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Please don’t send me Al Pacino’s “Any Given Sunday” speech. I’m Emily Olsen, here with Meg Linehan and Steph Yang — welcome to Full Time!
USWNT Crashes Out
What happened?
Look, it’s been a long night (morning?), so I won’t bury the lede. Here’s how the U.S. bowed out of the World Cup in its earliest exit ever, losing to Sweden 5-4 on penalty kicks in the World Cup round of 16 at AAMI Park in Melbourne. Let’s recap:
- 120 minutes scoreless, despite 22 shots, 583 passes and a 77% passing accuracy from the U.S.
- Seven rounds of penalty kicks
- U.S. goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher scoring in PKs
- Penalty kick extraordinaire Megan Rapinoe missing
- Goal line technology deciding the game by millimeters
This is how close the USWNT were to extending penalties. ????
Is there even a measuring unit to determine that? ???? pic.twitter.com/Bn1rDfjVyG
— Attacking Third (@AttackingThird) August 6, 2023
I had a feeling when I asked Jeff Rueter to write a story earlier this week on penalty kick takers we were setting the stage for just that, but I could not have predicted what we saw.
While confidence in the team was relatively low heading into Sunday’s game due to poor group stage performance, the U.S. quickly earned some of the faith back with a commanding first half. Head coach Vlatko Andonovski opted for a formation shift, adding Emily Sonnett as a defensive midfielder for a team without Rose Lavelle due to yellow card accumulation. Sweden sat back in the first half, allowing the U.S. to apply the pressure.
With the addition of Sonnett, the U.S. closed the dreaded “Prayer Circle” for most of the game, finding possession in midfield and creating clean triangles for the first time in the tournament.
Unfortunately, Sweden also had a player looking to prove herself in goalkeeper Zećira Mušović. The Chelsea stopper made 11 crucial saves throughout the game, but surprisingly she didn’t have to make a single one during the penalty shootout. It’s worth watching every save … when you are emotionally ready.
I believed that the U.S. was fallible in this tournament. But I did not expect them to show tactical flexibility and progress only to lose composure – their usual bread and butter.
NAEHER MAKES IT FOR THE @USWNT
????????:✅✅✅❌❌✅
????????:✅✅❌❌✅ pic.twitter.com/a4UaqbIfXI— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) August 6, 2023
After 120 minutes of open play, the seagulls, dislodged by the pure noise of the stadium, circled as the players prepared for penalty kicks. Andi Sullivan set the tone by converting the first shot, before the highs and lows of the back and forth. Naeher stepped up as the sixth kicker and buried it after both Rapinoe and Sophia Smith missed their chances. The U.S. goalkeeper was on another level, so when Lina Hurtig took her shot and Naeher got a hand to it twice, it didn’t cross my mind that it could have gone in. And yet after a weird couple of minutes, the referee ruled for a goal, Sweden celebrated, the U.S. cried and AAMI Park blasted ABBA’s “Dancing Queen”.
Sweden goes on to face Japan on Friday at Eden Park in Auckland (7.30 p.m. local / 3.30 a.m. ET / 8.30 a.m. UK)
Rapinoe’s last stand
First, it was Christine Sinclair and Canada getting knocked out by Australia, then Marta and Brazil, and now Rapinoe and USWNT. All of them took place at AAMI Park in Melbourne, and each swan song was as somber as the next.
Rapinoe has two World Cup trophies, but it just feels wrong for her international tournament career to end with an off-target penalty shot, something she had never done in her two-decades-long career. But then again, that’s just an outsider’s perspective. Rapinoe, in her own words, said it “feels like it’s the right time” for her to walk away.
“There’s some dark humor, me missing a f—ing penalty at the end of this game,” she said. “I feel like you know, I joke too often — always in the wrong places and inappropriately. So maybe this is ‘ha ha’ at the end. I don’t know.”
Even in her charming, self-deprecating nature, the tears still lingered in her eyes. But there was also hope.
“This is, I think whatever — 13 or 14 players’ first World Cup? So they’ll all be back and better and in just four short years,” Rapinoe said before reflecting deeper on her own experiences. “You know, it is sad. We’ve had some of the best players on and off the field that the game has ever seen. Marta, Sinc (Christine Sinclair), obviously Becky (Sauerbrunn)’s not here. Being able to be in the atmosphere with all those players at the same time was really special. And now it’s time for us to move on and time for the new ones to cement themselves.”
