THE UNITED STATES women’s national team opened up Olympic play on Wednesday night with a 2-0 win over New Zealand in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. Kelley O’Hara won the starter’s spot over Ali Krieger for today and put on a strong performance, enough to likely earn her the start in the USWNT’s next match.
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The U.S. women’s team went on to defeat New Zealand 2-0, as Alex Morgan added a goal at the start of the second half. Heath, who is playing in her third Olympics, got herself open on the left side before lofting ball to the far post that Lloyd headed back across the grain and into the goal for her 89th worldwide goal.
The Americans are trying to become the first team to win the Olympics title after succeeding at the World Cup.
The U.S. women’s soccer team next faces France this Saturday, August 6 at 4 p.m. ET on NBCSN.
It made me think of what Lloyd had said in an SI.com story earlier in the day: That the U.S.’s big-tournament mentality is a boost for the Americans and a hindrance for their opponents. “So once the injuries left me previous year I felt like I was actually able to focus on the small details to help me improve on the big stage”.
This will not be the same team that won the world cup.
The Kiwis struggled to create chances of their own in the first half, but did manage to slow down the USA assault with a very physical brand of soccer.
Dunn’s pace and power nearly led to a goal in the 89th minute when she sent a lovely pass into the center of the box. It was her 12 goal of the year and 68th worldwide goal.
The team has won gold in four of the last five Olympics and three straight overall.
The Olympics are also the team’s first major competition since the retirement of stars Abby Wambach and Lauren Holiday following last year’s World Cup triumph in Canada. Even if we hadnt won the World Cup Wednesday still be under tremendous pressure to win.
There also were “Zika” taunts directed at her during the game, and she said she thought the fans instead were yelling a homophobic slur that local clubs sometimes use against goalkeepers during goal kicks.
Morgan’s role has changed in the absence of prolific striker Abby Wambach, who retired late a year ago. Head coach Jill Ellis will likely be looking to score as many goals as possible in order to better the USWNT chances on goal differential. The quality of this team is matched by maybe one in the world, and that team is not New Zealand, it’s Germany. “So I think it’s going to be exciting”.
It took the USA just seconds after halftime to double its lead, with Alex Morgan finding the net to wrap up a 2-0 win in Belo Horizonte.
Canada finished with bronze in London after losing in the semifinals to the United States on Alex Morgan’s goal with mere seconds remaining in extra time. Lloyd leads the current Olympians with seven.
The Americans controlled the ball throughout, with a 63 percent to 37 percent edge in possession. Morgan’s 12 goals, which lead the team, are the result of hard work. I did some more personal training. “So I’m OK with it”, Solo said. “So finally I’m seeing everything paying off from being injury free and healthy and being able to work on the small details”.
“It felt really good”.
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Still that’s better than Megan Rapinoe, who hasn’t played since October after tearing the ACL in her right knee. “Hopefully this tournament will show that”.
