Ashley Sanchez remembers the feeling of being written off. After traveling to the 2023 Women’s World Cup and not playing a single minute, the attacking midfielder became a symbol of a US women’s national team campaign that never quite found its rhythm. As she put it in an interview with the Guardian, “A lot of people counted me out.”
That experience has shaped everything since: a move to a new club, a new mindset and even a new position on the field. Together, they amount to a quiet but significant reset for one of the most gifted American attackers of her generation.
From World Cup bench to personal crossroads
The 2023 World Cup was supposed to be a showcase for Sanchez. Instead, it became a turning point. As reported by the Guardian, Sanchez did not see the field once during the tournament, despite being part of the United States squad.
For a player long touted as a creative centerpiece for the national team’s future, the absence was glaring. The Guardian’s reporting captures how that disappointment fed a broader perception that her trajectory had stalled. Sanchez herself acknowledged that the lack of minutes and the public reaction left her feeling that many observers had moved on from her as a serious USWNT contender.
That emotional fallout is not just background color; it is central to understanding the urgency behind her next choices. The World Cup benching forced a question that elite athletes rarely confront so publicly: what happens when the long-expected breakthrough never arrives?
A new club and a new role
In the months after the tournament, Sanchez embraced change. According to the Guardian, she settled into a new club environment and, crucially, into a different position on the field.
Instead of operating primarily as a classic No 10 — the creative playmaker stationed behind the forwards — Sanchez has been deployed in a role that pushes her closer to goal and demands more direct end product. The Guardian notes that this shift has coincided with a surge in her goal-scoring numbers, enough to put her in the conversation for club records.
That evolution matters for two reasons:
- Production over potential – For years, Sanchez was framed as a player of promise, praised for vision and technical skill. The Guardian’s account indicates that her current form is less about theoretical upside and more about measurable impact: goals, records, and decisive contributions.
- Versatility as leverage – By thriving in a new position, Sanchez adds another dimension to her profile. The Guardian’s reporting suggests that she is not only adapting but excelling, which strengthens any future case she might make for a national team role that looks different from the one once imagined for her.
Mindset shift: grit as a response to doubt
Sanchez’s comments to the Guardian about being counted out are not just a reaction to online chatter; they point to a deliberate mental reset.
The Guardian’s interview frames her current approach around grit and persistence. Rather than treating the World Cup as a definitive judgment, Sanchez appears to be using it as fuel. That shift shows up in two ways in the reporting:
- Ownership of her narrative – By speaking openly about feeling dismissed, Sanchez is reclaiming a story that could easily have been told about her, not by her. The Guardian’s piece makes clear that she is aware of how quickly reputations can harden after a major tournament.
- Focus on controllables – The article emphasizes her attention to what she can change: club performance, positional adaptation, and day-to-day mentality. The World Cup is fixed in the past; the new role and goal-scoring record are things she can actively shape.
This is not a guaranteed path back to the USWNT. But it is a coherent response to a career setback: redefine your value, then prove it where you have the most minutes and the most freedom — at club level.
What a USWNT return would mean — and what stands in the way
The Guardian reports that Sanchez is eyeing a potential return to the US women’s national team. That ambition is central to how she frames her current surge in form.
Her case rests on three pillars that emerge from the Guardian’s account:
- Improved end product – Moving into a more advanced role and chasing goal records gives selectors a clearer, quantifiable reason to revisit her. Goals and assists are harder to ignore than abstract praise for creativity.
- Positional flexibility – By proving she can operate in multiple attacking roles, Sanchez becomes more attractive in tournament squads where coaches prize adaptability.
- Resilience under scrutiny – The Guardian’s reporting underscores how she has responded to public doubt. For national team coaches, a player who has weathered a high-profile disappointment and come back stronger can be an asset in pressure-heavy environments.
At the same time, the Guardian’s piece stops short of suggesting that a recall is imminent or assured. It presents her USWNT ambitions as a possibility rather than a prediction. Independent corroboration of where she stands in the current national team pecking order is limited, and there is no firm external evidence in this cycle that a call-up is on the verge of happening.
That gap between form and opportunity is where much of the tension lies. Sanchez is doing what she can control, but the final decision rests elsewhere.
The human stakes of being ‘counted out’
Beyond tactics and selections, the Guardian’s interview with Sanchez highlights the personal cost of being labeled a disappointment at 24.
To be taken to a World Cup and not play is a professional blow. To then watch public opinion harden into a narrative of decline can be something deeper. Sanchez’s remark that “a lot of people counted me out” is a concise summary of that experience.
The Guardian’s reporting suggests that this period forced her to confront how much of her identity was tied to external validation: national team minutes, media hype, and fan expectations. Her response — to double down on work, embrace a new role, and speak candidly about the hurt — reflects a shift toward defining success on her own terms first, and on selectors’ terms second.
For readers, that makes her current form more than a simple comeback arc. It is a case study in how elite athletes navigate the emotional whiplash of modern sport: one cycle you are a future star, the next you are a cautionary tale, and the only constant is how you respond.
What to watch next
The Guardian’s piece captures a moment in motion rather than a completed story. The downstream impact of Sanchez’s resurgence is still taking shape.
Based on the reporting, three developments will likely determine how this chapter is remembered:
- Sustained club production – The goal records and positional success that the Guardian describes will need to continue over a longer stretch to shift perceptions from hot streak to new normal.
- Signals from national team selectors – With independent corroboration limited, there is little public clarity on how closely USWNT decision-makers are tracking her evolution. Any future roster inclusion would be the clearest sign yet that her reset has changed minds at the highest level.
- How she narrates the journey – Sanchez has already chosen to speak openly about being counted out. As her career moves forward, the way she continues to describe this period — as a detour, a catalyst, or something else — will shape how fans and analysts understand it.
For now, the facts are straightforward: after a World Cup in which she did not play, Ashley Sanchez has embraced a new club, a new mindset and a new position, and she is turning that combination into tangible attacking output. Whether that is enough to carry her back to the USWNT remains uncertain, but it has already rewritten what her present looks like — and reopened questions about what her future could be.
