United States women’s national team forward Trinity Rodman said the reigning world champions are “ruthless” and expect to win the World Cup this summer for the third time in a row.
The 21-year-old scored both goals as the USWNT secured a 2-0 friendly win over Wales in the team’s final tuneup before the start of the tournament.
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Rodman will be taking part in her first World Cup, which for 2023 takes place in Australia and New Zealand, and said she is confident the team can claim a third consecutive title.
“My expectations are that we’re the most ruthless team, we’re never going to give up and we’re going to get the title,” she told ESPN’s Futbol Americas.
“Obviously the team has changed so much over the last couple of World Cups, even the past couple of months, but this team is something special. We want it more than ever, so I expect a gold medal.”
The back-to-back World Cup champions face the Netherlands, Portugal and Vietnam in Group E for the tournament, which starts on July 20.
Rodman also said there shouldn’t be an expectation of the USWNT cruising through the World Cup despite its past success.
“I think with this team that everyone expects success obviously based off the past,” she said. “But there are a lot of new players and a lot of connections that need to be built for the first game, so it’s just the pressure of doing well. It’s a lot harder than people think.
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“[People think:] you guys should be blowing these teams out or should be winning, and it’s a lot harder than that. I think with, the diversity and change has been difficult, but honestly for me, this is my first World Cup, so there may be less expectations for me because I’ve never been in this position.”
Rodman is the daughter of former NBA star Dennis Rodman but reiterated that she wants to create her own legacy in the sports world.
“My dad made a lot of mistakes through his career. I don’t want to say the wild child, but he was,” she added. “I think being a woman coming from the Rodman name, coming from the NBA legacy of Dennis Rodman, it was important [that] I didn’t want the comments of she’s only here because of that.
“She’s only here because there’s potential in the last name. That has always been important to me and will continue to be, but at the end of the day, I want the name to be Trinity Rodman and she earned it herself, not because she has that last name but because she earned her way.”