Matchup is set 🔒
🇺🇸 vs. 🇳🇱 for a spot in the semis pic.twitter.com/rgv0qYrqZj— U.S. Soccer WNT (@USWNT) July 27, 2021
Posted on 07/21/2021 1:28:34 AM PDT by Berlin_Freeper
Let the Games begin! After a year of waiting, the U.S. Women’s National Team will launch its Olympic campaign on July 21, taking on Sweden in its first match at the delayed Tokyo 2020 Olympics. Kickoff is at 5:30 p.m. local/4:30 a.m. ET at Tokyo Stadium in Tokyo and the match will be broadcast in the United States on the USA Network and Telemundo, with streaming coverage also provided at NBCOlympics.com and through the Telemundo Deportes App. The match will also be replayed later that day on NBCSN at 8:30 a.m. ET and 6 p.m. ET.
The USA enters the tournament looking to capture its fifth gold medal and, in the process, become the first reigning Women’s World Cup champion to capture Olympic gold. Seventeen players on the USA’s Olympic roster helped the USA win its fourth World Cup title in France during the summer of 2019.
To do so, the USA will not only have to navigate a grueling schedule with only two rest days between matches in the heat and humidity of the Japanese summer, but will also have to contend with a talented field of opposition, beginning with Sweden.
(Excerpt) Read more at ussoccer.com ...
The Barbarians I posted of were Barbarians. American women did not get the vote till 1920. Black women not until 1965.
Hopefully we can play Sweden again in the final when USA peaks and Sweden is past peak because they are very good.
I have seen Swedes posting on reddit that this is actually their best women's team ever.
Now consider this: “Team GB” did not technically even qualify for Olympic soccer. That place was earned by the England team.
Thank you sphinx for the excellent analysis and commentary. 👍
Matchup is set 🔒
🇺🇸 vs. 🇳🇱 for a spot in the semis pic.twitter.com/rgv0qYrqZj— U.S. Soccer WNT (@USWNT) July 27, 2021
Thank you for the link!
Your #USWNT starting lineup to take on 🇳🇱!
A spot in the #Tokyo2020 semis at stake 💪
Lineup notes ≫ https://t.co/3uXIgfonlV pic.twitter.com/V6zs4k95xV— U.S. Soccer WNT (@USWNT) July 30, 2021
The full #USWNT 18 to face off against the Netherlands
🇺🇸 vs. 🇳🇱 at 7am ET on @NBCSports, @TelemundoSports & @NBCOlympics pic.twitter.com/PUMa8bNo9z— U.S. Soccer WNT (@USWNT) July 30, 2021
Big moments, big opportunities 😤
🇺🇸 vs 🇳🇱 for a spot in the Olympic semifinals. It all starts at 7am ET. pic.twitter.com/Uds33N76Rz— U.S. Soccer WNT (@USWNT) July 30, 2021
Repping the 🔴⚪️ & 🔵
📸 FIFA/Getty Images pic.twitter.com/NuylLFTBxS— U.S. Soccer WNT (@USWNT) July 30, 2021
First 15 of extra time gone. Still 2-2. But it’s been obvious all second half that age has caught up with this U.S. team. The Netherlands is winning all the 50-50 balls. The U.S. sends an attacking ball into space and no one makes the run. U.S. players are giving up and not running down balls that the same player would have caught a few years ago. There’s a shot or a cross and no one is filling the lanes and crashing the far post. Broken plays with balls ricocheting around midfield, and U.S. players peel back and concede the ball to the Netherlands, who pursue relentlessly. It’s a hot day and the 24 year olds are pressuring the 34 year olds, who are just hanging on and hoping to make a play or two down the stretch. The U.S. can win this, but as I’ve said before, the U.S. sat on a pat hand too long, and this team has aged together. Against a younger peer group opponent, it shows.
Well.
Best player on the field: Vivianne Miedema. She’s only 25. If I were running U.S. Soccer, I’d put a secret Mission Impossible team on her to find a way to get her to change citizenship and play for the U.S. Boyfriend/girlfriend of her choice; a bazillion dollars in endorsements; a cushy retirement for her parents; a starring role in the next big Hollywood film of her choice, a tricked out bass boat ... I don’t care what it takes. Just find a way to do it. Whatever rings her chimes.
Second best player on the field: that could be any of several Netherlands players, but Lineth Beerensteyn stood out. Partly because she is black and therefore stands out visually on a rather melanin deprived Dutch squad, but mainly because she was all over the field making problems for the U.S. For someone who doesn’t know the Dutch team well, that made her easy to pick out in the crowd: “there’s that black Netherlands player again.” But she was giving us fits.
Best player for the U.S., and the player of the match: Alyssa Naeher. Three saves on penalty kicks, one in regulation and two in the shootout. Add that to her save against England in the World Cup, and she’s finally come out of the shadow of Hope Solo.
Three U.S. goals called back for offsides. Plus one Netherlands goal. All correct calls, but all were pretty close.
Alex Morgan finally made a penalty kick in an important tournament!!!! Maybe her jinx has lifted.
Alex also got caught from behind on a breakaway. Let me rephrase that: ALEX MORGAN GOT CAUGHT FROM BEHIND ON A BREAKAWAY!!!!!! Five years ago, one baby and a couple of injuries ago, that doesn’t happen. Ten years ago, she would have been past everybody like Roadrunner running by Wile E. Coyote, and they’d have to go to slow motion on the instant replay to identify her. She’s still fast, but she’s ordinary mortal fast, not Roadrunner fast. Did someone mention that age creeps up on everyone?
Vlatko has one important coaching change to make, and he needs to make it quickly. He needs to wave his magic wand and make all of his players ten years younger. Or at least five. This has been a golden generation of players, but they’ve all aged together and now they are getting exposed by younger teams.
At least the coach used the right substitutions, saving Press, Rapinoe, and Morgan for the second half and extra time. Look who took the penalty kicks. Morgan, Lavelle, Press, and Rapinoe. All came on in the second half.
Dahlkemper is the weak link on defense. 18 player limit restricts the options for the US. Should have brought another defender and one less midfielder or forward.
Thank you FRiends!
Congratulations US!
Any day you win a penalty shootout is a Great Day!
I tend to agree. Over the last five or six years, the U.S. has usually been very aggressive in pushing the outside defenders forward. That was the case again today; Kelly O’Hara and Crystal Dunn both spent a lot of time in the attacking third. That is a gamble that rests on the iron triangle of the two center backs and Julie Ertz as a defensive midfielder, and on the midfielders rotating back to help. It’s high risk. The ladies aren’t as young as they used to be. We concede a lot of space on the wings, and peer group teams with speed are finding room to operate. I wouldn’t try to change the chemistry of the team at this point, but it’s at least arguable that they’d be better off with a standard four back defense with the outside defenders staying home. Julie Ertz played center back through the 2015 World Cup and the U.S. defense was impervious. It’s arguable that they’d be better off moving Ertz back, which would allow Vlatko to get Horan, Mewis and Lavelle in midfield simultaneously. I dunno; I just kibbitz from the cheap seats. But the defense is vulnerable against teams that can beat the U.S. press.
Great post again, thank you sphnix.
🇨🇦 v 🇺🇸
There is no rivalry like this one.
The story continues this Monday. #CANWNT #Tokyo2020 pic.twitter.com/I0oyzVNrIw— Canada Soccer (@CanadaSoccerEN) August 1, 2021
Getting semifinal set 💪⚽️ pic.twitter.com/zYxAnoAYuv— U.S. Soccer WNT (@USWNT) August 1, 2021
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