Features and game stories from the Washington Post, U.S. Today, Sports Illustrated and ESPN/ESPNW are must-reads for me every morning. Look back at the ’99 team who won with players like Mia Hamm, Michelle Akers, Julie Foudy, Brandi Chastain, Kristine Lilly, and Briana Scurry, and you begin to realize how one-dimensional the 2015 team is. In the 17th minute French Referee Stephanie Frappart booked Lauren Holiday with a questionable yellow card, her second of the tournament making her unavailable for the quarterfinal match versus China.
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This is the World Cup, not a friendly or even CONCACAF qualifying.
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It is a single statement, but one which says much about Colombia’s spirit. If things don’t get better I can see Germany beating United States of America 4-0. You got soccered. Have a better plan but the other team’s star does something unstoppable? Megan Rapinoe took on two Colombian defenders only to be fouled in the box in the 66th minute to earn another penalty kick opportunity.
The US stands three wins away from a World Cup victory. In recent years, she and Abby Wambach have offered the US team’s best frontline chemistry, but as her career winds down, Wambach, 35, is losing her finishing touch.
Defensive Powerhouse: This United States group has only conceded one goal this tournament thus far (Australia in group stage), and secured their third consecutive shutout. The 22-year-old Brian played in three matches thus far. The allocation of teams to venues, the ticketing and promotion plan and the ticket price strategy are among the key factors for the overall success of the event.
The teams have met several times since then, most recently in a match in Brazil in December that ended in a 1-1 draw. It would be the team’s first in 16 years.
But the US is playing tentative and uninspired soccer. The two teams played to a 1-1 draw as recently as December. After Wambach missed the penalty, Morgan returned to score her first goal for the U.S. since 6 March. This time Wambach was nowhere to be seen on the take, and instead Carly Lloyd step right up to take it. Castaño dove to her right, Lloyd put it to her left. While Holiday has had an inconsistent World Cup, her experience comes into play in tight situations at central midfield.
Though that remains the most famous battle between the US and China women’s soccer teams, it is hardly the most recent.
The women are fierce, but they do not embellish injuries, a common complaint about men’s soccer. Why have you banished Heather O’Reilly and Kelley O’Hara to various benches across Canada even though they are both known quantities who can provide speed and service along the flanks?
A few upstarts have made an impact in the 24-team field. Stefany Castano stepped into goal with forward Ingrid Vidal coming off, but Colombia – in the World Cup for the first time – couldn’t reproduce the heroics that saw them shock third-ranked France 2-0 in their group match.
Alex Morgan scored her first goal since the Algarve Cup in March in the win over Colombia, and Wambach, the US all-time leading global goal scorer, only has one goal this tournament – as well as a missed penalty kick against the Las Cafeteras Monday. Switzerland and Netherlands are emerging as strong teams. Japan is the defending Women’s World Cup champ. But (Holiday) got the yellow card on her very first foul of the game so I didnt think that was that fair, Rapinoe said. France beat South Korea, 3-0, in the knockout stage.
Friday: A quarterfinal match will be held. Top-ranked Germany has 19.
June 30: A semifinal match.
■Saturday at Edmonton: Australia vs. Japan, 4 p.m. Both picked up their second card of the tournament, meaning they won’t be playing in the quarterfinal against China.
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Hotels: Search on TripAdvisor shows hotels available in Montreal for all price ranges; remember to convert Canadian prices to American currency. Earlier today, England came back to defeat Norway 2-1 and secure its spot in the Quarterfinals.
