US women’s national team (USWNT) midfielder Rose Lavelle has said that the loss to Sweden on the opening day of the Tokyo 2020 women’s football tournament was a blessing for the team.

USWNT was dismantled 3-0 by Sweden on July 21, and scored a 44-match unbeaten streak for Vlatko Andonovski’s team.

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However, they recovered with a 6-1 victory over New Zealand on Saturday, with Rose Lavelle scoring her first goal in less than 10 minutes.

“I think the first match we knew it was one of the things we are proud of [mentality] was very deficient “, Lavelle said at a press conference on Monday.

“I think we feel that even if the loss obviously sucks, it’s a bit of a blessing to get the loss in early in the tournament and we know we have no room for mistakes. It’s just bringing the same energy we had towards New Zealand and lift it even more and continue to build and learn and then get ready for the next one. “

Their next challenge comes against Australia – who challenged Sweden but eventually fell to a 4-2 loss – on Tuesday.

Andonovski said he was pleased with how the team had responded since the loss.

“The first day they answered well. We are very happy with the job they did. Of course we came with the mindset to win, with the mindset to score goals and we achieved it but as soon as it [the win against New Zealand] happened that we did not have time – or wanted – to celebrate because we wanted to focus on the next match and that has been our main focus since the match ended.

“In terms of mentality, the players have done an incredible job of re-evaluating the mentality. They have done an incredible job of getting back to our roots, to who we are. Of course, I just do a little bit of that to remind them how it is. see if we are not ready, if we are not mentally ready for the match.

“There are things we could do better. There are certainly small things I would like to see better. We have already addressed it. We have not had much time to work on it but hopefully we can do a little more today. [Monday]. “