The U.S. Women‘s Soccer team, comprised of veteran players like Heather O‘Reilly and Lori Lindsey, took on a Wrexham men‘s soccer squad in The Soccer Tournament (TST) and were utterly embarrassed 12–0.
The Wrexham team fielded players from all different backgrounds, including some current men‘s professional players and some surprise guest players for one special match. Revered soccer icon Mia Hamm was on the sidelines managing the U.S. squad in what was her first foray into managing at the professional level.
As soon as the match began, it was clear which team was superior. The Wrexham side scored seven goals in the opening twenty minutes, with 46–year–old Lee Trundle having the best day out of all the players with four goals to his name. By the time the match had come to an end, Wrexham had fired off 39 shots to the U.S. team‘s five.
O’Reilly remained composed in the face of the smothering defeat, telling NBC Sports Soccer that the match was bigger than the result. “We’re super proud. Hopefully we’ve proved to anybody, just go for it, just live,” O’Reilly said. “What’s the worst that could happen? We lose 16–0 to Wrexham? We don’t care because we’re living, we’re being bold and we’re being brave. Here we have two amazing products that American soccer fans are getting behind. It’s just a ton of fun and it’s brought all of us together.”
The U.S. squad are returning home heartbroken and empty–handed following the blowout loss, but the Wrexham squad have kept their spirits high and are now looking forward to competing for the grand prize of one million dollars.
Although the women‘s side were not expecting a result like this, what will surely be remembered is their boldness and resilience in the face of a tough outcome. The match showed that, even in the face of adversity, there is still a great love for soccer that can bring players together from different backgrounds and skill levels. Even in the toughest of times, soccer continues to unite people.
