All the U.S. has to do is tie and they'll win Group C and get Australia in the quarterfinals on Sunday morning. Lose and they'll face Brazil-who might be the best team in the field.
Shaky call on a Swedish attacker nullifies a possible 2 on 1 break from the top of the box.
Carli Lloyd with a long shot wide.
A long ball off a Sweden goal kick leads to a breakaway but Hope Solo knocks it out for a corner. Quality save, no idea what happened with the U.S. defense there. Lloyd's header went backwards and right to Sweden. Gross.
485 consecutive minutes without conceding a goal for Solo.
U.S. defender Ali Krieger puts a dangerous cross out for another Swedish corner kick. They get a head on it but not on goal.
Sweden is offsides but it takes a second for the player to realize it, haha must be real loud there.
Abby Wambach with her first chance but it's easily saved.
Yellow card for U.S. defender Amy Le Peilbert and Sweden gets a penalty kick. Clumsy challenge, not needed. She's lucky not to pick up a red card. It takes forever to set it up and Solo does her best to distract her. She guessed the right way but it was struck well by Dahlkvist. 1-0 Sweden in the 16th minute on Dahlkvist's second of the tournament.
How does the U.S. respond to such a slow start and their first conceded goal of the tournament?
Wowzers. Great sequence by the U.S. Rodriguez's cross gets deflected, Wambach sets it up for Cheney who just hits it wide. Outstanding stuff, unlucky that it didn't go in.
Cheney with another good look but she puts it over by a slight margin.
The U.S. has not trailed in World Cup since loss to Brazil (4-0) in 2007 Women's World Cup.
Cheney is making it happen. She puts a cross right on the Sweden goalkeeper and she touches it out for a U.S. corner. Wambach was right behind her, almost connected on it.
Lloyd redirected the corner but not on goal. The U.S. has really responded since its bad start. Seems like a goal is brewing.
Haha Cheney is wearing an orange sports bra which is pretty easy to spot under her white jersey. You little minx!
Rodriguez should have tied it up. She fights off a defender and flicks it over the goalkeeper but it goes off the crossbar and over. Unlucky, nice piece of skill there.
Mistake by Buehler leads to a Sweden free kick from outside the box. The U.S. defense is their weakness at the moment, looking a bit shaky for whatever reason. Ugh, the shot gets deflected off the wall and Solo is out of position. No chance to stop it. It went off Le Peilbert and in. Nilla Fischer (who really looks like a scary biker dude) got it for Sweden. 2-0 Sweden in the 35th minute.
The U.S. women's defense is looking like the U.S. men's defense and that's never a good thing.
U.S. has never come back from 2-0 deficit to win or tie. So yeah, this isn't going well so far.
Lloyd denied from in close, good stop by the Swedish goalkeeper. Nothing is really going right for the U.S. at the moment. They deserve a goal by now with all the chances they've had.
Rapinoe put a shot wide. She started today but that's honestly the first thing I can remember her doing. Needless to say, she hasn't made her presence felt yet. Some are better suited as substitutes for whatever reason.
Two minutes of added times, looks like the U.S. will trail 2-0 at halftime.
Halftime: Sweden 2, U.S. 0
U.S. will need a big rally in the second half just to tie it up, let alone think about winning. Facing Australia (if they tie or win) is much more appealing than Brazil.
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