United States 2, New Zealand 0
One of the biggest questions heading into the Olympic games was how much Jill Ellis and the United States would see the youthful surge take effect in the lineup.
Wednesday’s 2-0 win featured some of the new faces integrated into the lineup.
Mallory Pugh, the 18 year old phenom from Colorado, was one of the biggest question marks. Her recent run of form has been good — two goals and two assists in her last five games played — but her inexperience in major tournaments such as the Olympics put her as a questionable appearance in the 2016 Games.
Pugh put the doubt to rest on Wednesday. While not registering a point in the 51 minutes she played, she stayed active and caused havoc for the New Zealand backline making runs to pull defenders with her.
Crystal Dunn — who has also been in a fine run of form scoring two goals in the two games leading into the Olympics bringing her year total to eight — came on in replacement of Pugh. Dunn was one of the other players with her Olympic minutes in question heading into the Games. The New York native created some chances in 39 minutes, playing a respectable finish to the game at right forward.
The best play from the 24 year old came in the 89th minute, when her dangerous cross nearly found Tobin Heath in the goal area. Working the right side of the penalty area, Dunn flashed some fancy footwork and toasted two defenders en route to sending her cross just out of reach of Heath.
The vets ran rapid on the scoring scoring sheet, with Carli Lloyd knocking in her 89th international goal in the first half off a cross from Alex Morgan. Taking a 1-0 lead into halftime, the Americans extended the cushion to two with a Morgan near-post goal in the 46th minute.
Next up, the Americans will face the French on Saturday in the same place, Belo Horizonte, in Group G action. France played Colombia in the game following the United States’ win Wednesday night.
Three takes
Can the U.S. make it a fourth straight Olympic gold medal?
It’s way too early to tell, but a way-too-early observance says yes. Wednesday’s game was not the thrashing that all of the U.S. would have liked to see in beginning the title defense, but it was respectable. The Americans outshot, outpossessed, and outplayed New Zealand, but this was the world no. 1 going up against the 17th-ranked country. It’s not a huge difference in rankings, but with the pedigree of the U.S. it really is. Will the U.S. need to find more of an offensive touch against the French and the rest of the way? Yes, but for the game played by the Kiwis, which they hunkered down in the center and forced just crosses and long-range shots, the U.S. did what was needed and asked of them.
Will the veterans or the young-guns make more of an impact?
The experience of Lloyd and Morgan showed tonight with goals. Lloyd is now three games back from her ankle injury in April and, having gone two straight games getting the start and going a full 90, she seems to be feeling re-energized. Morgan found her scoring touch, adding her 12th goal to the year scoring count. Will this translate to Lloyd, Morgan, and the other veterans leading the way? In the first couple of games, yes, but once we get to the third and final pool play game, I’d imagine we’ll see a youthful injection and they’ll find their feet enough to make the decision of who to play in the first round of knockout stages difficult for Jill Ellis. I think we see a good combination of Pugh, Dunn, and Horan making the lineup — either through starting or by way of bench, making an impact at critical points in the game.
Will we see a third place team in the knockout stage come from Group G?
It really could happen. New Zealand has the tools to finish in third, behind favorites France and the United States. Giving up two goals to the U.S., and their game against Colombia up next, I envision the Kiwis needing to win by at least three or four in order to stay in contention for a third-place qualifying spot. We could quite possibly see Australia come from Group F. If New Zealand can pull off a decent goal differential heading into the final game and not get throttled by France, the Football Ferns could be the Group G qualifier.
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