With a Chance to Bring Positive Energy Back, USMNT Fall Flat On Their Face in Gold Cup Final

I'll keep this brief because first of all this team-the USMNT-really doesn't deserve much attention (at least in a positive manner) and likewise, especially on today of all days when the USWNT just captured their fourth World Cup title. However, let it be noted that the U.S. men fell 1-0 tonight in the Gold Cup 2019 Final to Mexico at a sold-out Soldier Field in Chicago. The Americans were bidding for their seventh Gold Cup title but they were outdone by their most bitter rival the Mexicans who earned their record eighth Gold Cup crown in front of what must have felt like a home game to them. Oh and did I mention that Mexico improved to 5-1 against them in the Final? The only U.S. win vs. Mexico in the Final remains from 2007.

The U.S. had two great scoring chances early in the match as midfielder Christian Pulisic had a breakaway stopped by Mexico's goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa (I'm the biggest Pulisic honk I know but he should have done better with that shot). That was frustrating but not even in the same galaxy as striker Jozy Altidore's pathetic breakaway that started off so well with him putting a Mexican defender on skates but that ended with him shooting the ball wide of the net. When you don't score on either opportunity like that in soccer, you have a sense of impending doom that hits you right away when you are playing a team that is better than you to begin with.

Sure enough while it was 0-0 at halftime, Mexico turned up the pressure in the second half and was rewarded in the 73rd minute with a beautiful goal (part of me just died inside admitting that). The sequence began when midfielder Rodolfo Pizarro (who earlier in the 1st half appeared to hyper-extend his elbow) passed to forward Raul Jimenez in the box who back-heeled a pass to midfielder Jonathan dos Santos whose left-footed shot rose enough to hit the crossbar but bounce in past U.S. goalkeeper Zach Steffen.

One goal shouldn't automatically mean that you are cooked but with Altidore already subbed out and the other veteran American Michael Bradley (why is he still on the team?) giving away the ball in the midfield left and right, you knew that the USMNT was in dire shape down 1-0. They finished with only two shots on goal and despite having four more corner kicks than Mexico (7-3), they did nothing but waste them all.

I'm not going to say that he was exposed since I didn't think much of him to begin with but I can't say that I'm overly impressed with the latest U.S. vanilla head coach Gregg Berhalter. His roster decisions for the Gold Cup were puzzling (no Josh Sargent?) and while I admit that he was understandably hamstrung a bit by a Tyler Adams injury right before the tournament started, that's no excuse for making such bizarre decisions like putting in something called Daniel Lovitz in the 83rd minute this evening down a goal. Huh? I understand that winning a Gold Cup doesn't mean all that much in the grand scheme of things but to get this program back on track, shouldn't they focus on tasks that they can excel at like this while building to those more pipe-dream thoughts (ruling CONCACAF, winning a group stage and competing for a World Cup, etc.)?

This could have been a change of pace from their last few years of painful irrelevance, a rare good development for the USMNT. However, instead they continue to spin their collective wheels despite possessing a ton of young talent (Pulisic, Weston McKennie and Tyler Boyd who somehow didn't play tonight) that thank god, choose to play in leagues outside of average MLS.

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U.S. Becomes 2nd Women's Team to Win Back-to-Back World Cups After 2-0 Win vs. Netherlands

The U.S. women's soccer team was the best squad in France over the past month and they put a bow on their latest unforgettable run with a 2-0 shutout of the Netherlands this afternoon in Lyon for their second straight World Cup title and record fourth overall (1991, 1999, 2015 and 2019). The Americans outscored their opponents 26-3 (sure half of those goals came against Thailand but who's counting?) and they never trailed as they became the second women's team to win back-to-back titles-joining Germany from 2003 and 2007. Head coach Jill Ellis is the first person to lead a team to back-to-back Women's World Cup crowns.

After missing the semifinal match vs. England, icon Megan Rapinoe returned from her hamstring injury to score one last goal (another successful penalty kick) that turned out to be the game-winner on the way to the double award sweep of the Golden Ball (best player) and Golden Boot (top scorer with 6 goals and 3 assists). At 34, this more than likely was her last World Cup match (same for Carli Lloyd who came on for the last 3 minutes as a substitute) so what a way to go out after an absolutely brilliant stay in France. Midfielder Rose Lavelle had the highlight of what was truthfully a rather boring Final as she blasted in the insurance goal for a 2-0 U.S. lead after one of the best goals of the tournament.

