Before the USMNT go up against the best of South America in this summer’s Copa América, the USWNT will also do the same in the W Gold Cup, which starts tonight.

This inaugural W Gold Cup will feature 12 teams, with the four best CONMEBOL teams invited to compete— Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, and Paraguay.

The USWNT will start their tournament against Dominican Republic, a team that features 18 Dominican-Americans. They then take on Argentina and México in their group.

It’s a pretty exciting time to be a USWNT fan. Despite the failure and lackluster performances in last summer’s World Cup, the team is about to witness the takeover of a new generation with so many emerging youngsters eager to impress.

However, the support for the USWNT could be weaker than ever due to recent comments made by none other than their captain, Lindsey Horan.

During an interview with The Athletic earlier this month, Horan said that Americans fans aren’t “smart” while French fans understand the sport much more— which angered a lot of people.

“I’m gonna piss off some people. American soccer fans, most of them aren’t smart,” she says. “They don’t know the game. They don’t understand. (But) it’s getting better and better.”

“From what I’ve heard, people understand my game a little bit more [in France], a sense of my football and the way I play. It is the French culture. Everyone watches football. People know football.”

Horan immediately received backlash for these comments, with pundits and fans, including the ones that don’t even watch the women’s game, all chiming in. 

With the U.S. set to host the W Gold Cup and the USWNT expecting a good support from fans, these comments probably drove away a lot of people, which is the last thing the players and the Federation want.

During a press conference last week, Horan offered a lengthy apology to fans who were offended by what she said.

"First and foremost I would like to apologize to our fans. Some of my comments were poorly expressed and there was a massive lesson learned for me,” she began.

“When I think about our fans, I love them so much, this team loves them so much. I can't begin to explain how much they mean to us. Every time we step out and train, every time we step out and play in games, we play for you guys. You are our inspiration.” 

“You are our motivation. Seeing you wearing our jerseys, seeing you scream our names, seeing you chanting U-S-A - that's what we play for and I never wanted to take any of that away.” 

“Continuing on that, the soccer culture in America is changing and growing so much in such a positive way and for me to be able to experience that first hand playing for this USWNT but also in the NWSL for the Portland Thorns is just something so amazing.” 

“It is my absolute honor - and I will always say that - to be able to put on this crest every single day, to be in this environment, and to go out and play in front of our fans and represent this national team. That is something - again - it is my greatest honor.” 

“The last thing I ever wanted to do was to offend anyone in that manner, so again, I deeply, deeply apologize.”

Her apology received mixed reaction from people. Some fans have accepted her apology and understand that she didn’t choose her words correctly the first time, while others think she’s still arrogant and only apologizing because of the backlash.

Regardless, what’s done is done and the only way the USWNT can fill up the stadiums is by performing on the pitch, which will start tonight against Dominican Republic. 

The Dominicans made history by qualifying to their first ever major tournament and after the victory on Saturday, they are motivated to keep going. Featuring 18 players born and raised in the U.S., they have plenty of quality and can’t be taken lightly. 

The game is scheduled for 10:15pm ET (7:15pm PT) kickoff time and will be shown live on Paramount+, ESPN+, and ESPN Deportes. Let’s see if the USWNT can start the tournament with a big win or if the Dominicans can take advantage of their low morale due to fan backlash.