Mallory Swanson’s injury is a reminder that the USWNT’s depth is its biggest asset

ST. LOUIS — The World Cup will not postpone its kickoff to wait for Mallory Swanson’s torn patellar tendon to heal. Nor will any of the teams the U.S. women may face in New Zealand and Australia send sympathies about it.

But while the Americans haven’t been hit with an injury loss this big before a major tournament in many years, they aren’t panicking. Their opponents and the rest of the planet would love to be able to turn to Lynn Williams and Megan Rapinoe, then call in an 18-year-old phenom of Alyssa Thompson’s caliber as a further backup — and still have a seasoned veteran in Margaret Purce watching at home.

It’s a reminder that the U.S.’ strength doesn’t just come from superstars like Rapinoe, Alex Morgan, and Rose Lavelle. It comes from unparalleled depth forged by Title IX, thousands of youth programs, hundreds of colleges, and a dozen National Women’s Soccer League clubs. Add them all up, and they make this national team one of the hardest squads to reach in any sport.

Women’s soccer’s other powers can match the U.S. team’s talent on game day, and at times, exceed it — England, France, Germany, Spain, and Sweden, in particular. Get past the starters and early subs, though, and the difference starts showing. Nowhere is that more true than at Swanson’s position.

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World Cup rosters are limited to 23 players. Traditionally, teams take six forwards: two strikers and four wingers.

Before Swanson’s injury, the wingers were set to be Swanson and ruthless scorer Sophia Smith as the starters and Rapinoe and Williams — not just a scoring threat but the best defensive high-presser of any U.S. attacker — behind them.

That left no room for Trinity Rodman, a 20-year-old with electric feet and charisma to match; Purce, so often on the wrong side of the cut line; and Thompson, who reached the senior national team while still in high school. Three months later, she became this year’s No. 1 NWSL draft pick by her hometown’s Angel City FC.

Who would you drop? Some critics would say Rapinoe, since she rarely plays 90 minutes anymore. But she isn’t just a super-sub. She’s a leader of the locker room, and no U.S. player handles the pressure of the game’s biggest moments better — especially when there’s a penalty kick to take.

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Of course, there were many sad reflections on Swanson’s absence as the U.S. team practiced Monday at sparkling CityPark, the new home of Major League Soccer’s St. Louis City SC and a shrine for a town with a century of soccer history. The Americans face Ireland here on Tuesday (7:30 p.m., Universo, HBO Max, Peacock), four days after a 2-0 win in Austin, Texas.

But there was just as much looking forward, from manager Vlatko Andonovski to the players now competing for an open World Cup roster spot.

“We all understand that we have a job to do,” Andonovski said. “And if there’s a team that has a group of players ready to step in, in the moment, that’s this team.”

He has been at the job long enough to be ready for the unexpected, from injuries to pandemics. It’s why Thompson was packing her bags by halftime Saturday, mere minutes after Swanson was injured.

Andonovski said Thompson got to St. Louis at almost the same time the U.S. team did and will play Tuesday.

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“This is not the first time something like this happened, that difficult moments or situations have had been thrown at me personally or the coaching staff,” Andonovski said. “We just learned that we can’t go around it. We just have to face it straight up — and we’re ready for it.”

The players knew, too, and didn’t hide from it.

“When you’re already preparing, you have that in the back of your mind a little bit: If your name is called, you just continue to be ready,” said Williams, a 29-year-old with Gotham FC who likely now tops the left wing depth chart.

“If my name is called, then I know I’ve prepared,” Williams continued. “I have listened, and I’ve watched and everything to be ready to go and give whatever the team needs me to be.”

This doesn’t mean the U.S. has enough depth everywhere. If it did, Julie Ertz wouldn’t have been recalled at defensive midfield 600 days after her last game for the team. Nor would there be six outside backs on this month’s roster, a sign Andonovski isn’t yet sure who to pick.

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Even the most famous position of all, striker, is unsettled. There are no questions about Alex Morgan, of course, but there are beyond that. Ashley Hatch has had some glaring misses, and Catarina Macario still hasn’t returned to action from a torn ACL suffered early last June. Andonovski hoped she’d be back in time for this camp, but she only returned to practicing with her club team, France’s Lyon, last week.

Lyon has five games left in its season, the first of which is this Sunday.

“We all know that Cat has [the] potential to be one of the best players in the world,” Andonovski said recently. “We have all seen that a year ago. But we don’t know how good she is right now — nobody knows.”

Andonovski does know about his winger depth, though, even without Swanson. Any time you can have one less thing to worry about, it helps. And when you haven’t got much time in the first place, it helps even more.

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