IN HER THREE-YEAR CAREER with the U.S. women's national team, Sydney Leroux has scored 32 goals over 60 matches, tying the striker for 15th on the all-time goals list.

But as remarkable as those numbers are, it is perhaps even more remarkable that the 24-year-old Leroux is still not an everyday starter for the United States.

Speaking to American Soccer Now ahead of today's match against Costa Rica in the CONCACAF World Cup qualifying final (6pm ET, Fox Sports 1), Leroux acknowledged that this is just part of the deal when playing for the Stars and Stripes.

“I feel like [the players] are all in the same position, for the most part,” the Canada native said. “It keeps things really competitive and I really respect that.”

Despite the stakes in Friday night’s match against Mexico—in which the U.S.'s 3-0 victory guaranteed a spot in next summer’s World Cup—Leroux’s big-game experience kept her from being fazed. A substitute for the U.S. in the 2012 Olympics, Leroux agreed that the game against Mexico on Friday was likely the biggest start in her career.

“Yeah, probably,” she said. “I never even thought about it that way.”

Moving in and out of the starting lineup has just become business as usual for many of the U.S.’s top players, something that Leroux recognizes.

“Right now, some days I’m starting, some days I’m not. I’ve gone back and forth,” she said. “We’re really just trying to figure out what’s working best through trial and error.”

With a roster full of attacking stars, including Abby Wambach, Alex Morgan, Megan Rapinoe, Carli Lloyd, Tobin Heath, Christen Press, Amy Rodriguez, and Heather O’Reilly, playing time can be hard to come by. In fact, it’s so difficult to get into the U.S. lineup that two exceptionally gifted attackers, Lauren Holiday and Kelley O’Hara, now fill primarily defensive roles when playing for the U.S.

It’s also a situation which Leroux realizes can put U.S. head coach Jill Ellis in a difficult position.

“[Coach Ellis] is in the best position ever and the worst situation ever,” said Leroux. “Pretty much our entire [roster] at this tournament could start on any other team in the world. There are only 11 players on the field.”

For her part, Leroux has been on a bit of a cold streak in this tournament. While she entered qualifying leading the team with seven tallies in 2014, the goals have dried up as of late. But Leroux views that as a temporary problem and one that may even be helping the team overall.

“I hit the cross bar and I hit the post [against Mexico] and the game before that I hit the post. Right now I’m going through a little unlucky spell. At the end, I started laughing because that’s all you can do,” Leroux said. “You can only get so frustrated before it starts affecting your game. As long as I’m doing what I need to do for my teammates, I know the goals will come. I got an assist [last night] and I’ve helped out in ways other than scoring.”

She also recognized that sometimes her role when playing as the U.S.’s center forward in its new-look 4-3-3, is to open up space for her teammates.

“Against Mexico, I felt like the center backs were so tight and I needed to stay in that space to stretch the game and to allow other players to get through. The width was open and if I’d played on the left or right, I probably would have had a few more chances because that’s what the game presented,” Leroux said. “Sometimes you’re going to be the person who creates the space rather than the person who gets into the space…and that’s perfectly fine for me.”

Also perfectly fine with Leroux: playing in next summer’s World Cup—hosted by Leroux’s birth nation, Canada.

The fact that Leroux chose the U.S. over Canada is still a raw issue for some fans north of the border and last summer it erupted into a very public spat. During a friendly last June, Leroux was subjected to a number of racist and misogynist taunts.

In response, Leroux kissed the U.S. Soccer crest on her jersey after scoring a late goal to seal a 3-0 U.S. win. The Canadian announcers calling the game responded by saying, “You can have her, you can have her. That’s called rubbing it in…That’s way too American for me, they can have her,” and later calling Leroux’s actions “classless.”

When you chant racial slurs, taunt me and talk about my family don't be mad when I shush you and show pride in what I represent. #america

— Sydney Leroux (@sydneyleroux) June 3, 2013

But Leroux is hopeful that both sides can move past any previous ill will.

“I’m hoping that everything has blown over,” Leroux said. “I understand the anger toward me. But they don’t understand my situation, the things I’ve had to go through to get where I am playing right now. It has nothing to do with me turning my back on Canada. I made this decision when I was a little girl that I wanted to play on the best team in the world. At that time, it was the USA and I still firmly believe that.”

She also called on American fans traveling to the World Cup next summer to help drown out any potential negativity, saying, “I know that we’re going to have a lot of American support. Hopefully if there is anything [negative], the Americans can be even louder.”

One issue the Americans will have to sort out before next summer is finding a better flow of play. Throughout the CONCACAF tournament, its attack has been disjointed and Leroux says the team is still finding its way in a 4-3-3.

“We’re still learning. We’re still learning about each other’s strengths and weaknesses. Sometimes, you’re playing with different people, so you have to build these relationships,” Leroux said. “It’s a process. That’s what people don’t understand sometimes. We’re going through the process of seeing what works.” She also said that the 4-3-3 is not etched in stone.

“Who knows? We may switch back to a 4-4-2. It all depends on what the game presents us.”

The other issue Leroux sees in the U.S.’s struggles this tournament is the fact that every team the U.S. has played has put 10, or even all 11, players behind the ball. This “park the bus” mentality was especially obvious in the group stage when the other teams in the group were all essentially playing for second place and trying to keep the goal differential damage to a minimum.

“It’s a difficult thing to play against, especially after playing a team like France or Switzerland. Sometimes [our forwards] rely on our speed. If you don’t have space…it gets a little difficult,” Leroux said. “We’re probably going to play against that again in the group stage of the World Cup—where teams are going to bunker.

"When we were qualifying for the Olympics [in 2012], we outscored our opponents by over 30 goals. After that, [teams] said, ‘We’re not going to allow ourselves to be that open.’”

For now though, the U.S. squad is simply getting ready to play Costa Rica in tonight's final, a game in which Leroux likes the U.S.’s chances.

“I believe that we will win.”

John D. Halloran is an American Soccer Now columnist. Follow him on Twitter.