The Inevitable Happened: USWNT & Head Coach Vlatko Andonovski "Mutally Agreed To Part Ways"

 

    I had been meaning to write a quick post about this for the last few days after reports surfaced on Wednesday night that USWNT head coach Vlatko Andonovski had resigned. The most predictable coaching change in soccer history was confirmed yesterday by the US Soccer Federation as they named his assistant Twila Kilgore (who?) as the interim head coach. The timing of this probably does not matter one bit in the long run but the minute after the USWNT was eliminated by Sweden in penalty kicks at the 2023 Women's World Cup was almost two weeks ago now. Are we supposed to be stupid enough to believe that Vlatko actually had a chance to keep his job after the earliest World Cup exit (Round of 16) in USWNT history? Please, oh and his other major tournament was also terrible as the U.S. settled for a bronze medal in the 2021 Covid Olympics. He got fired, why is that so hard to say in public?

    The USWNT was coming off of back-to-back World Cup titles so anything less than a spot in the final would have been unacceptable. We could see signs of turbulence ahead when the Americans lost a couple friendlies leading up to the World Cup (something which never occurs) and generally showed many more signs of vulnerability than usual. Yes, the gap between the USWNT and the rest of the world is rapidly closing but it would be silly to pin all of this on poor Vlatko who was woefully overmatched from the start. Last time that I checked, we still have tons of great women's players who should have been good enough to work past poor coaching and the litany of injuries to quality players that they suffered in the lead up to the World Cup. 

    Given that I had never heard of Kilgore (who is thankfully an American) until yesterday and the fact that she worked under Vlatko is not a promising sign for her long-term future with the USWNT. Nope, they need to clean house ASAP and start over. I always say this when it comes to the USMNT and USWNT head coaches but let me once again repeat my core belief: the USMNT should always be led by a foreigner since we have never come close to a World Cup title and the USWNT should be coached by an American since we are the best country in women's soccer history. I will not pretend to have a list of hot coaching candidates in women's soccer ready to go in my head but with our storied history, there has to be a few worthy replacements that are currently working their way up the ranks. 

    I would also say that I prefer an American woman (like Jill Ellis) in charge of the USWNT. We were on top for so long that former American players figure to be uniquely qualified to handle the pressure not to mention they would be familiar with our youth program, the NWSL, the USWNT system etc. Following any World Cup (men's or women's), there are always players that will retire or not be good enough to make the next competition so you always need young players knocking at the door. It has understandably been all doom and gloom since the USWNT's rough World Cup in Australia/New Zealand but the cupboard is not empty by any means. With forwards like Sophia Smith and Trinity Rodman, a midfielder and captain Lindsey Horan plus defenders such as Naomi Girma and Emily Fox to name a few, we will be fine moving forward. However, make no mistake, the US Soccer Federation still has a big decision on its hands: I would have thought that the job of USWNT was almost idiot proof but not so much as Vlatko showed us all. Hire the right person and let's please move on to another great chapter for the U.S. soccer women's national team.

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USWNT Crashes Out Of World Cup With Their Earliest Exit Ever, Losing 5-4 To Sweden In PKs

 

    The brutal nature of soccer was on full display in the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup today in Melbourne, Australia as the U.S. women lost 5-4 in penalty kicks-the longest shootout in Women's World Cup history-to Sweden in the Round of 16. There will be no threepeat, not even close as the Americans got eliminated earlier than ever before (they had only lost in semifinals or finals at previous World Cups). Ironically, it was by far the best performance of the USWNT in this tournament but their continued lack of goal-scoring ultimately got them all a plane ticket home far sooner than any of them could have expected going into this. Sweden will meet Japan on Friday in the quarterfinals (3 am, FOX). 

    In four matches at the 2023 World Cup, the USWNT only scored four total goals and even that is misleading since three of them came in their opener vs. overmatched Vietnam. Since then, they got one vs. Netherlands in a 1-1 draw, none vs. Portugal in a 0-0 tie and now this rough exit to a quality team that truthfully played far from their best game today but improved to 2-4-1 all-time vs. their rivals from America in the World Cup. Without their suspended midfielder (two yellow cards) Rose Lavelle, the U.S. was much more confident from the start and held 58% possession of the ball for the entire match. They also peppered Sweden with far more shots (22-9) including 10 more on net (11-1). The Americans had three times as many corner kicks as the Swedes (9-3) which furthers the point that they should have scored at least one goal if not two or three. 

    Sweden's goalkeeper Zecira Musovic had the game of her life. She was brilliant, making some incredible stops on U.S. midfielder Lindsey Horan (who also saw her header hit the crossbar) along with forwards Alex Morgan and Lynn Williams. The more time that went by with no goals coming for the USWNT, you had the feeling that something like this would happen to them. A game of this magnitude getting decided by penalty kicks is always a cruel way to end things but they also had 120+ minutes to score a single goal and they could not do it. 

    Even in penalty kicks, the U.S. had multiple chances to end it as they led 3-2 (after goals by midfielders Andi Sullivan, Horan and BC's Kristie Mewis in her World Cup debut!) but missed their last two attempts (by forward Megan Rapinoe in her final USWNT match and forward Sophia Smith). Sweden closed strong by converting on their last three penalty kicks while Naeher made the sixth kick for the U.S. but defender Kelley O'Hara (who came in the final minute of extra time) hit the post in her likely World Cup finale. The winning Swedish kick was a bizarre one by Lina Hurtig as Naeher initially saved it but the ball went over the line by mere millimeters before Alyssa knocked away the rebound. Nobody knew what happened until the ref said that the game was over. 

