The United States women’s soccer team has struggled to win a third straight World Cup because of their uncharacteristically subpar performance so far.
After two weeks of action, USWNT fans have yet to witness the lopsided scores and suffocating play they have been accustomed to, leaving onlookers to wonder if American dominance of women’s soccer is at an end.
In light of this, before of Sunday’s knockout encounter between the United States and Sweden, U.S. coach Vlatko Andonovski stated he fully understood the stakes.
He told reporters in Melbourne on Saturday, “I have to consider if it’s the most important game of my career, but it’s definitely the most important game of the tournament.”
There is no space for error in the knockout round. As a result, we must be prepared to play our best in this game.
The Americans are paying a high price for finishing last in Group E because they will now play Sweden, ranked third in the world, in Melbourne’s round of 16.
With a 9-1 victory over their opponents, the Swedes won Group G and qualified to face the faltering Americans.
Tuesday’s game between the United States and Portugal ended scoreless. However, during a stoppage-time shot, the United States just avoided doing the unthinkable and being eliminated from group play.
“There’s no sugarcoating it, we played a bad game in opposition to Portugal and we are lucky we were able to move on from that and are looking ahead to this match,” said American veteran Alex Morgan.
The United States has defeated Vietnam, the Netherlands, and Portugal by a combined total of 53-8, placed more shots on the net by a margin of 19-1, and earned more corner kicks by a margin of 26-2 in group play while winning once and losing twice.
Even though those stats might appear remarkable, they are down from America’s three victories in group play in 2019, when the Americans outshot Sweden, Chile, and Thailand by a total of 73-8, placed more shots on goal (32-4), and won more corner kicks (30-3).
Rose Lavelle, who was suspended from Sunday’s game against Sweden after receiving a second yellow card, will be absent, forcing the Americans to come up with an offense on their own.
She’s one of the finest players in the world, so losing her will undoubtedly alter our strategy—or at least part of our strategies—for playing the game, according to Andonovski.
But at the same time, we have fantastic players on our roster who are there for a reason and are available and prepared to step in at any time.
Germany, Brazil, and Canada all shockingly left this upset-filled tournament early, and Morgan said she is not happy to see three of America’s top rivals eliminated.
Teams like Germany, Brazil, and Canada failing to get to the knockout stage is “crazy,” Morgan remarked. “And that just proves the expansion of this game and the reality that you know, you still desire to continue to stay on top, but you must prove that repeatedly, you have to be able to demonstrate back tomorrow,” the author said.
The U.S. women’s program would be eliminated from competitive international play at the earliest point in history if the Americans were to lose on Sunday.
Even for the powerful United States, winning world championships is not a guarantee, but even when they have fallen short, the Americans have consistently been within striking distance of the top.
In the Covid-delayed Olympics semifinal in 2021, the United States was defeated by eventual champion Canada, 1-0. In penalties, Sweden eliminated the Americans from the 2016 Rio Olympics quarterfinals. In the 2011 World Cup final, Japan defeated the United States on penalties to win the tournament. Additionally, in the devastating 4-0 loss to Brazil in the World Cup semifinals in 2007, U.S. coach Greg Ryan oddly chose the experienced Briana Scurry over Hope Solo in goal.
The United States being eliminated on Sunday would be preferable to all of those American setbacks.
“I think we consider ourselves to a high standard, and I think inside that the U.S. holds, and I think in the rest of the world possesses, us to an excellent standard which is valid,” said Morgan.
“I mean, this team and I have had a lot of success for decades. We, therefore, have high standards for ourselves and want to keep demonstrating that we are correct.