da aposte e ganhe： The NWSL playmaker tells GOAL why she is feeling positive about the future despite the toughest year of her career to date

da betsson： Ashley Sanchez doesn’t need much time to think about whether or not the last 12 months have been the most difficult of her career to date. Between seeing no minutes for the United States women’s national team in its historically bad Women’s World Cup last summer, a shock trade from the Washington Spirit to the North Carolina Courage that left her “heartbroken”, and being left off the USWNT roster since October, she’s endured more difficult moments in this past year than ever before.

But when she speaks to GOAL on what has been a very hot summer’s day on the east coast, as the Courage prepares to enter the NWSL’s mid-season break, despite answering that question with a rather quick “definitely”, Sanchez is upbeat. She’s had time to process all that the sport she loves has thrown at her, she’s adjusted her mentality and seen the silver linings.

“I think this last year has been absolutely wild, but I do think that I've been very fortunate with injuries and setbacks and different things like that. I haven't really experienced anything and I think all the greatest players in the world have experienced something like this,” she tells GOAL. “It's really easy to be like, 'Poor me', but I felt like [the trade] was meant to happen and it was just going to be the start of something different.

“I thought that if I just changed my mindset to want to grow and get better and be the best player I can be, that's pretty much the only option I had, because I already wasn't with the national team, I just got traded and there's a lot of things that could have been a downward spiral. But instead, I was like, 'Well, now the expectations are low, I might as well try my best to create bigger expectations of myself, play the best that I can and just help my team in any way'.”

USA TODAY SportsHeartbreaking few months

It all started last summer when Sanchez was told by then-USWNT boss Vlatko Andonovski that, despite making the World Cup roster, she wouldn’t be seeing any gametime. As the team endured its worst-ever performance at a tournament it has won four times, exiting in the last 16, the 25-year-old’s exciting, match-winning qualities were unused. It was a surprise to say the least.

Then came the trade, which was even more of a shock. In her time with the Washington Spirit, Sanchez formed a deadly duo with Trinity Rodman, the pair helping to fire the club to its first NWSL Championship title in 2021, against all odds. But that partnership and her four years in D.C. came to an end with an unexpected phonecall during the NWSL Draft in January. Soon enough, she was moving to Raleigh and joining a roster which featured only one player she really knew, that being USWNT goalkeeper Casey Murphy.

“I was definitely really heartbroken when it happened,” Sanchez admits, but she caveats that with how “thankful” she is for what has turned into a really positive experience with her new team. When GOAL asks if that is one of the toughest things about the NWSL, that an unwanted trade can happen at the drop of a hat and take a player away from a team they love, Sanchez laughs. “It's definitely an interesting thing that we've got going on here!” she replies. “But in my case, it was definitely a blessing in disguise.”

AdvertisementUSA TODAY SportsChange of mindset

That’s not to say it didn’t take the playmaking midfielder some time to process things. She did that in the off-season, in the weeks that followed her move to North Carolina, and got herself in a positive mindset ahead of her first year with the Courage. “I think that I just found peace in the thought that, if North Carolina was that excited to have me, then I should be excited to be there,” Sanchez explains.

“They wanted me so bad and I felt like I should just be as excited as they were and not look at the team that kind of didn't want me, you know? I feel like once I switched it from that, it was a lot easier because I was like, 'North Carolina really does want me and they value me, and that's where I want to be. I want to be with a team that values me'. Once I put it that way, it was a lot easier.”

Coming into a “kind and welcoming” group has helped, with standards so high that “the only thing I could really compare it to would be national team”. Sanchez fits into the style of play nicely, too.

“North Carolina is more of a possession-based team and Spirit was definitely more transitional, which I think, for the type of player I am, I didn't really fit into that exactly, and I felt like there were games where I'd get bypassed a lot,” she explains. “Whereas I feel like here at North Carolina, I'm actually getting on the ball and able to create and be [in] more of a possession team. I think that fits me as a player a lot better.”

USA TODAY SportsClosure

That was certainly evident at the end of June when Sanchez returned to D.C. and scored the only goal of the game as the Courage beat the Spirit. Having never got to say a proper goodbye to many at the organization, there were wonderful moments for the 25-year-old with the fans and many of the staff and players, even if she came back to haunt them. It was an outing that further helped her process her departure, too.

“I was kind of dreading it at the beginning of the week and then as the days got closer to the game and we landed, I felt really at peace with everything,” she says. “After the game, I was like, 'That was exactly the closure that I needed'. I got to see all these staff and players and just different people that I didn't get to say bye to. It was just a really great experience, honestly, giving everyone hugs and seeing everyone again. I think that it definitely felt like closure for me and it kind of just made me feel more at home in North Carolina.”

USA TODAY SportsNew partner-in-crime

That’s something you can see when Sanchez takes to the field, too, as no player on the Courage’s roster has more direct goal involvements in the NWSL this season than her seven (four goals, three assists). She’s adamant that there is even more to come as well, stressing the need for her to be “more consistent”.

Particularly exciting is the way she talks about Kerolin, the Brazil star who won the league’s MVP award last year. A cruel ACL injury struck the forward down before the 2023 playoffs could begin, but she is nearing a return now, just in time for North Carolina’s charge to make the 2024 post-season.

“Me and Kero haven't played together yet but we've been training together a lot now that she's coming back from injury and off the bat, we just understood each other's game really well,” Sanchez says, giving an answer sure to delight Courage fans everywhere. “I think it's going to be a really good partnership in the future. I'm so excited to play with her. After every single game, she comes up to me and she's like, 'I'm so excited to play with you'. We're just both really ready to get things going.”