    This is a terrible result, no doubt about that but all we can hope as USWNT fans as that the federation not to mention the players and (new) coaches can learn and grow from it. True, the rest of the universe is catching up to the mighty Americans while our team has gotten static under Vlatko Andonovski who somehow was in charge for another awful finish (fourth at the last Olympics). He should be gone tomorrow along with all of his useless assistant coaches but the USWNT has more than enough talent to overcome him or any other bad coaching. Our youth programs need to be built up again and hopefully, this is a great motivator to the best young players that will form the foundation of future USWNT rosters. It is a rough day for the USWNT but if you have been paying attention the last few years and especially during this World Cup, it is not a complete shock. Their margin for error was so much smaller than in years past and they did not deserve to win another World Cup title, that is the harsh reality. 

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The USWNT Was Inches Away From Disaster, Survive 0-0 Vs. Portugal To Advance To Rd. Of 16

 

    The USWNT (1-2-0) is incredibly lucky to still be alive in the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup and not taking that long flight home as they staggered to a 0-0 tie with Portugal (1-1-1) this evening in their Group E finale at Eden Park in Auckland, New Zealand. Thanks to the Netherlands' 7-0 demolition of Vietnam, the Dutch deservedly find themselves in first place in Group E while the U.S. finished second. It was the first time that the Americans were shut out in a World Cup group match since 2015 (a 0-0 tie with Sweden). Ironically, it is not official yet but they will likely face their Swedish rivals in the round of 16 on Sunday morning (4 am, Fox).

    Where to begin with this latest performance that simply was not good enough for a team that is trying to make history by winning a third straight World Cup? USWNT head coach Vlatko Andonovski made two changes to his starting 11 with Lynn Williams in for Trinity Rodman at right forward and Rose Lavelle in for Savannah DeMelo at right midfield. After a decent start to the game, the U.S. had another mostly lifeless first half-just like in their previous outing vs. Netherlands (a 1-1 draw). Lavelle also picked up a yellow card in the 39th minute which was on a questionable call but even more troublesome was the fact that she will now miss the next match since she earned a yellow card against Netherlands as well. 

    For a team playing in its first ever Women's World Cup, Portugal truthfully deserved a better fate since they had easily the best scoring chance of the match. Substitute forward Ana Capeta came on in the 90th minute and in the next minute, she was sprung loose with enough space to rocket a low shot off the post. U.S. goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher did not register a save vs. the Portuguese and earlier she had fumbled a cross but ultimately smothered it. In the dying moments, she completely whiffed on a punch attempt but the Americans were able to withstand that nervy sequence too. 

    The USWNT finished with a pedestrian (by their lofty standards) four goals scored and one goal allowed in the three Group E matches. Scoring is a real issue since they have only found the back of the net once following the routine 3-0 opening victory vs. first timers from Vietnam. Forward Alex Morgan has yet to score a goal in Australia/New Zealand and after the match, the first voice that we saw talking to the entire team on the field was not Andonovski, another coach or the captains-Lindsey Horan and Morgan-but rather veteran defender Kelley O'Hara. Vlatko seriously looked on the verge of tears at the final whistle which should not be surprising at all because he was that close to losing the best job that he will ever get in his entire career. 

    The U.S. obviously lacks the explosive offense that we have been used to in the past. Forward Sophia Smith-who scored two goals and added an assist in her World Cup debut vs. Vietnam-has been MIA in the last two matches. She was subbed out for Megan Rapinoe early in the second half and the other promising young American forward-Trinity Rodman-who started the first two matches, came on very late on this one. It will be a tough call as to who starts at forward with Morgan the next time out. Williams played well enough to make another start so the question for Andonovski is does he trust Smith or Rodman more? Regardless of who he picks, the other one should play more than a few minutes. There is no obvious replacement for Lavelle in the starting lineup at midfield and needless to say, nobody on the U.S. bench has her abundance of skill and proven track record. You want to believe that the USWNT has a much better showing in their back pocket but with the way that they have stumbled through most of their three matches at this World Cup, it is hard to believe in them with our usual unquestioned trust

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The U.S. Women Survived Penalty Kicks Against The Netherlands To Reach The Olympic Semis

 

    With the huge time difference meaning that most games are happening live in the middle of the night back in America, it's been hard to get into the Tokyo Olympics however leave it to the USWNT to make it way more interesting and exciting. This morning (our time), they outlasted the Netherlands 4-2 in penalty kicks to reach the Olympic semifinals for the sixth time in their last seven chances. It sounds odd saying it since she allowed two goals in regulation but the USWNT goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher was the player of the match as she stopped what would have been a go-ahead penalty kick late in regulation then she topped that with two more saves in the shootout. Midfielder Samantha Mewis-my Massachusetts Olympic hero-and forward Lynn Williams each had a goal and an assist for the U.S. who advance to face Canada on Monday (4 am, USA Network) in the semifinals. 

    It's been a little over two years since these same countries faced off in the 2019 World Cup Final which you'll remember was captured 2-0 by the U.S. in Lyon, France. The Netherlands must be wondering what they have to do to beat the U.S. (who improved to 8-1-1 all-time against the Dutch as this match was recorded as a tie) who have looked vulnerable in this tournament with a shocking 3-0 loss to Sweden in the opener along with a scoreless draw with Australia to close out the group stage. If we know anything about this team though, they typically perform their best when the stakes are the highest. The Netherlands led 1-0 in the 18th minute as their excellent forward Vivianne Miedema-the leading goal-scorer in these Olympic Games-made the Americans pay for a failed clearance out of the box. It didn't take long for the U.S. to respond as Williams served a low cross that Mewis dove to head into the net for his first career Olympic goal in the 28th minute. 