Coming into this matchup, I felt like there was a good chance that the Netherlands wouldn't be ready for this type of moment and what do you know, I was right! Let's not forgot that although they won the 2017 Euros, this was only their second ever appearance in the World Cup following 2015's loss in the Round of 16. They also had never trailed in France and held the U.S. scoreless in the first half thanks to some incredible saves by their goalkeeper Sar Van Veendendaal. The Dutch surprisingly made it this far playing in low-scoring, defensive struggles but that is not exactly the recipe to defeat a true juggernaut like the U.S.

Possession was relatively even (54%-46% in favor of the Americans) but the U.S. outshot them 17-5 with 10 times as many (!) of those on goal (10-1). Van Veendendaal (who won the Golden Glove) was forced to make eight saves while U.S. goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher might as well have taken a nap since she only had to make a lone save in over 90 minutes of "action." Finally, the U.S. had four times as many corner kicks (8-2) so it is probably an upset that the Netherlands were able to hold the line at 0-0 for that long.

The first half wasn't a classic by any means (much like the match itself) but the U.S. should have been up by at least a goal or two if it wasn't for Van Veendendaal's heroics. She knocked away Julie Ertz's quick turnaround shot that came from a loose ball in the box, a header by Samantha Mewis hit her in the ribs, she stopped a shot from Alex Morgan that also hit the post and yet again she stoned Morgan who took a curling shot from outside the box. The Americans also suffered an injury to defender Kelley O'Hara in the closing minutes of the opening 45 minutes: she went up for a header and hit her head very hard against her Dutch opponent. She lay on the field barely moving (knocked out?) but eventually got up and walked off so it wasn't shocking to see Ali Krieger replace her to start the second half since she undoubtedly had to have concussion-like symptoms.

Like Rapinoe, Morgan finished with six goals and three assists (in more time so I guess that was the tiebreaker) in France and you could make a valid case that she worked harder for those numbers since she seemed to get physically beat up during every single game. Haha well maybe not against Thailand where she scored a whopping five goals but that's besides the point. She drew the penalty kick that was taken by Rapinoe in the 61st minute and Lavelle put this to bed eight minutes later after an assist from Mewis. Rapinoe's goal was the 50th of her U.S. career and I'm comfortable saying that Lavelle has never scored a bigger goal in her life.

It's easy to acknowledge it now after the fact but France, England and even Sweden (you could argue) all gave the U.S. a tougher test than the Netherlands. It was clear from the beginning today that the Dutch were probably just happy to be here and knew in their heart of hearts that they didn't have a true shot to win the crown barring something crazy going down. That's not to say that they didn't deserve to be here or that they weren't a worthy opponent, just that the Final was not close to the most exciting of the seven matches that the Americans had in the past month.

Finally the hard truth for U.S. soccer fans: just like in 2015, this World Cup journey for the USWNT has been an utter joy to witness on many levels. However, we can't bury our collective heads in the sand and pretend that all that matters for women's soccer is this event which only happens every four years. Nope, for the sport to continue to build off of this incredible momentum, they need the NWSL (National Women's Soccer League) to be way more relevant.

That means that if you liked what you saw at the World Cup, you should check out the league that many of these players compete in. ESPN picked up many of its games to broadcast for the remainder of the season culminating with the playoffs. The NWSL has lost money for years, hence why so many of the top players (Americans and beyond) have gone to play in Europe to rightfully earn bigger paychecks. We have to do a better job of supporting this product day-to-day rather than year-to-year, otherwise we'll be stuck in purgatory having these same frustrating conversations about wage inequality forever.

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Oh Hey Guys, the USMNT Advanced to the Gold Cup Final vs. Mexico With a 3-1 Win vs. Jamaica

Even the most serious person would have a hard time keeping a straight face when they pretend to compare the importance of the Women's World Cup to the utter irrelevance of the Gold Cup. That's why I have failed to mention anything about the USMNT in the Gold Cup this summer until just now because beating up on the likes of Guyana, Trinidad & Tobago, Panama and Curacao (outscoring them 12-0 in the process) means very little to a hardcore soccer fan like myself so who else would really care?

