Optimism

For the first time, our women’s soccer team is playing in the World Cup.

Cameroon defeated us 6 to 0 in our debut. And last night, Switzerland defeated us 10 to 1. Our defending hasn’t been very good. We’ve conceded four penalties and two own-goals.

Our lone goalscorer converted a penalty (for us), as well as both own-goals (for the Swiss).

These are growing pains.

Our men also have experienced these pains. For example, in 1942, we lost 12 to 0 to Argentina.

On Thursday, in Chile, our men debuted in this year’s Copa América, losing 2 to 0 to the hosts. It wasn’t a bad result for us. Our next two games are very winnable.

Our women’s next game is against the Japanese, the world champions.