    Things started rolling for the U.S. as they took a 2-1 lead just three minutes later when Mewis won a header in the box following a U.S. corner and Williams was able to volley in her first Olympic goal as well. The USWNT took that 2-1 lead into halftime but the Dutch (specifically Miedema) would not go home quietly as she tied it in 54th minute with a long-range blast from beyond the arc for her 10th goal of the tournament which is an amazing number in only four matches. U.S. defender Kelly O'Hara almost made a fatal mistake as her harsh foul in the box led to a penalty kick for the Netherlands in the 80th minute that would have put them ahead 3-2. Luckily, Naeher was up to the task to rescue her teammate and save the shot by another lethal Dutch forward Lieke Martens.   

    It is hard to explain why but the U.S. has had a crazy amount of goals called back (nine total including four today!) due to being called offside in these Olympics. There is VAR and I'm sure the American coaches have been hammering this point over and over but ultimately it's up to the players to adjust to it and find ways not to have that happen so often. To make them feel better, the Netherlands had a header goal called offside in the first period of extra time while American forwards Christen Press and Alex Morgan (who oddly enough both came off the bench in the second half) each had a goal called back for the same reason in the second period of extra time. Good grief, enough of that!

    Naeher immediately made a statement in the shootout since the Netherlands went first and she dove to her right to save Miedema's shot. All four U.S. shooters (Rose Lavelle, Morgan, Press and Megan Rapinoe) scored and after Naeher made another huge stop on Aniek Nouwen, Rapinoe was fittingly there to blast home the game-winner. The USWNT head coach Vlatko Andonovski improved to 23-1-3 in his first 27 matches in charge and I'm not saying it would have (or should have) happened but if his team had lost this game, there would have been serious discussions about him getting fired after the USWNT went out in the quarterfinals in the Olympics (which happened to the last head coach Jill Ellis in 2016 vs. Sweden in PKs) for the second time in a row. Instead, they will be favored to beat Canada (remember their epic 4-3 semifinal win vs. the Canadians in the 2012 Olympics?) and get to the Final where they would meet either Sweden or Australia.

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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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After Shaky 1st Half, U.S. Women Settle Down For 3-1 Win vs. Australia In 2015 World Cup Opener

They'll never admit it but the U.S. women's national team is facing plenty of pressure to deliver their first World Cup title since 1999. Tonight, in their 2015 World Cup opener at Winnipeg Stadium, they started slowly but found themselves in the second half of a 3-1 win over Australia. By virtue of Sweden's unexpected 3-3 draw with Nigeria which preceded this match, the U.S. is on top of Group D with three points.

In the first half, the U.S. did not look like one of the top teams in the world. In fact, if not for goalkeeper Hope Solo, who made two spectacular saves, they could have been down at least a goal or two. Instead they took an early 1-0 lead in the 12th minute on a fortuitous deflection. Megan Rapinoe had the confidence to take a shot from outside the box and she was rewarded as it bounced off a defender past Australian goalkeeper Melissa Barbieri.

The Matildas are ranked 10th in the world for a reason though, they are a quality side and not a pushover like some of the shameful results in the first few days of the tournament (10-0, 6-0 etc). They leveled things in the 27th minute as Lisa De Vanna hammered a shot into the corner that even Solo couldn't reach. The first half ended 1-1 and that seemed about right. Neither team made any changes at halftime but the U.S. clearly was a different side in the final 45+ minutes. They had way more possession which helped to slowly wear down Australia.

Midfielder Christen Press was playing in her first World Cup match and she immediately became a nationwide hero by scoring the game-winning goal in the 61st minute for a 2-1 U.S. advantage. Truth be told, ex-Canadian Sydney Leroux did most of the heavy lifting by beating her defender down the flank with her speed then passing it back to the top of the box where Press was able to one-time it in.

For good measure, Rapinoe scored a wonderful goal in the 78th minute (from Carli Lloyd) that basically sealed it. Australia gave her too much time and space to operate so she made them pay with a quick burst and hard, left-footed shot into the side netting. It was the first time an American woman had scored twice in a World Cup game since 2007.

The U.S. gets the pleasure of staying in lovely Winnipeg for the entire week as they will meet Sweden on Friday night (8, Fox) for what should be a must-see match vs. their former head coach Pia Sundhage. The fact that Sweden only gained one point in their opener means that they could really use three against the United States if they want to advance to the knockout stage. There has always been a nice rivalry between these two countries so this should be the latest chapter.

Hopefully the U.S. can come out much faster and I wouldn't be surprised to see midfielder Tobin Heath (who came on as a substitute in the 68th minute) start vs. Sweden. Alex Morgan is working her way back from an injury so she only appeared for the final 14 minutes. Abby Wambach had a rather poor performance by her lofty standards-missing multiple golden opportunities that she typically buries in the net-but she's not coming out of the starting lineup anytime soon and neither should Leroux.

In terms of cards for the U.S., midfielder Lauren Holiday and Rapinoe each picked one up in an eight-minute span of the second half. Holiday's was way more justified but they count just the same. Needless to say, they don't need Rapinoe (or to a lesser extent Holiday) to miss a match due to a suspension (2 yellow cards). Onto Sweden!