However, in the slowest sports time of the year I started to come around to this bi-annual event with Mexico's 1-0 extra time victory over powerhouse Haiti last night in the semifinals. All the U.S. had to do was take care of business tonight in Nashville vs. Jamaica (who they beat in the 2017 Gold Cup Final) and they survived a 90-minute weather delay (due to lightning) en route to a 3-1 victory.

Do you realize how incredibly special Sunday could be for U.S. soccer in general? While our beloved USWNT meet the Netherlands (11, FOX) in the World Cup Final for the main course, the night cap is a juicy USMNT vs. Mexico showdown in Chicago (9, FS1). U.S. vs. Mexico is always must-see TV and especially in a setting like this which should be electric. If that's not enough to entice you to wrap up your holiday weekend with Gregg Berhalter's hodgepodge collection of youngsters and a few veterans, think about this: midfielder Christian Pulisic at the ripe old age of 20 is already the best men's player in USMNT history. Not convinced? Well he had two goals tonight but let's not forget that this summer he will begin his journey at Chelsea (England), you know one of the best and most powerful clubs in the world. The U.S. failing to qualify for last summer's World Cup was a disaster for a million reasons but I will always point to missing out on Pulisic getting to play against the world's top teams and players at such a young age would have been utterly awesome.

Pulisic gets most of the headlines as he should but there are other intriguing talents on the USMNT that you probably aren't aware of. Midfielder Weston McKennie (who recently signed an extension with Schalke of Germany's Bundesliga) opened the scoring with a pretty goal in the ninth minute. It all began with a long pass from Michael Bradley (yes, he's still a thing) to Reggie Cannon who one-touched it into the box for Jozy Altidore (soon to be Mr. Sloane Stephens to you) who laid it off for McKennie to blast by Jamaican goalkeeper Andre Blake. It was McKennie's second goal of the tournament, his other one was the game-winner in the previous match (a snoozefest 1-0 quarterfinal win vs. Curacao). Pulisic and McKennie have been friends for awhile as you can tell from their fantastic post-goal celebrations.

U.S. goalkeeper Zack Steffen is leaving the Columbus Crew (MLS) for Manchester City (England) but first, he'll be loaned to Dusseldorf (Germany). He only had to make three saves against Jamaica but a few of those were quality stops. After returning from the long delay, the U.S. was up 1-0 at halftime. In the 52nd minute, Pulisic pounced on a juicy rebound after Blake fumbled a relatively easy shot from Jordan Morris. It was Pulisic's 12th career goal for the USMNT and his second of the 2019 Gold Cup. McKennie and Altidore both picked up yellow cards in the first half so it was no surprise that Jozy was Berhalter's first sub out-in the 56th minute-as Gyasi Zardes came on for him. Also, his fitness level is shall we see not at peak condition at the moment.

Jamaica turned up the offensive pressure and they were rewarded with a goal in the 69th minute as forward Shamar Nicholson (who entered 4 minutes earlier) headed in a cross from midfielder Leon Bailey. It was the first goal conceded by the Americans in the tournament so there is that. There were some nervy moments for the U.S. hanging on to that 2-1 lead as midfielder Cristian Roldan replaced his Seattle Sounders teammate Morris in the 70th minute. Pulisic refused to let his squad lose though as once again, Blake was extremely generous in his rebound control. He made a diving save on Paul Arriola's shot from outside the box but Pulisic was able to jump up from the ground and put in some more loose change. In the process, he became only the second U.S. player to score a brace (2 goals) in the Gold Cup semifinals, joining Landon Donovan.

