Football: USA look far from World Cup favorites after limping into last 16

 

AUCKLAND, New Zealand -- The United States came into the Women's World Cup as favorites to win a third title in a row but they head into the last 16 looking anything but champions after limping through the group stage.

There were already doubts about Vlatko Andonovski's side after an unimpressive 3-0 win over Vietnam in their opening game was followed by a 1-1 draw with the Netherlands.

Andonovski and his players put a positive spin on those displays but there were very few redeeming features about their performance on Tuesday, when they held on for a 0-0 draw with World Cup debutants Portugal to scrape through to the knockout phase.

Ana Capeta's shot that hit the post in injury time very nearly won the game for Portugal, which would have condemned the holders to an unthinkable group-stage exit.

But aside from surviving that scare, the underlying numbers are concerning for the Americans.

They had less of the possession at Eden Park and failed to score for the first time in 15 World Cup games, since a 0-0 draw with Sweden in the 2015 group phase.

They also had less of the possession in their draw with the Dutch, while their finishing has been poor since the tournament started.

"I don't think that was a good performance all together, starting from the back," admitted Andonovski.

"I don't think we were able to solve the problems that the opponents presented. There were moments where we did and it looked good, but those moments were very few and not enough to be able to walk out of here with several goals."

- Has the world caught up? -

The 46-year-old Andonovski is in the firing line.

It was always going to be a huge task for him to succeed Jill Ellis, who led the team to back-to-back World Cup triumphs in 2015 and 2019 before stepping down.

Andonovski brought a 23-player squad to New Zealand that featured 14 World Cup debutants, with injuries and retirement ruling out several veterans of recent successful campaigns.

There were high hopes placed in many of the novices, and the likes of Sophia Smith, Andi Sullivan and Trinity Rodman have impressed in moments.

But it is hard to escape the feeling that the rest of the world is catching up with the US fast.

The best women's club football these days is surely being played in Europe, where Barcelona have taken over from Lyon as the dominant force in the Champions League.

Yet captain Lindsey Horan, at Lyon, is the only member of the US team currently playing in Europe.

Could it be that the standard of play in the domestic NWSL is not at the level needed to prepare Andonovski's squad for the World Cup stage?

- Failing to fire -

Alex Morgan, who has played for the US in the last three World Cups, repeated an oft-used phrase in this tournament to explain her team's travails against Portugal.

"Every team in this World Cup is going to be difficult to play. The game is growing and the quality is continuing to rise," she said.

The US were the only team among the eight quarter-finalists at the last World Cup to hail from outside Europe, where standards have been rapidly rising.

Their difficulties against the Netherlands and Portugal so far this year suggest they will struggle against top European opposition in the knockout phase.

They now leave New Zealand to head to Australia for a last-16 tie on Sunday in Melbourne which will almost certainly be against Olympic silver medalists Sweden.

Andonovski will go into that game without Rose Lavelle due to suspension, which is a big blow.

He has decisions to make in attack too, with none of his front line firing against Portugal.

If they do make the quarter-finals, they will return to Auckland for a meeting with Norway or an ominous-looking Japan.

Asked by local media if they would be back in New Zealand at this World Cup, Morgan replied: "That is the plan. We want to make it back to the final and that includes coming back to New Zealand."

Right now such bullishness seems misplaced.

Agence France-Presse

Football: Morgan delight after stepping up for USA in Rapinoe absence

LYON, France -- She was determined to give the credit to other members of her team, but Alex Morgan stepped up on the big occasion with the winning goal against England to take the United States through to the final of another women's World Cup on Tuesday.

The holders were without Megan Rapinoe for the semi-final in Lyon, the scorer of all her team's goals in the wins over Spain and France in the previous two rounds missing out with a hamstring injury.

That meant Christen Press came in and duly scored the opener, and it meant Morgan wore the captain's armband on her 30th birthday as she headed home Lindsey Horan's cross in the 31st minute for the deciding goal in a 2-1 victory watched by more than 53,000.

It was Morgan's sixth goal of the World Cup, putting her level with Ellen White -- who had earlier scored England's equaliser -- at the top of the scorers' chart.

However, it was a much-needed goal for the striker, who had not found the net since scoring five in the record-breaking 13-0 humiliation of Thailand with which the USA opened their defence of the trophy.

"I wouldn't say it was important but for me obviously it felt good to get on the scoresheet and to get the game-winning goal. We had the goals early and we had to hold on," said Morgan, who is back in Lyon having had a spell with Europe's leading club side in 2017.

Morgan celebrated her goal by miming sipping a cup of tea, which some saw as an attempt at a wind-up towards the English.

"'Pino' has so many celebrations and nobody asks her about them. I have only one and everyone wants to know," Morgan said, referring to her fellow co-captain Rapinoe.

"Obviously we have fun with celebrations and we had to keep it interesting."

- 'Saved our asses' -

That goal was not the end of it, however, as the USA were grateful to the VAR for disallowing another White goal midway through the second half and to goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher for saving Steph Houghton's 84th-minute penalty, awarded after another VAR review.

"She saved our asses in that moment and we knew after that moment that the momentum was shifting and that we had to put in a huge amount of defensive work to close out the game," said Morgan of Naeher.

Press also earned praise for having a "tremendous game", and Morgan can now look forward to appearing in a third straight World Cup final.

"Yeah, it's pretty incredible. Each tournament for me has given me something different and I've looked at it through a different lens," she said.

Morgan was 22 when she came off the bench to score in the 2011 final against Japan in Frankfurt, which her team ended up losing on penalties.

In 2015 she was in the starting line-up for the 5-2 win over the Japanese in which skipper Carli Lloyd netted a hat-trick.

"Obviously I have a greater role being a captain on this team and leading this team in a different way so for me it's just so great," she added.

"I just saw all my teammates being so emotional after the game. We have put so much into this journey together and now we have one more game to close it out."

source: news.abs-cbn.com