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Who Doesn't Enjoy The Algarve Cup? (Crickets)

I'm not in PR so I won't sit here and try to tell you that the Algarve Cup is famous or important. Haha I honestly was spelling it wrong before I just double-checked it earlier tonight. Still, it's a good tuneup for the U.S. women's national team since it's their first tournament of the year. They meet Iceland, China and Sweden in group play on March 6-11 in Portugal. There are 12 teams and the U.S. finished in third-place last year at it, their 1-0 loss to Japan in group play turned out to be their only setback of 2012.

Today, Tom Sermanni named his 23-player roster for these matches.

U.S. Women’s National Team Training Camp Roster by Position
GOALKEEPERS (3): Nicole Barnhart (FC Kansas City), Ashlyn Harris (Duisburg), Jill Loyden (Sky Blue FC)
DEFENDERS (7): Rachel Buehler (Portland Thorns FC), Crystal Dunn (North Carolina), Whitney Engen (Liverpool), Ali Krieger (Washington Spirit), Kelley O’Hara (Sky Blue FC), Christie Rampone (Sky Blue FC), Becky Sauerbrunn (FC Kansas City)
MIDFIELDERS (8): Yael Averbuch (Göteborg FC), Shannon Boxx (Chicago Red Stars), Lauren Cheney (FC Kansas City), Tobin Heath (PSG), Carli Lloyd (Western NY Flash), Kristie Mewis (FC Kansas City), Heather O’Reilly (Boston Breakers), Megan Rapinoe (Lyon)
FORWARDS (5): Lindsey Horan (PSG), Sydney Leroux (Boston Breakers), Alex Morgan (Portland Thorns FC), Christen Press (Tyresö), Abby Wambach (Western NY Flash)


The big news for the Americans is that goalkeeper Hope Solo is out since she's getting wrist surgery. The U.S. medical staff recommended she take care of that now so she'll be fine for the 2015 World Cup qualifying which starts next year. Ashlyn Harris will be looking for her first cap but she'll probably be the third goalkeeper. The other player looking for her first cap is Lindsey Horan, who is 18 but skipped college to play professionally in France. She's an interesting story which I got up to speed on today, check it out for yourself. I had no idea an American had done that in women's soccer before.

UPDATE 3/13: The injuries continue to pile up for the U.S. women's national team. Backup goalkeeper Jill Loyden broke her hand in training last week and then today it was announced that midfielder Carli Lloyd will be out 6-8 weeks after breaking a bone in her shoulder during the opening match of the Algarve Cup vs. Iceland.

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U.S. Women Put A Bow On 2012: Abby Wambach Named FIFA Player Of The Year, Sundhage World Coach Of The Year

2012 has been officially over for a week now but the U.S. women's national team still had plenty to celebrate today from last year. Striker and co-captain Abby Wambach was named the 2012 FIFA Women's Player of the Year while former head coach Pia Sundhage took home the 2012 World Coach of the Year for women's soccer.

This all took place this afternoon at the 2013 Ballon d'Or gala in Zurich, Switzerland. Brazil's Marta for some reason came in second place while Wambach's teammate Alex Morgan finished in third. It's hard to believe but this is only the third time a U.S. woman has won her sport's biggest individual award: Mia Hamm captured it in 2001 and 2002-the first two years the award was handed out. Coaches and captains from women's national teams across the globe voted for their top three players, who received five, three and one point respectively.

From ussoccer.com
“I’m very, very surprised,” Wambach said. “Individual honors only happen if you have great teams and great people who have given you the chance to be here. Not only do I think Marta and Alex could have won, but many other players could have been here as well. Thanks to FIFA, thanks to U.S. Soccer and thanks to all the fans and my family for putting me in this position. I don’t think of myself as the best player in the world, just a player who plays on the best team in the world.”

Sundhage is the first U.S. women's head coach to take home the trophy, which began in 2008. She came in third that first year then second in 2011. She beat out Japan's Norio Sasaki (who won in 2011) and France's Bruno Bini. Sundhage is the current head coach of her home country-Sweden.

Some interesting numbers for Wambach, courtesy of ussoccer.com
Last year, Wambach was chosen as one of three finalists for the award along with Marta and Homare Sawa of Japan, who won the award. Wambach finished third in the voting in 2011, the first time she was in the final three for the award, although she finished fourth in the voting in 2004 and 2006, fifth in 2007, was one of the final 10 in 2009 and was fifth again in 2010.

Wambach, who is on the cusp of catching Hamm on the world’s all-time scoring list, currently has 152 career international goals with 27 of them coming in 2012.

Her 27 goals in 2012 was the second-most prolific scoring year of her 12-year National Team career.

Wambach scored a goal in the first five matches of the 2012 Olympics, a feat never before achieved, and was the only U.S. player to start all 32 games during the year.
She currently has 198 career caps and could hit 200 in the USA’s second match of 2013 against Scotland on Feb. 13 in Nashville, Tenn.

Wambach tied for the team lead in scoring with six goals during the 2012 CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying Tournament last January and also had five assists over the five games despite only playing 285 of the possible 450 minutes.

She scored in 20 of the USA’s 32 matches this year and had seven games in which she scored twice, including the final two games of the year (4-0 and 4-1 victories against China). The USA is 97-2-7 all-time in matches in which Wambach has scored a goal.

As co-captain of the U.S. team, she helped lead the American women to a 28-1-3 overall record in 2012, with the only loss (avenged twice during 2012 including the Olympic gold medal game) coming to Japan in March at the Algarve Cup. Wambach wasn’t on the field when Japan scored the game-winner in that 1-0 match.

Wambach, a two-time Olympic gold medalist, has won five U.S. Soccer Female Athlete of the Year Awards (2003, 2004, 2007, 2010, 2011).