This will be the U.S.' 11th appearance in the Gold Cup Final which is a tournament record and they have made it this far in seven of the last eight editions. Dating back to the 2017 Gold Cup, they have won 10 straight games in the competition and five in a row overall. It feels like it is always U.S. vs. Mexico in the Final but this is only the sixth time out of 15 times that it's happened (Mexico is 4-1 with the only U.S triumph coming 12 years ago). In the history of the Gold Cup, the Mexicans have the most titles (7) but the Americans can tie that with a win on Sunday. Mexico always draws huge crowds wherever they go (don't forget your festive bags of urine to throw at your most hated U.S. players!) and hopefully a decent amount of U.S. fans show up in Chicago as well, it is on their home soil after all. Hopefully as we are basking in the glow of the fourth USWNT World Cup crown, we see an entertaining match between these two countries that genuinely hate each other. The USMNT has a long way to go towards earning back many of the fans it lost over the last few depressing years but a win against Mexico would be a nice way to kick start that effort.

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Another 2-1 Nailbiter vs. Legit European Team (ENG) Propels U.S. to Their 3rd Straight WC Final

The 2019 Women's World Cup delivered another instant classic event (at least if you are a fan of the USWNT) as the Americans outlasted England 2-1 in the semifinals tonight in Lyon, France. This means that the U.S. will be in their record third straight World Cup Final on Sunday (11 a.m., FOX) vs. either Sweden or Netherlands and it will also be the fifth World Cup Final appearance in team history.

Star forward Megan Rapinoe was a surprising late scratch with a hamstring injury (she says she'll be fine for Sunday) so it took some different players to step up: namely Christen Press (who started in her place) and superstar Alex Morgan (who was celebrating her 30th birthday) along with goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher who made a brilliant save in the first half with a diving stop, only to raise the stakes much higher with a penalty kick save on England's captain Steph Houghton in the 84th minute. Believe it or not, that was the first time in USWNT history that one of their goalkeepers had stopped a penalty kick in a World Cup. That would have tied the match at two goals apiece but the English crumbled after that with defender Millie Bright picking up her second yellow card thus earning a red card in the 86th minute.

From the start, there were plenty of twists and turns as for the sixth time in six matches this tournament, the U.S. scored a goal in the opening 12 minutes of play. Wouldn't you know that it came from Press (her 1st of this World Cup and only the 2nd WC goal of her career)? Defender Kelley O'Hara played a perfect cross to Press who was somehow unmarked in the box so she was able to knock in a powerful header to the upper left corner of the net in the 10th minute. In a candid postgame interview she said was inspired by what she sees teammate Carli Lloyd do in training every day.

England was not deterred in the least bit as their star striker Ellen White scored her World Cup leading (for the moment anyway) sixth goal in the 19th minute. She made a beautiful redirection (with her right foot) of Beth Mead's cross that went off the post and by Naeher who could only watch it clank by. That sequence reminded me of the Spain matchup in the Round of 16 for the Americans since the Spanish were able to quickly answer the U.S.' patented early strike.

After not scoring for four matches (1 of which she sat out), Morgan somehow became the first ever woman to score on her birthday at the World Cup (nice stat but seriously, how is that possible?) in the 31st minute. Her goal was pretty similar to Press' as Lindsey Horan (starting in place of Sam Mewis) chipped a ball onto a running Morgan to head past England's goalkeeper Carly Telford. It's weird that England was so clueless on those two scoring plays for the U.S. since their head coach is Phil Neville, a legendary English defender for Manchester United and the English national team not that long ago. Morgan's goal was her sixth in the tournament but first against anyone other than doormat Thailand. She takes the lead in the race for the Golden Boot since she also has three assists (more than White) which apparently comes into play as well.

I haven't hesitated to knock midfielder Rose Lavelle earlier in this World Cup because I couldn't grasp just what head coach Jill Ellis really saw in her. Today's performance made me a believer as Lavelle was lively on the ball with a bunch of clever moves and scoring chances that she created all on her own. She's been plagued by hamstring injuries the last few years so it truly was a shame to see her go down with what appeared to be another one in the 64th minute (Mewis replaced her). She also claimed after the win that she'll be OK for Sunday but we'll have to see about that.

