US women’s soccer team should be commended
The United States women蘑菇视频 soccer team isn鈥檛 done yet, but should be commended for its success 鈥� past, present and most-likely future.
The US defeated host France, 2-1, on Friday in the World Cup quarterfinals to advance to the semifinals for the eighth time. Including this year蘑菇视频 version, there have been eight Women蘑菇视频 World Cups, and the United States are leading the field with three titles in the inaugural year of 1991, the unforgettable campaign in 鈥�99 that turned Brandi Chastain into a national hero and a championship in the last World Cup in 2015. The US was second in 2011 and placed third in 1995, 2003 and 鈥�07.
Head coach Jill Ellis鈥� team plays England on Tuesday in the semifinals at 3 p.m. Ellis won her 100th career match as coach of the red, white and blue. She has a 100-7-18 record with the US national team.
The United States鈥� Megan Rapinoe became the first player in Women蘑菇视频 World Cup history to score two goals in back-to-back knockout round matches with tallies in the fifth and 65th minute for Team USA. Rapinoe, who has taken both criticism and praise for her political beliefs, scored twice in her team蘑菇视频 2-1 win over Spain in the round of 16. Rapinoe has 49 career goals in 157 matches as a member of the national team.
Rapinoe, who scored once in a 13-0 rout over Thailand in group play, has five goals in the tournament, and is tied with teammate Alex Morgan, England蘑菇视频 Ellen White and Australia蘑菇视频 Sam Kerr for the most in World Cup play this year. The golden boot award will go to the player with the most assists in the event of a tie. If the tiebreaker can鈥檛 be decided on assists, the player with the least amount of minutes played would pick up the hardware.
Currently, Rapinoe and Morgan are tied with three assists, but Morgan has the edge with 310 minutes played to Rapinoe蘑菇视频 349. Morgan蘑菇视频 five tallies came in the rout of Thailand. White doesn鈥檛 have an assist so far and Kerr has played her final match, as Australia was eliminated by England in a 3-0 setback in the quarterfinals.
Rapinoe and Morgan may score the goals and get the headlines, but the United States鈥� backline should receive plenty of credit for slowing down France蘑菇视频 offense, including Crystal Dunn, who played all 90 minutes. Abby Dahlkemper, Kelley O鈥橦ara and Becky Sauerbrunn make up the rest of the United States鈥� defenders. Keeper Alyssa Naeher only had to make four saves, as the US was content to allow the French to maintain possess while not creating any huge scoring chances. France outshot the US, 20-10, but the Americans had eight on target.
The US has scored very quickly in its first five matches, with opening tallies in the third, fifth, seventh, 11th and 12th minutes. The United States had a 2-0 lead against France after Rapinoe蘑菇视频 second, and appeared to have a third by Tobin Heath, but it was waved off due to offsides.
The host nation didn鈥檛 go away, and it took advantage of a set piece when Wendie Renard scored on a header to pull the French within 1 in the 81st minute. At 6-foot-2, Renard is the tallest player in the tournament and France has used Renard蘑菇视频 height to its advantage in previous matches, including two header goals off set pieces in a 4-0 win over South Korea in group play.
Ellis made some late substitutions and took Rapinoe out in the 87th minute. Rapinoe had one yellow card in the tournament, and the veteran coach didn鈥檛 want her star striker to pick up a possible late card and be suspended for the semifinal. Yellow cards reset once teams have reached the semifinals.
Many in the soccer community said the two best teams played in the quarterfinals, but the United States better not sleep on England, or whomever it plays in the finals if it gets by the Brits. We have seen it so often in sports when the favorite goes down.
蘑菇视频 sports writer Jonathan Guth can be reached via email at jguth@heraldstandard.com