Wambach, Morgan and their team officially kick off 2013 on February 9, when they face Scotland in Jacksonville, Fla for a friendly. It will be new head coach Tom Sermanni's first match with the U.S.

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Morgan & Wambach Nominated For Player Of The Year; Sundhage Up For Coach Of The Year

The good times continue to roll for the U.S. women's national team. They blew out Ireland 5-0 last night in Portland, Oregon and today (as expected), forwards Abby Wambach and Alex Morgan were nominated for the FIFA Women's Player of the Year. Also, former U.S. head coach Pia Sundhage was one of three finalists for World Coach of the Year for Women's Soccer.

In 2012, the lethal combination of Wambach and Morgan have totaled 50 goals and 26 assists which is insane. Brazil's Marta is the other nominee but honestly, she has no chance in winning the award this year. I'd say that Morgan (27 goals, 18 assists) is the heavy favorite with Wambach (23 goals, 8 assists) the solid second choice.

Just like last year, Sundhage is joined by France's Bruno Bini (haha great name) and Japan's Norio Sasaki (who won it last year after Japan captured the 2011 World Cup). The nominees were all chosen by the captains and head coaches of women's national teams around the world and the media.

“Obviously, any kind of individual awards are a product of what a team can do,” said Wambach to ussoccer.com. “But what a tremendous honor for all of us, and even more so to be recognized with Alex, someone who compliments me in almost every way on the field, and also with our coach who set us both up to succeed. We’ll be excited to go to Switzerland with the hearts of champions as this will always be about winning titles as a team and that’s something we are really proud of this year.”

From ussoccer.com
The finalists for the Men’s World Player of the Year are Cristiano Ronaldo of Real Madrid and Portugal, Lionel Messi of Barcelona and Argentina and Andrés Iniesta of Barcelona and Spain. The finalists for the World Coach of the Year for men’s soccer are Spain head coach Vicente Del Bosque, former Barcelona head coach Pep Guardiola and Real Madrid head coach Jose Mourinho.

The winners of all of FIFA’s year-end awards will be revealed at the FIFA Ballon d’Or gala at the Zurich Kongresshaus on January 7, 2013, during which the Men’s World Player of the Year, the FIFA World XI and the FIFA Puskás Award for the most beautiful goal of the year will also be announced. The FIFA Presidential Award and the FIFA Fair Play Award will also be presented during the gala.

Sundhage finished third in the voting for the World Coach of the Year in 2008, the first year the award was given out, and finished second last year.

This is the second time Wambach has been in the final three for the award, finishing third last year. She finished fourth in the voting in 2004 and 2006, fifth in 2007, was one of the final 10 in 2009 and was fifth again in 2010. Wambach led the USA with five goals at the 2012 Olympics, scoring one goal in each of the first five matches. Her 23 goals this year (she also has eight assists) are the second most in a single year during her 12-year international career. With 148 career international goals, she is just eight behind tying Mia Hamm for the world’s all-time greatest goal scorer.

Morgan scored three times at the 2012 Olympics, which of course included the latest goal ever scored in a FIFA competition when she headed home the game-winner in the 123rd minute of the dramatic come-from-behind 4-3 victory against Canada in the semifinal. She was also tied for the team lead in assists at the Olympics, setting up four goals.

Morgan’s 27 goals this year are the third-most ever in a calendar year behind Abby Wambach’s 31 in 2004 and Michelle Akers’ record 39 in 1991. Morgan’s 18 assists in 2012 are also tied for the fourth best ever in a single year and are by far the most on the team this year. She has either scored or assisted on 41 percent of the USA’s 108 goals this year and scored her second career hat trick, with all three goals coming in a 20-minute span of the first half, on Nov. 28 in a 5-0 victory against Ireland on the Fan Tribute Tour, presented by Panasonic.

Sundhage led the USA to a 23-1-1 record in 2012, which of course included dramatic run to the Olympic gold medal, before she coached her last game for the USA in a 6-2 victory against Australia on Sept. 19 in Colorado. The USA scored 16 goals at the Olympics, the most of any team the tournament, and came from behind to win in two matches, against France in the opener and against Canada in the semifinal. The USA’s 6-0-0 record in England, which included three shutouts, marked the first-time a U.S. team had won all six games during an Olympic Games. Sundhage recently took over as the head coach for her native Sweden and will lead her team into the 2013 European Women’s Championships in Sweden next summer.

You can catch Morgan and Wambach in action on Saturday (9:30 p.m ET, Fox Soccer Channel) as they meet Ireland once again, this time in Glendale, Arizona. It would be pretty sweet to see the U.S. women's team sweep the two biggest FIFA awards and it seems like this could be the year to do it. Both players certainly deserve it and Sundhage earned one last sweet moment stemming from her very successful time in the States.

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U.S. Women's National Team Names Tom Sermanni Its New Head Coach

After much deliberation and a search that reportedly included 30 male and female candidates, U.S. Soccer president Sunil Gulati announced today that they had hired Tom Sermanni to be the seventh head coach of the U.S. women's national team.

Sermanni is 58, he's Scottish but he's been the head coach of Australia's women's national team for 11 years (including 3 World Cup appearances) total and most recently since 2004. He will officially start work on January 1, 2013 meaning that U.S. Soccer Women's Development Director Jill Ellis (who was the temporary head coach for the Germany matches earlier this month) will also be in charge for the last five matches of the Fan Tribute Tour. The U.S. meets Ireland in Portland, Oregon (Nov. 28) and in Glendale, Arizona (Dec. 1) then Sermanni will observe the last three matches of the calendar year which should be announced in the near future.

