In what was supposed to be the United States’ easiest game of the tournament, the USWNT managed a draw against Colombia to round out group play in the Olympics. The result means the United States finished group play with seven points, enough to win Group G over the likes of France (six points), New Zealand (three), and Colombia (one).
The Colombians struck first on an absolute howler from Hope Solo in the 26th minute. Coming in having produced a spectacular game last Saturday in the USWNT’s 1-0 win against the French, the goalkeeper pulled a complete 180 on her first shot faced tonight.
On a free kick from 25 yards out, a direct shot from Catalina Usme (yes, my mind jumped to “Step Brothers” as well with the Catalina f****** wine mixer — POW!) around the wall and bounced in front of Solo. It appeared the goalkeeper had a bead on it, ready to smother the shot, but the ball slipped through her hands and legs for the opening goal.
It took a bit of timely placement from the Americans’ youngsters to draw even and take the lead. In the 41st minute, Crystal Dunn cleaned up a shot from Carli Lloyd that smacked the cross bar to level the game.
With the game settling down, first-half substitute Mallory Pugh put the US ahead. Claiming a cross near the back post from Dunn, Pugh tried a one-timer, only for Christen Press to be in the way. Pugh continued with the ball inside the penalty area, taking a touch to separate herself from the defense, turn her hips, and smash a liner through traffic.
Usme brought Colombia back for the draw on a free kick in the 90th minute. Near the right touch line and about eight yards from the end line, Usme put a curling effort to the far post and in, despite Solo punching at the shot.
The goals and draw were both firsts in Colombia’s Olympic history. Having qualified for their first-ever Olympics, the Colombians were all smiles after the game, despite not moving on to the next round.
As for the US, the Americans will take on Sweden in the quarterfinals Friday at 11 a.m. Sweden qualified for the knockout stages as third-place finisher in Group E with four points, knocking New Zealand out of contention for a spot in the next round.
Earlier today, Australia nearly pulled off the major comeback to earn a second-place finish, but allowed a late goal and finished third in Group F on goal differential. The Aussies will have Brazil in the quarterfinal above the US. Opposite them will be Canada (Group F winner) and France (Group G runner-up), and Germany and China in the other quarterfinal.
Three takes
What do you say we go ahead and blame this on the jelly?
Hope’s howler was horrific. Yes, the alliteration was necessary, that’s how bad it was. I get it. It’s bound to happen sometime. Thankfully for the US it came against a team they could afford to have score against them. It took some time to level, but with the chances created — all 16 shots, eight of them on frame — it was coming, sooner or later.
Not only Hope’s howler, but let’s just throw the jelly under the bus for the entire team. This was not a result worthy of Gold Medal Olympians and World Cup winners. The team looked like they wanted to be there, evidenced by the outpouring of chances, but the game was not falling for them.
The youngsters stepping up
Morgan Brian, Mallory Pugh, Crystal Dunn, Lindsey Horan: all of them worked well in their roles moving forward tonight. We saw a continuation of a great game from Dunn, who scored once and delivered what looked at the time to be the game-winning goal. All-in-all, Dunn and Pugh, working in the first half alongside Christen Press and in the second next to Alex Morgan, looked stellar on the run of the play. Pugh’s deliveries were unspectacular on set plays, but we’ve got Megan Rapinoe (see below) and Tobin Heath to do the heavy lifting.
As far as Brian and Horan go: those two were great in the midfield. Brian, who made the 2015 World Cup her grand entrance to the international soccer scene, created plenty of opportunities moving forward and was hard in the tackle when she needed to be on defense in her 65 minutes played. Horan was in that same group, pushing the tempo well and dropping back with ease in the full 90.
Rapinoe makes her 2016 debut
Megan Rapinoe’s last minutes for the USWNT came in October 2015, her last goal came in June that same year. Her first involvement with the game: she sends her free kick just over the cross bar. Can’t blame a shooter for keeping an eye on the net.
It was a quality 30 minutes for the veteran. She stayed involved with the play, had quality looks on frame, and moved the ball well. It appeared as though she could make it to the second half, but it’s a smart play from Jill Ellis to keep her limited in her first game back. When Rapinoe is 100 percent, the Americans will be back to having a triple threat when it comes to free kicks, with Rapinoe, Heath, and Carli Lloyd itching to dip one over the wall.
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