How appropriate, then, that three centuries later the USA women’s soccer team should come here on a gold rush of its own, a journey it began Wednesday with a solid, if occasionally sloppy, 2-0 win over New Zealand behind goals from Carli Lloyd and Alex Morgan.
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Goals from Carli Lloyd and the Orlando Pride’s Alex Morgan got the U.S. Women’s National Team off on the right foot in Rio with a 2-0 Olympic-opening win over New Zealand.
The United States Women’s National Team’s (USWNT) quest to become the first squad to win the FIFA Women’s World Cup and win a gold medal the following year kicks off tonight in Brazil.
The goals remained untouched until Morgan added to the lead with a low shot from inside the area less than a minute into the second half.
It only took three more minutes for the U.S.to breakthrough, this time with Lloyd picking up from where she left off in last year’s World Cup. Heath played a cross to the back post where Lloyd was waiting to place a lofting header back across goal and find the side netting to give the Americans a dream start.
“One of the things that I really looked into is why has a repeat never been done”, said United States coach Jill Ellis, whose team has lost once in its last 40 matches. They could have benefitted from passing the ball around the 18 more and looking to play balls in on the ground.
Solo, who registered her 101st shutout, was the target of the Brazilian fans who chanted “Zika, Zika” every time the American goalkeeper touched the ball. “I thought we moved the ball against a very determined team”.
New Zealand, playing in its third consecutive Olympics, barely threatened the U.S.at Mineirao, which holds more than 60,000 spectators. The two-time Olympian has scored the gold medal-winning goals in both the 2008 and 2012 Olympic finals. The Olympic tournament is a 12-team tournament making some of the world’s best team unable to qualify. Remember: This is a young team with new faces like Mallory Pugh, Crystal Dunn, and Lindsey Horan, all of whom hadn’t played in the Olympics until Wednesday.
Lloyd has a reputation for being a big-game player and in Rio she is back where that all started for her. It was four years ago at the Olympics in London that her career took a major turn after she’d been struggling.
“I got this” is one of the main phrases that sticks out when you listen to the USA veterans and watch how they perform in environments like this one. The games will be played in stadiums across the country built or renovated when Brazil hosted the World Cup in 2014.
The U.S. battles France at 4 p.m. ET on Saturday.
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Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