The biggest differences between him and Pia Sundhage-the women he replaced-is that he's a man. It's a new dynamic but one that shouldn't be that strange since many women's national teams are coached by men. The fact that he's a foreigner when I was hoping that they'd hire an American likely won't be much of an issue either. There won't be the same language barrier that there was with Pia except for the regional dialect he picked up in Scotland and Australia.

If we're being real, the only way we'll judge Sermanni is how he does in World Cups. Sundhage had a nice run including back-to-back gold medals at the Olympics but her team lost in penalty kicks in the only World Cup she appeared in (2011 vs. Japan). The U.S. women are the No. 1 team in the world and as such, they have higher expectations than anybody else. Australia is always competitive which is impressive given their location but clearly, this is a huge step up for Tom. He won't be judged on wins and losses, since you could probably put almost anyone on the bench and they'd rack up gaudy win totals. This is all about what he does in the 2015 Women's World Cup.

Judging by the instant reactions of some national team members on Twitter this afternoon, they seem enthusiastic about a fresh start.
"Really pumped about @TomSermanni being the new uswnt head coach!!! Welcome. #movingforward"-Abby Wambach (@abbywambach)
"Congrats to Tom Sermanni on being named our new #USWNT Head Coach!"-Alex Morgan (@alexmorgan13)
I think by the end of Sundhage's reign, they were tired of the constant questions and speculation about when she was leaving to go home to Sweden. Now they've got a guy that is committed and won't be going anywhere anytime soon. This is a dream job if you're a women's soccer coach. Over time, we will figure out his style and tendencies but for now, it's an open book for the U.S. women's national team as they head into 2013 and beyond.

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U.S. Women Send Pia Sundhage Off To Sweden With An Easy 6-2 Win Vs. Australia

Pia Sundhage's last match as head coach of the U.S. women's national team was certainly memorable as they rolled to a 6-2 win over Australia this evening at Dick's Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City, Colorado. It was the 14th straight win for the top women's side in the world.

Australia, who had lost to the U.S. 2-1 on Sunday in California, was actually up 2-1 in the first half but that lasted all of nine minutes as Alex Morgan scored her first of two goals right before halftime (43rd minute). From there, the Americans blitzed the Australians with four goals in the second half.

Now, Sundhage leaves for Sweden (her native country) with a four-year deal set to begin on December 1. It will be fascinating to see who the U.S. chooses as its next head coach. It's hard to argue with Sundhage's success since she took over in November 2007: 91-6-10 with two gold medals (2012, 2008), three Algarve Cups and runner-up in the 2011 World Cup.

The U.S.' next two matches are a month away against Germany: October 20 in Bridgeview, Illinois and October 23 in East Hartford, Connecticut. During this game, former national team member and ESPN2 commentator Julie Foudy speculated that the U.S. wanted to name a coach by Halloween but it is possible they won't have one in place by the Germany matches. In that case, an assistant would temporary hold the position.

Five different goal-scorers helped the U.S. improve to 22-0-2 all-time against Australia. In 2012, they are 23-1-1 (only loss to Japan) and they've outscored their opponents 100-17.

Morgan led the U.S. with two goals and two assists, Megan Rapinoe had two assists while Heather O'Reilly, Abby Wambach, Shannon Boxx and Sydney Leroux all scored goals. Heather Mitts and Kelley O'Hara rounded out the scoring with assists.

O'Reilly opened the scoring with a deflected goal in the 25th minute. Morgan broke down the left flank but then passed it back to the top of the box. O'Reilly came from out of the picture and hit a low hard shot that nicked off an Australian defender.

Two defensive breakdowns in rapid succession gave Australia the brief 2-1 lead. Lisa de Vanna scored her second goal against the U.S. in as many games with a pretty toe poke past Hope Solo in the 32nd minute. Two minutes later, Sarah Walsh-who was playing her last match for Australia-found herself in alone on Solo and she deposited it into the net.

Morgan went to work in the 43rd minute with a top-notch goal, her 33rd in 51 international matches. O'Hara had the assist as Morgan placed the shot in the far corner with her preferred left foot. It was a big goal in terms of momentum since the U.S. nearly trailed at halftime. Instead, that must have pumped them up because they never looked back in the second half and Australia could do nothing to stop them.

Wambach was the recipient of a crazy bounce after she stuck her foot out and got a touch on Morgan's shot in the 53rd minute. It took a huge deflection and ended up in the goal. After that, the U.S. scored on three headers in a span of 19 minutes with each one more spectacular than the last.

Morgan bagged her second strike in the 63rd minute when she won a 50-50 cross from Mitts. It's easy to forget that Morgan is only 23-years-old. I'm having a hard time finding any holes in her game, she seems to do everything well: shoot, distribute, win headers, run off the ball. It is scary to think she'll most likely get even better the next few years.

Substitute Shannon Boxx got in on the action with a powerful header off Rapinoe's corner kick in the 69th minute. Leroux was the second sub to score a goal as she also connected on a cross from Rapinoe in the 82nd minute. What made Leroux's my favorite is that she dove toward the ground to head the ball rather than wait for it to come to her feet. At 22, the youngest player on the team, her skills are remarkable and she is definitely the most exciting prospect on the national team.

All that's left to do is wish Sundhage all the best and thank her for all her hard work over the years with the U.S. team. Good luck in Sweden Pia, haha except when you face the U.S.

