A goalpost and a final whistle had spared them and permitted entry into the World Cup Round of 16. But none looked relieved. All looked the polar opposite of excited.
US soccer fans started their Tuesday disappointed – and perhaps anxious – as the women’s team only managed a lackluster goalless draw with Portugal, missing out on being bounced from the tournament completely by mere inches.
Winning three championships in a row is extremely hard to do at the professional club level in any sport, let alone the World Cup in international soccer – no nation has ever won three consecutive World Cups in either the men’s or women’s game.
The USWNT are experiencing an incredibly untimely rough patch up top, and played yet another match where they created plenty of chances but could not score nearly as often as they should have. This time, though, the Americans went scoreless for the first time in 13 games. "We had our opportunities in front of goal and even two yards out and we have to finish them, and we will," she told Fox Sports following the match. "We're going to move forward, we're through to the next round, and that's going to come."
The USWNT's attack remained inconsistent against Portugal, but perhaps the team's biggest area of concern was the midfield. The trio of Lavelle, Horan, and Andi Sullivan never really got into a rhythm and struggled to provide a foundation that would build a consistent, persistent attack. The team had to bypass the center of the park at times to advance up the field thanks to Portugal's strong performance in midfield.
The shot tally was not the only similarity between the USWNT's performances against the Netherlands and Portugal. Both teams successfully stifled the reigning champions by dominating in possession and in particular, winning the midfield battle. The reigning champions looked at their worst in both games when they could not surpass opposition midfields at their best, which was by design for Portugal.
The USWNT's ability to still execute some of their plans means upcoming challengers will need to do more than the Netherlands and Portugal did to come out on top. With the competition fiercer than ever before, a more clinical team in the right form may be able to put all the pieces together and pick up a statement-making win over the reigning champions.
Looking Forward:
The United States will be without one of its top players in its Round of 16 match. Rose Lavelle picked up a yellow card in the 39th minute of its final Group E match against Portugal on Tuesday. Because she also received a yellow card in the second half of USWNT's draw against the Netherlands last week, Lavelle is assessed an automatic one-game suspension.
USWNT will face the winner of Group G, which will likely be Sweden as it needs just a win or draw in its final group game to advance. That match will take place on Sunday (5 a.m. ET on FOX and the FOX Sports app).
Shout out Alex Morgan, I love you.
