Alyssa Naeher will be challenged by Sweden, but U.S. believes in 'steady' goalkeeper

MELBOURNE, Australia — Alyssa Naeher doesn't take water breaks.

At least that's what U.S. women's national team backup goalkeeper Aubrey Kingsbury said about the first-stringer.

"She's just kind of stone-cold all the time. Strictly business," Kingsbury said a couple of weeks before the World Cup began. "She doesn't even drink water, and I'm like, ‘Can we please drink some water so, like, I can?'

"She's just very intense, very focused, very serious," Kingsbury continued, with a chuckle. "Very intelligent. Very stoic. Very steady."

The U.S. is desperate for an extra dose of that intensity, focus and steadiness from its starting goalkeeper during a round of 16 clash with rival Sweden on Sunday (coverage begins at 4 a.m. ET, with kickoff at 5 a.m. ET on FOX and the FOX Sports app).

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That's because we're at the point of the World Cup where things get real. This is the knockout stage, and games go into extra time and penalty kicks if there's no result after 90 minutes, meaning goalkeepers take on even greater importance.

The USWNT hasn't looked particularly dominant in any phase of the game yet, and there's a possibility this squad will be eliminated by Monday. If that happens, it would be their worst result in history — the Americans have never finished worse than third overall at a World Cup.

Naeher will have a lot to say about that.

The veteran goalkeeper has looked a bit shaky at times — a header by Julie Ertz prevented what would have been a late winning goal for the Netherlands, and the left post bailed Naeher out in stoppage time against Portugal. But she does have two clean sheets through three games and hasn't had to make a single save. 

The only shot on target was the goal Jill Roord scored for the Dutch in a 1-1 draw. Granted, opponents haven't had many shots to begin with (Vietnam zero, Netherlands five, Portugal six), a testament to a stingy defense.

Sweden, though, promises to be the Americans' most difficult matchup thus far. It won all three of its games in Group G with a grand total of 43 shots, 16 on target and nine goals, four of which have come via set pieces.

"I'll just say I hope [Naeher] doesn't have a lot of action in this next game," U.S. coach Vlatko Andonovski said with a smile as he hopes his goalkeeper doesn't need to spring into action. "[But] we trust and believe and [have] confidence in Alyssa. She will face any challenge."

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There's no reason to expect Naeher won't be ready. This is her third World Cup and she's a two-time Olympian. Andonovski often describes her as "world-class." She has experience backing up U.S legend Hope Solo.

Four years ago, Naeher played every minute of the 2019 World Cup, gave up just three goals and earned four shutouts. Her most dramatic moment came when she saved a penalty kick against England in the 84th minute of a semifinal to preserve the USWNT's 2-1 victory.

"It's not easy to be a goalkeeper on our team because we don't really give up clear-cut chances," Andonovski said earlier this year after the USWNT won the SheBelieves Cup. "You get called upon maybe once or twice in the game, and it's mentally so tough. You have to be so concentrated and focused through 90 minutes for those two times to come up big. And she's very good at it."

Naeher is the kind of player, though, who doesn't have trouble staying engaged even if she's not constantly under attack. She has a routine and does, in fact, drink water and Gatorade. She just doesn't "like how it sits in my stomach when I'm diving," Naeher explained at media day in June. "I drink most of it before and after [games], not in that 90-minute block."

She knows how to be locked in and present, which was evident at the team's training session Saturday afternoon. Naeher was the first player to come out of the locker room and start warming up on the field several minutes before the next player emerged.

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Not surprising given her "stone-cold all the time" personality.

"I think it's important to be that way as a goalkeeper because you have to make the most rational decision possible in the heat of probably a mistake defensively," Kingsbury said. "You have to put emotions aside to be able to make a good decision. There's no one to cover you if you mess up, so there's a lot of pressure.

"As neutral as you can remain in the way you think, the better off you're going to be."

Against Sweden, the USWNT will lean on its steady, neutral keeper to have a chance to survive.

Even if that means minimal water breaks.

Laken Litman covers college football, college basketball and soccer for FOX Sports. She previously wrote for Sports Illustrated, USA Today and The Indianapolis Star. She is the author of "Strong Like a Woman," published in spring 2022 to mark the 50th anniversary of Title IX. Follow her on Twitter @LakenLitman.