With a one-goal lead, the U.S. actually dodged two serious chances as White temporarily tied it in the 67th minute but our old friend VAR (video assistant referee) ruled that she was offside (by an eyelash). Too easily, the U.S. central defenders allowed her to slip through and beat Naeher to the ball for the goal. If you want to say that the Americans got lucky on that decision, I'll grant you that but then it must have been some sort of cosmic justice when England's shady penalty kick earned by White (after Becky Sauerbrunn accidentally touched her feet causing her to do a face-plant in the box) turned into Naeher's best play of her life. White was clearly England's most dangerous offensive threat so I would have let her take the PK but I'm guessing that Houghton was better on them at practice (when it couldn't matter less). Naeher dove low to her right which is exactly where Houghton put her ill-fated attempt. That resulted in a huge in-game celebration for the U.S. as a bunch of players surrounded Naeher and hugged her before she shooed them away since you know, there was still some time left on the game clock.

Ellis loves those 80+ minute subs in close games which drives me crazy but hey, I guess that it doesn't matter. Lloyd came on for Tobin Heath in the 80th minute and Ali Krieger took out O'Hara in the 87th minute. A fresh Lloyd was able to waste time perfectly, drawing two free kicks from the exhausted English who at that point were had only 10 players left on the field thanks to Millie's clumsy challenges. In the buildup to this much-anticipated battle, Neville had hyped his defender Lucy Bronze as "the best player in the world." Of course, she is a great player but I'm sure that only motivated the U.S. even more to shut her down since she was barely heard from this evening.

Personally, I'm rooting for the Netherlands to beat Sweden since we already saw the U.S. beat the Swedes 2-0 in the group stage finale on June 20. Yes their rivalry with the Swedes is fun but I'd rather watch them face the Dutch who are a serious contender now after winning the European Championship in 2017. England plays in their second third-place match in a row on Saturday afternoon (11 a.m., FOX) against the loser of tomorrow's all-Euro match. Hopefully Rapinoe's hamstring holds up as nobody deserves to play on Sunday in that setting more than our favorite pink/purple-haired hero after her incredible outings vs. Spain and France. Regardless, the U.S. will be the heavy favorite with a 2-1 final score feeling like the lock of the century after they've done that three games in a row vs. European competition. Sunday should be another ratings bonanza for the USWNT and women's soccer/sports in general as they shoot for their fourth World Cup title back in Lyon.

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Thanks to Superwoman (Megan Rapinoe), US Top France 2-1 to Reach 8th Straight World Cup Semis

I don't think that it's hyperbole to say that nobody crushed this early week of summer in the world quite like U.S. women's national team icon Megan Rapinoe. From scoring both goals in the U.S.' 2-1 win vs. Spain in the Round of 16 on Monday afternoon, to sparring with the orange buffoon that currently resides in the White House, she was basically everywhere. Proving what a certified baller and legitimate bad ass/role model that she is, Rapinoe left her biggest mark on France in this afternoon's quarterfinal match at the Parc Des Princes (PSG's home stadium) in Paris. Once again, she scored both goals for the Americans as they got out to a 2-0 lead on the French and held on for a mighty impressive 2-1 victory.

Many pundits thought that France (ranked #4 in the latest FIFA world rankings) would represent the toughest test for the top-ranked US and I have to say that the game lived up to the hype and then some. I agree with those that said it's a shame that these two heavyweights had to face off this early in the tournament but I think that also discredits England (ranked #3) who the US now meets in the semifinals on Tuesday afternoon (3, FOX) and Germany (ranked #2) who they could possibly meet in a dream World Cup Final next Sunday.

For days, Rapinoe faced the media and backed up what she said about Donald Trump rather than take the coward's way out by retracting what she had said or even worse, just backing down to the bully. Nope, she faced all the cameras and extra attention but it clearly didn't faze her in the least bit as she gave the U.S. a 1-0 lead five minutes into the match. That means that the U.S. has scored a goal in the first 12 minutes of all five matches in this World Cup which is pretty insane given the quality of their last three opponents (Sweden, Spain and France).

Unlike her two goals vs. Spain which were both on penalty kicks, Rapinoe's first tally against France came via a free kick. Somehow her shot (pass?) found its way through a maze of arms and legs without anybody (not American Julie Ertz, French defenders nor goalkeeper Sarah Bouhaddi) touching it. Including the U.S.' second goal (which also came during the run of play), eight of their 22 goals at this tournament have come from set pieces. As a team, they are only one goal behind their 1991 squad and 2003 Germany (both Cup winners) for the most goals in a single World Cup.

