It’s all fun and games when players fuel intense domestic rivalries—until those very rivals turn out to be their own national team teammates. Now imagine the tension when they’re suddenly called into camp together. Talk about dead silence and awkward vibes! While that’s rarely the case anymore—with today’s stars battling it out in club jerseys and then walking hand-in-hand in the national kit—the good days of NWSL were something different. At least, USWNT veteran McCall Zerboni seems to think so.
But before we talk about that, have you ever wondered what the tipping point of these rivalries was to even begin in the first place? There has to be some sort of moment where either team feels, ‘Oh, it’s so on.’ Thankfully, for someone who has witnessed the advent of NWSL, it is safe to say Zerboni is the perfect person to share the anecdote.
Having begun her journey with Western New York Flash, the former recalled Portland Thorns being quite used to winning and being dominant. Well, the inaugural 2013 NWSL Championship speaks for itself, as the Thorns had secured a 2–0 win over the Shield victors. It was later in 2016 that the Flash was able to come out on top, winning the NWSL Championship with a roster that had the likes of Zerboni alongside Lynn Biyendolo, Jessica McDonald, and Sam Mewis but against Washington Spirit.
Mind you, at that time they weren’t at the top. Neither of these players had a “big-name” status or was even on the national team, let alone making money. But winning the trophy in 2016 somehow ended up making it a rivalry in the minds of the Thorns. “We were their competitors; We were their rivals. Every time we met, it was just crazy,” said McCall on The Attacking Third podcast.
Later in 2017, Zerboni joined NC Courage. Though that year, they lost to the Thorns, the following two seasons saw their back-to-back championships in fact, the first one being against their new arch-rivals. “We kept winning and performing, then eventually started getting called into the national team.”
“We would go to the national team camp and see them, and they were like ‘Darn it, the Courage players are here. Now, we have to look at them even more.’ But then you get on the same page to go win a World Cup. So we were kind of like the younger newer players to that reputation and dominance that Tobin Heath and all those players had already created,” concluded Zerboni.
Who would have thought that the tradition of rivalries in the NWSL dates back quite a while? In fact, it even created some tension in the national team camp. Come to think of it, that dynamic still lingers to this day!
Not NWSL but Europe keeping up USWNT’s rivalry tradition alive!
We can’t say for sure about the NWSL, but USWNT captain Lindsey Horan didn’t hold back from carrying her European club rivalry into the national team camp. During the recent April international window—when Emma Hayes gathered her squad for a doubleheader against Brazil—Horan brought the heat against her own teammate, Emily Fox. For context, the two represent rival clubs in Europe: Olympique Lyonnais Féminin and Arsenal Women, who are locked in a high-stakes UEFA Women’s Champions League semifinal clash.
Although it’s a unique moment for both players to square off as opponents on such a grand stage, Horan made it clear she wouldn’t be going easy on Fox. Speaking ahead of the first leg, the Lyon captain “[it’s] So exciting and also very special for me. These moments don’t happen a lot… I think this past camp I was giving Foxy as much crap as I possibly could and trying to just chip at her a little bit.”
And the hilarious part? It actually worked in Horan’s favor. Arsenal suffered a narrow 2-1 defeat at the hands of Lyon in the first leg. Now, with the second leg set for the upcoming weekend, all eyes are on whether Emily Fox and her teammates can pull off a comeback against Lindsey Horan and Co. to book their spot in the final—where they’ll face the winner between FC Barcelona and Chelsea.
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The post USWNT Veteran Reveals How Early NWSL Rivalry Ignited National Camp Tension: “It Was Just Crazy” appeared first on EssentiallySports.