France’s 33-year-old legend Wendie Renard will want to be careful – Les Bleues play Morocco in Melbourne at that same stadium on Tuesday.
Meg’s Corner
The path forward for USWNT will take time
There’s going to be a lot of fallout from this round of 16 exit, but let’s start with one positive out of this tournament for the U.S. women’s national team: Naomi Girma lived up to every bit of pressure put on her to step into Becky Sauerbrunn’s shoes as the leader of that backline.
This is a team that only allowed two shots on goal through its four games – a comprehensive defensive performance. Yes, it did not look as nice as that stat sounds but still, that is something that this team can walk away with.
There were so many questions heading into this tournament about center back pairings. Julie Ertz stepped into that seamlessly. It is not a permanent solution, but it was an adjustment and it did work.
What’s next? Andonovski’s tenure is all but over at this point, it’s just a matter of when the announcement comes down. I think the next question then is what happens with the general manager of the U.S. women’s program, Kate Markgraf?
This year has always been the beginning of a generational shift for the U.S. You could still carry some veteran players over to the Olympics but at this point, I think it makes sense to go fully into rebuild mode.
Overall, the development of players, the identification of players, and the processes through which they are being put in positions in the final stage of a Women’s World Cup need to be evaluated. That stuff is not going to get solved tonight, this week or this month. It’s a much longer-term project.
What You May Have Missed
Netherlands advances past South Africa
The Americans’ exit is a big deal, but let’s not look past the early game, in which the Netherlands held off South Africa with the help of injuries to crucial South African players and a lot of defending in a 2-0 victory.
Jill Roord struck first in the ninth minute, which essentially allowed the Netherlands to sit back. Not for the first time in this tournament, South Africa’s captain Thembi Kgatlana led her attack with a chance on goal thanks to a through ball and impeccably timed run just before halftime. However, she couldn’t get past goalkeeper Daphne van Domselaar. Lineth Beerensteyn scored an insurance goal in the second half.
The Netherlands get its second!
Lineth Beerensteyn’s effort looks seemingly controlled by Swart, but it somehow gets past her and the Dutch take a two goal lead ???????? pic.twitter.com/y5VKaoRwre
— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) August 6, 2023
The win came at a cost, though. Daniëlle van de Donk must sit out in the Netherlands’ quarterfinal match due to yellow card accumulation.
Netherlands advances to play Spain on Friday in the quarter-finals at Wellington Regional (1 p.m. local / 9 p.m. ET [Thursday] / 2 a.m. UK).
Next Up
Coming up on Monday, Aug. 7
- England vs. Nigeria (Lang Park, Brisbane; 5:30 p.m. local / 6:30 a.m. ET / 11:30 a.m. UK)
- Australia vs. Denmark (Stadium Australia, Sydney; 8:30 p.m. local / 3:30 a.m. ET / 8:30 a.m. UK)
Some notes on these upcoming matchups:
Sam Kerr says she will return for Australia in the World Cup last 16 meeting. The co-hosts’ captain has yet to feature at the tournament after picking up a calf injury last month. “I’m really excited. I will play,” she said.
Read this guest column from former Tottenham defender Jenna Schillaci in preparation for England’s game: This is what Millie Bright’s job as England captain is – and it’s not easy.
With South Africa’s performances, Nigeria facing England and Morocco making it to the knockouts in its first World Cup, this tournament has shown the rise – and potential – of women’s football in Africa.
Fun Time World Cup Trivia
Test your knowledge
If you don’t want the answer to yesterday’s question, stop scrolling now….
The last time Sweden and the U.S. met in the World Cup, prior to Sunday, was in 2019 in Group F. USWNT won 2-0 thanks to goals from Lindsey Horan and an own goal from Jonna Andersson
Today’s question…
Rapinoe’s off-target penalty was a first for her. Who is the only goalkeeper to have ever actually saved one of Rapinoe’s spot kicks?
(Photo by Robin Alam/USSF/Getty Images for USSF)
