americans’ way in the 23rd minute, when Heath made a low cross that found Rapinoe, who slid it past Japan’s goalkeeper.

No. 17 on the field. No. 1 in our hearts.@TobinHeath does what she wants. pic.twitter.com/UJtQSviref

— U.S. Soccer WNT (@USWNT) February 28, 2019

The U.S. followed with numerous shots by Rapinoe and Morgan, but none found their way into the net.

In the 67th minute, Japan finally got its chance. Emi Nakajima bent a left-footer up and over U.S. goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher to tie the score.

We’re all tied up!

Nakajma gets Japan level after the USWNT fails to clear the danger. 1-1. #SheBelieves pic.twitter.com/9DUWrYLlVw

— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) February 28, 2019

The momentum shifted to Japan, until the U.S. brought Christen Press off the bench midway through the second half. Almost immediately she found the ball and sent it to Morgan, who knocked it into the goal with her chest.

MORGAN GIVES THE U.S. THE LEAD!

That would be her first of 2019 and No. 99 for her USWNT career ?? #SheBelieves @alexmorgan13 pic.twitter.com/mhggcJk8ah

— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) February 28, 2019

The U.S. seemed to have the game in the bag … until stoppage time, when Japan’s Yuka Momiki made a goal off the crossbar to tie it up in the 91st minute.

? Japan provide a late twist and score a last-minute equalizer against the USWNT! pic.twitter.com/xCoKzCm9fF

— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) February 28, 2019

This was the U.S. team’s third match of 2019. The first was a 3-1 loss to France last month at Le Havre, the port city where the U.S. will play Sweden in the group stage of the World Cup. A few days later, the USWNT beat Spain, 1-0.

After the game, Rapinoe said the result showed that the team needs to work on closing games — and controlling them. “I think we still take too many risks when we don’t need to,” said the veteran forward. “And we should probably be more patient and wait for a great opportunity, instead of a half chance.”

She noted that it was the team’s third very different lineup as many matches. “We’re obviously still nailing that down.”

U.S. coach Jill Ellis said she was disappointed in the result, but not in the players or their performance.

“I thought there were some really good things” in both halves, she said. “I felt like we played as a team. We made two mistakes in the back that cost us. For sure we left things on the table. But in terms of our team play – what I asked the team to do defensively, the work ethic, the attacking — we got into their goal zone 34 times.”

She said she was going to take the positives from the game — and the team’s job is simply to keep getting better if it’s going to win another World Cup: “We have to play seven games to win this thing.”

The U.S. will face England on Saturday in Nashville, Tenn.

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