France dominated possession all game (61-39%) but they were so wasteful once they got in the attacking third of the field: they took twice as many shots as the US (20-10) but the Americans actually put three more (8) on target. The French also had more than twice as many corner kicks (7-3) so you have to conclude that this was close to a defensive masterpiece by the U.S. Trailing 1-0 at halftime, France came out with their hair on fire to start the second half with U.S. goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher forced into by far her most stress of this fortnight.

After withstanding that pressure by France, Rapinoe doubled her team's advantage and effectively put a dagger in French hearts around the globe. We had heard that France's backline was a potential weakness against the U.S. and didn't that pan out on the second goal that made it 2-0 in the 65th minute. Tobin Heath had a rare counterattack for the Americans and she made the most of it as Sam Mewis drove to the net but the clever Heath instead hit a changeup slower pass to Rapinoe on the far post that she was able to blast in. France seemed to be in full collapse mode when Heath scored in the 77th minute but for some reason, it was quickly ruled that Crystal Dunn (who gave her the ball) was offsides on the initial pass from Alex Morgan before she found Heath for a one-time finish. With all the VAR delays in this tournament, it was very surprising that this one wasn't looked at least looked at further. Ugh, thankfully it didn't ultimately mean anything.

Speaking of Morgan, she's had a rather bizarre four games (head coach Jill Ellis-who won her 100th game today-sat her vs. Chile): an insane five goals in the laughable opener vs. Thailand but after that no more goals. She's had her chances of course but now Rapinoe along with England striker Ellen White are tied with her for the Golden Boot award (most goals in the World Cup). She's definitely banged up which isn't a total excuse but something to keep in mind when you see her stay on the ground time after time since getting hurt in the Sweden group stage finale. It's not like she's been completely useless as she had the through ball that sprung Heath on the second goal as well.

Credit to France for not completely rolling over though I'm sure they were stunned to be down 2-0. Their massive (6-foot-2) central defender Wendie Renard put in a header from midfielder Gaetane Thiney's free kick in the 81st minute to cut it to 2-1. That was her fourth goal of the tournament, all coming from set pieces where she uses her height and power to head everything in sight. Ellis was a little faster to make a substitution than against Spain as midfielder Rose Lavelle was pulled in the 63rd minute for Lindsey Horan (who should be starting but I digress). Carli Lloyd entered for midfielder Sam Mewis in the 82nd minute and Christen Press replaced Pinoe (her second Woman of the Match award in a row) in the 87th minute. The U.S. used the exact same lineup for the second straight match and Lavelle is the only puzzling decision since even before the game, you questioned it then she went out and played rather terribly.

Rapinoe made some notable history in the win as she became the first American woman to score four straight goals for her team in a World Cup. She was also the first woman since Brazil's Marta in 2007 to get back-to-back braces (2-goal performances). Normally, I would throw out the old cliche that the U.S. has to be careful not to have a letdown vs. England but with so many players still active for them that won the World Cup in 2015 vs. Japan not to mention a few that lost in the heartbreaking Final to the Japanese in 2011 (damn you, penalty kicks!), I doubt that will be an issue. Furthermore, this is the #1 team for a reason, they are always a huge match for any opponent no matter the time or venue so they are used to that constant pressure of living up to their incredible history. Even if they lose to England (who rolled 3-0 over Norway in the quarterfinals), the U.S. is at least assured of another game in France-the third-place match-but who wants to be in that? This team is on a mission and they are two wins away from the fourth Cup title in their storied history joining all the legends from 1991, 1999 and 2015.

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Thanks to A Pair of Shaky PK calls, U.S. Survives vs. Spain 2-1 to Reach the WC Quarterfinals

The good news is that the U.S. women's national team had far from their best performance against Spain this afternoon in the Round of 16 but they were still able to squeak by 2-1 as star forward Megan Rapinoe bagged a pair of penalty kicks (1 in each half). After not allowing any goals in the cruise control group stage, Spain was able to become the first opponent to score vs. the U.S. mostly due to a disastrous clearance attempt by goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher and defender Becky Sauerbrunn. Each decision for the U.S. to earn a pk seemed dubious at best so they should count their lucky stars that they benefited from both of those. Conversely, they have to know that they'll need to ratchet things up on Friday (3, Fox) vs. France in the quarterfinals, a more than worthy opponent that is 2-0-1 in their last three matches vs. the mighty Americans.

