U.S. vs. France: Quarterfinal or Championship Game?
By: Alexandra Donovan
PARIS — was the star of the game for the U.S. team, scoring the team’s only two goals to seal the victory, 2–1 over France.
Rapinoe scored in the fifth minute, off of a free kick that went past all of the players crowded in the penalty box, making the score 1–0 in favor of U.S.A. Later, in the 65th minute, Rapinoe scored again off of a long pass made by American forward Tobin Health.
Although the score was now 2–0 in favor of the U.S.A, the host team did not give up, France pushed down the field against the U.S.A.’s defense and succeded when central defender Wendie Renard scored a goal in the 81st minute. Renard was able to give France some short lived hope by heading an indirect free-kick past American goalie Alyssa Naeher to make the score 2–1 U.S. with less than 15 minutes remaining in the game.
It was a painful loss for France in the quarterfinals, being on their own turf, with thousands of fans in attendance rooting for their national team. France’s coach, Corinne Diacre described the painful loss to the U.S.A. blatantly as “a failure,” rejecting the notion of a moral victory.
France’s loss will keep the U.S.A. charging forward to the semi-finals on July 2 against England. England defeated Norway by a score of 3–0, to move to the semi-final round, which will feature a key matchup between the star players from each team, Megan Rapinoe of the U.S.A and Lucy Bronze of England.