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Pia Sundhage's Farewell Tour Starts Out With The U.S. Dropping 8 Goals On Costa Rica In Rochester

Perhaps you've heard that U.S. women's national team head coach Pia Sundhage is stepping down. I have heard some additional information that she'll be at the helm for two more games, Sunday, September 16 vs. Australia at the Home Depot Center in Carson, CA and Wednesday, September 19 at Dick's Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City, CO.

The farewell tour got off to the perfect start for Sundhage (who is reportedly in the works to be Sweden's head coach) as her team pinned an 8-0 loss on Costa Rica this afternoon at Sahlen's Stadium in Rochester, NY. It was the team's first match since winning the gold medal vs. Japan at the London Olympics.

Hometown hero Abby Wambach gave the people what they wanted as she scored twice, Megan Rapinoe had two goals while Alex Morgan, Sydney Leroux, Carli Lloyd and Heather O'Reilly bagged single tallies.

The U.S. was never challenged as they led 5-0 at halftime. Rapinoe opened the barrage with a goal off a free kick in the 13th minute, her shot just grazed the crossbar and went in.

Not surprisingly, Wambach had not one but two headers for goals (putting her at 145 international strikes). Rachel Buehler crossed to her in the 24th minute then Rapinoe's corner kick eight minutes later found what has to be the greatest aerial player in women's soccer history.

Alex Morgan got in on the action in the 38th minute after a touch from Wambach, Morgan's left-footed shot left the Costa Rican goalkeeper with no chance to stop the high riser.

Rapinoe's second goal-in the 45th minute-was a complete gift as her shot from the edge of the area trickled in off the goalkeeper's hands.

Supersub Leroux kickstarted the late scoring as she ran onto a pass from Morgan, overpowered her defender and finished in the far corner in the 77th minute.

Lloyd kept up her hot streak as she scored on a bending free kick in the 84th minute and O'Reilly tapped in Leroux's cross in garbage time (89th minute).

Some interesting notes courtesy of ussoccer.com
In the 54th minute, goalkeeper Jill Loyden replaced starting goalkeeper Hope Solo, ending Solo’s consecutive minutes played streak at 1,163. That is a U.S. WNT goalkeeping record as Solo surpassed Briana Scurry’s previous mark of 990 minutes during the 2012 London Olympics.

The U.S. improved to 94-2-5 when Abby Wambach scores a goal.
The USA improved to 10-0-0 this year when Wambach and Alex Morgan both contribute at least one goal in the same match.

U.S. defender and team captain Christie Rampone played in her 267th career international match on Saturday. She now sits five behind third-place Julie Foudy (272) on the all-time list.

Pia Sundhage improved her USA coaching record to 89-6-10.

The next match against Australia will also be broadcast live on NBC like today's game. I gotta say that the new go-to announcer combination of ex-U.S. men's player Kyle Martino and Arlo White is great. Thank God they left Brandi Chastain and her needless yelling back in the UK or somewhere else far away from a microphone.

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With Rangers Dropping To The 3rd Division, Bedoya Elects To Go To Sweden

It was only a matter of time before the U.S. men's national team members on Rangers went elsewhere to play this season since the Scottish club is being punished for its financial problems by getting dropped to the third division.

Midfielder Alejandro Bedoya, who has 13 CAPs for the U.S., was the first to break the ice as he announced earlier today that he's headed for Helsingborgs IF in Sweden. The Boston College product was only in Scotland for one season and while he scored but one goal in 13 appearances, his future is still bright because he's only 25.

With players leaving Rangers left and right, he would have received more playing time but he probably weighed that against the fact that they wouldn't be on the biggest stage for at least a few more years. We'll have to see what happens with U.S. defender Carlos Bocanegra and midfielder Maurice Edu, the two other Americans that called Rangers home.

The roster for the U.S. vs. Mexico friendly next week will be announced on Sunday at 4 p.m. Jurgen Klinsmann hasn't called Bedoya into training camp in a while so it'll be interesting to see if he gets some love any time soon from his country. In the limited amount that he has played for the U.S., he has looked good. I'm not sure why he seemingly fell out of favor.

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U.S. Women Pick Up Impressive 3-1 Win In Sweden

There is a little less than one month left before the 2012 Olympics begin in London and the U.S. women appear to be in the right form.

They beat Sweden 3-1 this afternoon in Halmstad, Sweden. It was an important victory for the top-ranked women's team (who improved to 12-1-1 in 2012) as they beat the No. 4 team in the world on their home turf, a squad that they could very well see in London.

Abby Wambach scored an unbelievable goal in the 8th minute. She caught the Swedish goalkeeper too far off her line and beat her with a dipping shot that was from 35 yards away. It was Wambach's 136th of her career. She's only 22 behind the all-time U.S. leader-Mia Hamm.

Alex Morgan showed that she can score goals in many ways as she simply outworked a Swedish defender in the 22nd minute for her team-leading 15th of the year. She used her body to shield away the defender then coolly slotted it home.

Sweden's star striker Lotta Schelin scored on a pretty strike of her own in the 35th minute. She took advantage of a U.S. defender that slipped and ran onto the ball that had been one-touched into space. With U.S. goalkeeper Hope Solo coming out of the net, Schelin chipped it in with the outside of her right foot.

The U.S. nearly added to its lead in the dying seconds of the first half as Megan Rapinoe found Morgan in front with a cross but Morgan uncharacteristically hit it over. In the beginning of the second half, Heather Mitts headed the ball off the crossbar.

Substitute Tobin Heath was the unlikely goal-scorer in the 56th minute for the Americans as she headed in Wambach's cross for a 3-1 lead.