From the start, it was a bumpy ride for the U.S. as Spain nearly took a shocking 1-0 lead in the first few minutes but defender Abby Dahlkemper blocked a shot that appeared ticketed for the net. Forward Tobin Heath was taken down in the box for a penalty kick in the ninth minute which was a generous call since there didn't seem to be a whole lot of contact. No matter as Rapinoe stepped up confidently to the spot and blasted a low hard shot into the left hand corner past goalkeeper Sandra Panos who dove in the opposite direction. That early strike continued the U.S.' impressive streak this World Cup of getting their first goal within the opening 12 minutes of action.

There was not much time for celebrations though as Spain answered two minutes later to tie things up at one. Naeher had a free kick that she gave to Sauerbrunn's feet in traffic that was quickly stolen by the Spaniards. Lucia Garcia played it to teammate Jennifer Hermoso who was able to pop a pretty shot over Naher's (caught in no-man's land) outstretched hands and into the goal. I would give Naeher a bit more of the blame since she ultimately made the decision to give Sauerbrunn the ball in a dangerous area but with such an experienced, quality defender, you would expect Sauerbrunn to assess things better and either hit it out of bounds or try to get it to Crystal Dunn who was stationed nearby.

Spain's gameplan was obvious: they would never match the skill and speed of the U.S. so they decided to physically beat them up with countless rough, dangerous tackles. For the most part, it worked. It was still 1-1 at halftime and pretty deep into the second half before the Americans drew an even shadier penalty kick after midfielder Rose Lavelle went down a few strides in the box after getting tapped on the leg. As there should have been, there was a lengthy VAR review of the play but surprisingly, the ref stuck with her initial choice of a pk. There was such a long delay that Alex Morgan at first was lined up to take it but the U.S. coaching staff thought better of that and they let Rapinoe give it another go. Panos guessed correctly this time since Rapinoe again went for the same spot but with her precision and power, it still couldn't be stopped.

The U.S. had 55% of the possession and way more shots (10-4) but only one more on target (2-1) and one additional corner kick (3-2). With an injury in the first half, Spain was forced to make an early substitution and then made their final two moves in the second half before U.S. head coach Jill Ellis finally did something to counter them. Carli Lloyd came on for Morgan in the 85th minute, Lindsey Horan replaced Lavelle in the 89th minute and in the last minute of the allotted seven minutes plus of added time and Christen Press took out Rapinoe-the slam dunk selection for Woman of the Match.

Playing in Paris on Friday against the host nation France should make for a great atmosphere. The French went to extra time to defeat Brazil 2-1 yesterday but they'll be sure to bring an even more difficult test than Spain did. I have faith that the U.S. will bring their collective play up a level or two, otherwise they could be going home. They are still the best team in the world and even when they don't have their best effort (like today), they are able to piece a result together with experience and their trademark exceptional work rate. Leave work early or just don't even go to begin with on Friday because you are not going to want to miss that big-time women's World Cup match.

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Welcome Back Everybody to the USWNT World Cup Bandwagon!

Hello friends, it's been awhile (oh only about 3 years or so) since we last talked on this fine blog but I felt like it was time to return from the internet abyss. After all, our U.S. women's national team is defending their crown at the 2019 World Cup in France as they go for their fourth world title. This afternoon, they took down one of their fiercest rivals-Sweden-2-0 in the final match of the group stage. The Americans (3-0-0) won Group F and in the process set a quite impressive record: their 18 goals scored is the most ever in a group stage, besting Norway's 17 way back in 1995.

If you haven't totally locked in on the USWNT yet in France, you are excused. A 13-0 joke on an opener vs. Thailand did nothing but open up a can of worms for lazy sportswriters who don't know a thing about the beautiful game followed by a pretty dull 3-0 win against Chile that could have at least been by more than double that margin. Sweden is always a stern test for the U.S. and you only have to go back to the 2016 Olympics where the Swedes knocked the Americans out in the quarterfinals to understand why head coach Jill Ellis' squad was looking to exact some revenge.

