The Americans Ace Their Test
Entering Thursday’s Women’s World Cup soccer match at Stade Océane in Le Havre, France, the U.S. and Sweden had both already qualified for the round-of-16, so the result of their match did not matter. But this match meant more to both squads than a pointless friendly.
In what turned out to be a rough, chippy match, the U.S. came out victorious, 2–0. While the final score may suggest a U.S. win with ease, the victory was not a walk in the park.
Three years ago, the Swedes upset the Americans 1–1 (4–3) in penalties. This loss meant that the U.S. was eliminated in the quarterfinals of the 2016 Olympics, despite being heavily favored to take gold in the contest. Rachel Bachman of the Wall Street Journal spoke with U.S. forward Christen Press regarding the Olympic loss: “Despite the fact that it’s been three years, you don’t forget the taste in your mouth when you fail and you lose in a world championship.” Thursday’s game presented an opportunity to seek revenge for the Americans, and they delivered.
Straight out of the gates, U.S. midfielder Lindsey Horan put her team up 1–0, by scoring in the third minute; the fastest goal of 2019’s Women’s World Cup so far. Throughout the rest of the first half, the Americans would continue to pressure the Swedes attacking from the wings and looking to cross the ball in their 4–4–3 formation. Revenge on Sweden was not the only reason for the Americans to stay focused in this match. FOX Sports Commentator Aly Wagner spoke with U.S. defender before the game and Dunn said, “We are playing a better team but nothing changes… we need to continue our momentum.” Like Dunn said, maintaining momentum going into the knockout rounds of the Women’s World Cup is crucial for the U.S. if they want to continue advancing in the tournament.
In the 50th minute, Tobin Heath attempted to cross the ball to a teammate but it was deflected by Swedish defender Jonna Andersson and landed in the back of the net. Officials decided that this was an own goal by Andersson, which put the U.S. up 2–0. Both sides had multiple chances to score after Andersson’s own goal, but failed to convert, resulting in the Americans 2–0 victory. Although the Americans should be satisfied with the final outcome, they also should be concerned about the injury of superstar forward, Alex Morgan. Morgan collided with a Swedish opponent in the 35th minute and appeared slow to get back up. Morgan was then subbed out of the game at halftime when Carli Lloyd replaced her.
“Alex took a knock in the first half, and I just think it was more of, ‘Let’s be smart about this,’ in terms of what we did,” said U.S. Coach Jill Ellis in a post-game interview.
Morgan shares the lead with, the Australian forward, Samantha Kerr for the most amount of goals in this year’s Women’s World Cup. The U.S. Coach Jill Ellis emphasized the importance of staying precautionary with Morgan’s injury as she is a vital member of the team and will certainly help out her squad advance in the knockout stages. The U.S. will face Spain in the round-of-16 on June 24th, and if they maintain in the form they are currently in, along with regaining Alex Morgan, the future looks bright for the Red, White, and Blue.
