USA Falls to Sweden!
One Millimeter: Are you kidding me?
This was not a game of inches, but of millimeters, one millimeter to be exact. A very painful loss in overtime. PKs knocked the US National Soccer team out of the 2023 World Cup, Sunday, August 6. It was in the first round of the ‘Knock Out Stage’. This was the earliest the US has ever been sent home. I was crazy enough to get up at 4 a.m. to watch the game. It was a good one, but a huge heartbreaker. In this game, the US Women played their best soccer of the tournament, but found no goals in regulation or in the 30 minutes of OT. To win the US goalie, Alyssa Naeher, needed to block one more PK shot from the Swedish team. Naeher guessed correctly, leaped to her right, and the shot banged off her hands. A great save, but the spinning ball flipped up in the air. Naeher knew she had to slap it away from the goal line. She did, I thought. The shot was reviewed (dang modern technology) and it was found to have crossed the goal line by one millimeter. It was very disappointing news from the high-tech seven-camera video review.
The US Women had their chances in regulation, and so did Sweden. I can not imagine the pressure on the players asked to take PKs to win or lose a World Cup. Three of our star players missed. Hard to believe. How about the massive pressure on the goalies? Even if you are a fan you have to think that USA women’s soccer is no longer dominant. The world has caught up. In a way, that is a good thing. It makes for better soccer, but in the future, it would be nice to see the US teams play better than they did in this tournament. They only scored four goals in four games and three were against low-ranked Viet Nam. I know soccer is a defensive game, but you can not win a World Cup like that.
Deserved or not I am sure the coach, Viatko Andonovshi is gone. Was he part of the problem? Most would say yes. It was clear to me that subbing Rapinoe for Morgan late in the game made no sense. Morgan had multiple shots on goal during the game. Rapinoe ended her great career by missing a critical PK. Of course, coach Andonovshi had big shoes to fill. After all, the US National team had won two straight World Cups. A tough act to follow.
What’s next? Older Players: Megan Rapinoe at 38 will hang up her National team cleats, Alyssa Naeher is 35, Alex Morgan is 34, but may return, Julie Ertz at 31 has announced her retirement, Crystal Dunn is 31. She had a good tournament, but will she return? Remember players have to earn their way back onto the team. It is extremely competitive. Lindsey Horan and Emily Sonnett are both 29 and could be done with their WC careers. Soccer is a young person’s game. (Most games are.) Soccer, as I like to say, is a track meet with a ball. After a big loss, our National teams always go through a lot of ‘evaluation’. No doubt there will be new faces in 2027.
Many of the ‘kids’ on the 2023 National team will very likely return: Alyssa Thompson is 18, Trinity Rodman is 21 (Yes, Trinity is Dennis Rodman’s daughter), Sophia Smith is 22, and Naomi Girma is 23. Others that we might see are Andi Sullivan 27, Emily Fox 25, and Emily Sonnett age 29. I sure hope, my favorite player, Rose Lavelle, age 28, returns in 2027.
So, the future does look bright, but I do believe we need to be ready for parity. If the world has caught up, what will that look like? It is fun to note that girls have many paths to their soccer dreams: Travel teams, Developmental teams, College teams, and several Pro leagues. To the US Women: “We will see you and support you in 2027, but no millimeter PKs next time. OK?”