The U.S. women meet their biggest threat-No. 3 Japan-on Monday morning (7 a.m. on Universalsports.com; 10 a.m. tape delayed on Universal Sports Network) in Sweden.

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U.S. Women Will Meet Sweden And Japan In June

It seems like every other month, the U.S. women's national team faces Japan and that's a good thing since the 2011 World Cup champions have quickly morphed into their biggest rival over the past calendar year.

It was announced today by U.S soccer that those teams will renew acquaintances in June while the U.S. will also meet Sweden in the aptly titled Swedish Invitational. The U.S. plays head coach Pia Sundhage's homeland on June 16 in Halmstad, Sweden. They follow that up by playing Japan on June 20 in Goteborg, Sweden.

Both matches will serve as more than just juicy friendlies. The U.S. women will be defending their Olympic gold medal at the London Games beginning in late July. You won't find much better preparation for those matches than by meeting Sweden (on their home turf) and Japan, unquestionably the top women's team in the world at the moment. Plus, Japan is the only team that should be favored over the U.S. women at any time now. Sweden isn't the superpower they once were in women's soccer but there still one of the top European countries.

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U.S. Women's Head Coach Pia Sundhage Wants To Return To Sweden, Next Year

I'm not going to bash her too much since she seems like a nice enough lady but is U.S. women's head coach Pia Sundhage kidding me with her latest comments?

On Saturday, after her current team-the United States-had a friendly against Sweden, she said that she wants to return to her homeland (Sweden) and coach their national team once her contract expires with the U.S. in 2012.

I realize that she was a star for Sweden and she clearly misses her family and friends. There's always been an obvious language barrier and who knows if she's ever really acclimated herself to the U.S. culture?

I have no problem with her wanting to take that job which is at the same level as the U.S., one of the top teams in the world. My only issue is that who does this? Who says something this damning when her current team has another big competition coming up-namely the 2012 Summer Olympics in London?

Under her direction, the U.S. won the gold medal in the 2008 Olympics and came in second at the 2011 World Cup, losing to Japan in penalty kicks. My feeling with the U.S. women's team is completely different from the U.S. men. Since the U.S. women have been one of the best teams in the world pretty much forever, we don't need people from other countries to help us out by coaching.

The U.S. men are another story; they have never been great and they need new ideas that come solely from more accomplished guys (cough Jurgen Klinsmann) from other more soccer-centric lands.

I know there's probably no chance of it happening before then but I would have no problem with the U.S. canning Sundhage before the 2012 Olympics. If she's so motivated to get back to Sweden (she's been away for six years) and Sweden's coach Thomas Dennerby's contract ends next year too, why not speed up the process?

Who's to say she'll be able to fully focus on the task at hand if she's already spouting off with nonsense like this.

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Women's World Cup: U.S. vs. Sweden 2nd half live blog

Alex Morgan in for Rodriguez to start the second half, the U.S.' first sub.

She wins a corner on her first touch but the U.S. can't do much with it.

The Swedish goalkeeper makes a mess of a save on a long shot but there aren't any U.S. players close enough to take advantage of it.

Cheney shoots over again. In the first half, Ian Darke and Julie Foudy (ESPN's annoucners) raved about how she always puts her chances on goal. That hasn't been happening today for her, guess they jinxed it.

Rapinoe beats a defender down the side and forces a save, Shannon Boxx gets the rebound but skies it over. The U.S. appears nervous, not sure why since they're already down 2-0. What is there to be afraid of?

Fishcher shoots wide, Sweden is looking like the better team even though they're ranked No. 5 and the U.S. is No. 1.

Cox on for Le Peilbert. Nightmare game for the U.S. defender as she gave up the PK and then had the deflection for the second Swedish goal.

Yellow card for Fischer. Lloyd takes the free kick, it's a hard shot but right at the Sweden goalkeeper who juggles it but makes the save.

Sweden has never beat the U.S. in World Cup play.

Long free kick by the U.S. is punched out by Sweden's goalkeeper.

Morgan wins another corner kick. U.S. has to get a goal soon, time is running out. 25 minutes and change remaining.

There we go, my girl Wambach finally gets on the scoresheet. She went up for the header on the corner but it went off her shoulder. Classic Wambach goal, she beat multiple defenders. (2-1 Sweden in the 67th minute).

Cheney has a chance to tie it but her header is way wide. Suddenly, the U.S. has some life.

10 career goals in World Cup for Wambach, 2nd all-time for U.S.

Kelley O'Hara in for Rapinoe. Her first CAP for the U.S. That's the last U.S. sub.

Dahlkvist is out, Hammarstrom is on (first Swedish sub).

Terrible call by the referee giving Sweden a goal kick when it clearly went off their player and should have been a U.S. corner.

Haha Darke and Foudy already start looking ahead to U.S. vs. Brazil even though there's probably 10 minutes left in this one and the U.S. only needs one more goal.

Yikes. Cheney finds O'Hara wide open in the box but she misses badly. Should have been a goal. I know it's her first CAP but if you want to play with the big girls, you gotta make some plays. That'll probably be their last chance.

Final: Sweden 2, U.S. 1

Sweden plays Australia on Sunday at 6:30 a.m. while the U.S. meets Brazil at 11 a.m.

The U.S. should have done better overall in this match that they only had to tie. Going down 2-0 in the first half was predictably too much to overcome. Both goals were their own fault and they should have scored a few more times than they did. Sweden is a good team though and they earned the three points and Group C title.

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Women's World Cup: U.S. vs. Sweden 1st half live blog

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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