After sitting seven of her best players vs. Chile, Ellis fielded basically her strongest starting 11 today although center back Julie Ertz (who has become one of their most dependable players) was a late scratch with a hip contusion. No worries though, it sounds like it was just a precautionary move and she should be fine for Monday's Round of 16 match vs. Spain (12, FS1). With this victory, the powerhouse U.S. extended their World Cup winning streak to an incredible 13 matches in a row while also qualifying for the knockout round for the eighth consecutive World Cup.

There was no waiting around by the Americans for the game to pick up as center midfielder Lindsey Horan scored the fastest opening goal in this tournament, just three minutes into regulation. It happened to be a pretty strike too as it all started with a corner kick by Megan Rapinoe that Samantha Mewis flicked on to space right in front of Sweden's goal where Horan was the first one there to knock it in. Both teams were already assured of a place in the knockout round but they still played with a purpose and thankfully, the U.S. did anything but sit back after they got that extremely early lead.

The Americans dominated possession (62%-38%) and eventually wore the Swedes down with more than double the shot attempts (16-7) with twice as many landing on goal (4-2). In addition, the USA also had three more corner kicks (5-2) and they drew six more fouls than Sweden (10-4) who were forced to defend relentless attacks for most of the 90+ minutes. Another injury concern for the U.S. came late in the first half as Alex Morgan took the brunt of a rough slide tackle. She stayed in the game but was subbed off at halftime. In her postgame comments, Ellis noted that her superstar striker had picked up a "knock" but that she should be OK for Spain although Morgan skipped talking to the media which always makes you wonder what's really going on behind the scenes.

Sweden really doesn't have many skilled goal-scorers so when they trailed 2-0 in the 50th minute, you pretty much knew that they were finishing second in Group F. FIFA officially ruled it an own goal on Swedish defender Jonna Andersson but Uncle Sam over here is more than happy to (mostly) credit the strike to the brilliance of U.S. forward Tobin Heath. I can't say I'm an expert on every single player and team in women's soccer these days but I doubt that is a more creative and skilled forward in women's soccer than her in 2019. With the ball at her feet in the box (big mistake Sweden), she lulled Andersson to sleep before blasting a shot that took a slight deflection off her past goalkeeper Hedvig Lindahl.

Carli Lloyd replaced Morgan and while she couldn't extend her World Cup record goal-scoring streak to an absurd seven games, she did have a wonderful chance that was stopped by Lindahl. The way that the group stage played out for the U.S., I think that they were lucky in the sense that it went from worst opponent to best. For me, their biggest question mark besides Ertz and Morgan's health is goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher. Is she good? Who would really know? She made a couple plays vs. Sweden but being the U.S. women's goalkeeper is not exactly the most difficult job in sports. No doubt, as they keep progressing in France, they'll need her to step up and prove why she's the starter over something called Adrianna Franch. While Naeher remains a bit of a mystery, I am very confident in her backline of Kelley O'Hara, Abby Dahlkemper, Becky Sauerbrunn and Crystal Dunn. They are probably the best defense in women's soccer and that's a fact. Likewise, the midfield of Horan, Mewis and Rose Lavelle is loaded and the frontline of Rapinoe, Morgan and Heath is ridiculously good. They are the top team in the world for a reason.

Unlike the currently irrelevant U.S. men who just two plus weeks ago lost friendlies to Jamaica (1-0) and Venezuela (3-0!) on home soil, you have to take a completely different mindset into U.S. women's matches. They are so flawless that you have to consider who can even dare to hang with them on a given day let alone beat them. For that reason, I can't say that I expect all that much resistance from Spain. They finished an uninspired 1-1-1 in Group B (2nd place behind Germany) with a middling goal-differential of +1. Not to get too ahead of ourselves but a quarterfinal match against the winner of France/Brazil is much sexier along with a possible meeting with England in the semifinals. Honestly, the other side of the bracket looks a little more daunting with Netherlands, Japan, Germany, Sweden and Canada among the many strong teams over there. For now, let's just sit back and enjoy this very inspiring group of women with personalities for days that happen to be so easy to root for.

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