Although Japan, the country the US faced in the last Olympic gold-medal game as well as the last two World Cup finals, did not qualify, seven of the 12 teams in the field are ranked among the top 10 in the world – including six that qualified for quarterfinals in the World Cup.
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United States’ Carli Lloyd, right, celebrates after scoring against New Zealand during a Women’s Olympic Soccer Tournament match at the Mineirao stadium in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, Wednesday, Aug. 3, 2016.
As favorites of the competition after winning the World Cup in 2015, the United States Women’s national team are expecting to perform well against New Zealan in Belo Horizonte. A UCLA recruit, Pugh is the second-youngest woman to make a U.S. Olympic soccer team behind Cindy Parlow, who was about three weeks younger in the 1996 Games.
The U.S. women’s soccer team next faces France this Saturday, August 6 at 4 p.m. ET on NBCSN.
“We know how hard it will be to be back-to-back winners”, co-captain Becky Sauerbrunn said recently.
“I think we are always feeling the pressure of coming back with gold”. Incidentally, during group play in London, Morgan also scored a pair of goals against France. “I thought we moved the ball against a very determined team”.
9 p.m.-The U.S. women’s 4-x-100-meter relay will close the first night’s swimming session.
French midfielder Amandine Henry plays club soccer in the US with the Portland Thorns of the National Women’s Soccer League alongside USA national team players Tobin Heath, Meghan Klingenberg, Lindsey Horan and Allie Long.
The offensive onslaught never came, though. New Zealand will be the punching bag of the group. 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. It was organized, yes, but it lacked creativity near New Zealand’s goal. The defense played great, and we got lots of players lots of minutes.
Still, the professional soccer star didn’t seem phased by the crowd reaction, telling NBC Sports after the game, “It’s the Brazilians – they love soccer, they love football”.
The controversial World Cup and Olympic champion has been outspoken about her concerns over traveling to Brazil due to the Zika virus.
That’s not to say the USWNT played poorly, it just didn’t live up to the perhaps unfair expectations it created.
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The U.S. men failed to qualify for the Rio Olympics after what amounted to two tries, the first in a regional tournament and the second in a home-and-away series with Colombia.
