Lindsey Horan: 'What’s so special about this team is the depth'

U.S.'s women's national team was unstoppable in the World Cup's opening contest, and Lindsey Horan admits the team has great depth.

Jill Ellis (left) and Lindsey Horan at a press conference at the Parc des Princes stadium on Saturday. Photo: AP

As the U.S. women's national team gears up for its second match in the group stage after a dominant 13-0 win over Thailand in the World Cup, Lindsey Horan praised the Americans' depth and explained how important it will be down the stretch. 

"What’s so special about this team is the depth," Horan told reporters on Saturday. "I think any player that comes off the bench is bringing something new and different and amazing to our team."

The Americans' depth was on full display on Tuesday in its opening match of the tournament . The U.S. was up 7-0 when coach Jill Ellis made her first substitution. But it wasn't just any player that came off the bench ⁠— it was veteran Carli Lloyd, who brings years of experience playing in her fourth World Cup.

Lloyd took over for Rose Lavelle, while Christen Press replaced Tobin Heath in the 57th minute. And then in the 69th minute, Julie Ertz was taken out for Mallory Pugh. Off the bench, both Lloyd and Pugh scored a goal in the final minute.

Ellis' decision of who was subbed in showed the power of the Americans' depth, mainly because it could be argued the players coming off the bench have more talent than some of other nation's starters in the tournament. "You saw that the other night with the players coming off the bench in Thailand," Horan said.

'Amazing' attacking strength

"I think two of them scored goals and so I think that’s what makes this team so special. The starting lineup. The attack that we have is absolutely amazing and then we have another how many players that can come off the bench and do the same thing and bring something different and new. That’s what’s so incredible about this team."

Ellis gave credit to the U.S. national team for its ability to attack and for the amount of players who can come off the bench and make an immediate impact. "I think this team has a lot of variety in terms of you have to have a player that’s good and have aerial presence at times, the different ways you break teams down," Ellis said.

"Teams that have multiple ways of breaking teams down ⁠— it certainly makes you less predictable in terms of how you can attack teams. I think we have a lot of different profiles in our attacking core. Even our outsidebacks. We pride ourselves in it’s a total team attack, should be a total team defence."

U.S. takes on Chile on Sunday in its second match of the tournament.