US women's soccer player Crystal Dunn inspiring Americans on and off the field
US women's national team defender Crystal Dunn opens up on her journey to the 2019 World Cup on 'Fox & Friends.'
The U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team is set to defend its FIFA World Cup title this summer as the international championship will kick off in Paris in June.
Crystal Dunn, 26, will take part in her first World Cup with the U.S. team. Dunn, who didn’t make the 2015 squad that defeated Japan in the finals, told “Fox and Friends” host Brian Kilmeade she fought hard for a spot on this year’s team.
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“I think people don’t realize that this is not an ordinary team,” Dunn said. “It’s not like club soccer. Every time you’re in with the national team, it’s basically like a tryout. Every camp is competitive. So, for three years, basically been [fighting] to get a spot and make it to this next World Cup.”
The U.S. will be in Group F, along with Thailand, Chile, and Sweden. The two teams expected to leave the group are the U.S. and Sweden – one of the top squads in the world.
“They’re gonna be tough. They’re always tough. They give us their best game every time we play them. It’s always tight – down to PKs (penalty kicks) or we win 1-0 or we tie. It’s gonna be crazy,” Dunn said.
Dunn, a forward, acknowledged that it’s “really important” for this team to put a mark on the sport as the Mia Hamm- and Abby Wambach-led teams did in the past.
“There’s a lot of people going into their first World Cup. I think that’s what’s really different between this World Cup and the last World Cup … We have a lot of young people, myself included. This will be my first World Cup. I’m really excited but everyone just needs to pull their weight and just go out and do their best,” she said.
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Dunn, who became the youngest National Women’s Soccer League MVP in 2015, currently plays for the North Carolina Courage. She leads the league in goals with four and has one assist on the season.