‘Never witnessed that before’: USA torn to shreds over World Cup act
It’s the USA’s worst ever performance in a World Cup group stage and just the second time the side has not topped its group.
American players were seen celebrating with fans.
Photo: Optus Sports.
Tyson Otto from News.com.auAugust 2nd, 2023 9:58 am
The United States are on the verge of crisis after surviving elimination by just millimetres in a wild end to their Women’s World Cup group stage match against Portugal.
The reigning champions dodged disaster in a dour 0-0 draw at Eden Park in New Zealand on Tuesday night.
The US, who have won the last two Women’s World Cup titles, survived by the width of a post with a draw was good enough for them to finish second in group E. It was almost curtains for the powerhouse American team when Portugal substitute Ana Capeta had a golden opportunity to score in the 92nd minute, only to see her shot bounce off the post.
Watch Angel City, a new documentary which goes behind the scenes of the groundbreaking new Los Angeles pro women’s soccer team backed by Natalie Portman on BINGE.
The team’s lacklustre performances have been widely criticised by football pundits around the world, and one star’s act after the game has particularly angered America.
American football legend Carli Lloyd was scathing of the moment members of the United States team celebrated with fans after the match.
Meanwhile, other team members, including Megan Rapinoe, were also seen dancing after surviving through to a Round of 16 match against the top team from Group G, which will be decided on Wednesday.
Tyson Otto from News.com.auAugust 2nd, 2023 9:58 am
The United States are on the verge of crisis after surviving elimination by just millimetres in a wild end to their Women’s World Cup group stage match against Portugal.
The reigning champions dodged disaster in a dour 0-0 draw at Eden Park in New Zealand on Tuesday night.
The US, who have won the last two Women’s World Cup titles, survived by the width of a post with a draw was good enough for them to finish second in group E. It was almost curtains for the powerhouse American team when Portugal substitute Ana Capeta had a golden opportunity to score in the 92nd minute, only to see her shot bounce off the post.
Watch Angel City, a new documentary which goes behind the scenes of the groundbreaking new Los Angeles pro women’s soccer team backed by Natalie Portman on BINGE.
The team’s lacklustre performances have been widely criticised by football pundits around the world, and one star’s act after the game has particularly angered America.
American football legend Carli Lloyd was scathing of the moment members of the United States team celebrated with fans after the match.
Meanwhile, other team members, including Megan Rapinoe, were also seen dancing after surviving through to a Round of 16 match against the top team from Group G, which will be decided on Wednesday.
Lloyd was staggered at the celebratory acts from the American players. The most eyebrow-raising one came when Trinity Rodman and Kelley O’Hara were seen taking photos and high-fiving fans after the team’s worst-ever performance in World Cup group stage with five points.
“I have never witnessed something like that. There’s a difference between being respectful of the fans and saying hello to your family,” Lloyd said on Fox Sports’ World Cup post-game show.
“But to be dancing, to be smiling. I mean, the player of the match was that post. You were lucky to not be going home right now.”
She said the team’s “uninspiring” effort was nothing to celebrate.
“It started to shift post-2020 and there are a lot of off-the-field things that are happening,” she said.
“I have never witnessed something like that. There’s a difference between being respectful of the fans and saying hello to your family,” Lloyd said on Fox Sports’ World Cup post-game show.
“But to be dancing, to be smiling. I mean, the player of the match was that post. You were lucky to not be going home right now.”
She said the team’s “uninspiring” effort was nothing to celebrate.
“It started to shift post-2020 and there are a lot of off-the-field things that are happening,” she said.
Megan Rapinoe was seconds from the end of her career.
Photo by Buda Mendes/Getty Images.Source: Getty Images
“You never want to take anything for granted. You put on that jersey and you want to give it everything you have for the people who came before you, the people who are going to come after you and I am just not seeing that passion.
“I am seeing a very lacklustre, uninspiring, taking it for granted. Winning and training and doing all that you can to be the best possible individual player is not happening.”
Lloyd, who led her team to World Cup titles in 2015 and 2019 and won Olympic gold in 2008 and 2012, said her former team is walking a “fine line” right now.
“We saw before the game, the dancing. There’s a difference between confidence and arrogance, and I think that’s a fine line of where is the direction going with that,” she said.
“It’s OK to be confident, but you never want to cross that line of becoming arrogant and this is exactly what can come and bite you.”
“You never want to take anything for granted. You put on that jersey and you want to give it everything you have for the people who came before you, the people who are going to come after you and I am just not seeing that passion.
“I am seeing a very lacklustre, uninspiring, taking it for granted. Winning and training and doing all that you can to be the best possible individual player is not happening.”
Lloyd, who led her team to World Cup titles in 2015 and 2019 and won Olympic gold in 2008 and 2012, said her former team is walking a “fine line” right now.
“We saw before the game, the dancing. There’s a difference between confidence and arrogance, and I think that’s a fine line of where is the direction going with that,” she said.
“It’s OK to be confident, but you never want to cross that line of becoming arrogant and this is exactly what can come and bite you.”
Team USA superstar Megan Rapinoe was not in a mood to talk to the press after the game.
Former Matildas star Catherine Cannuli responded to the vision of Rodman and O’Hara’s antics on the post-game show on Optus Sport, cheekily saying: “Typical USA arrogance. Coming off that pitch, finishing second in the group and still think they’ve got it all”.
Head coach Vlatko Andonovski had a different view on his team’s competitive level in his post-game comments.
“This team wanted to win this game more than anything else and they’ve put everything they could in preparation for this tournament,” Andonovski said in response to Lloyd.
“To question the mentality of this team, to question the willingness to win, to compete … I think it’s insane. I’ve never seen this team step on the field and not try hard and not compete.”
Regardless, it’s the USA’s worst ever performance in a World Cup group stage and just the second time the side has not topped its group.
USA 2019 World Cup winner and forward Jessica McDonald said the champion side were a shadow of their regular selves.
“As far as performance, I did expect more from them, I’m sure a lot of us do, and they’ve been outperformed,” she said.
“I know they’re walking on eggshells right now. It has not been to their standard so far.”
McDonald said she “felt sick” when Capeta’s shot beat US goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher but slammed into the post and then bounced straight back out.
There’s good news for the Matildas however with the side now not able to come up against the defending world champs until the final, if they both make it that far.
Former Matildas star Catherine Cannuli responded to the vision of Rodman and O’Hara’s antics on the post-game show on Optus Sport, cheekily saying: “Typical USA arrogance. Coming off that pitch, finishing second in the group and still think they’ve got it all”.
Head coach Vlatko Andonovski had a different view on his team’s competitive level in his post-game comments.
“This team wanted to win this game more than anything else and they’ve put everything they could in preparation for this tournament,” Andonovski said in response to Lloyd.
“To question the mentality of this team, to question the willingness to win, to compete … I think it’s insane. I’ve never seen this team step on the field and not try hard and not compete.”
Regardless, it’s the USA’s worst ever performance in a World Cup group stage and just the second time the side has not topped its group.
USA 2019 World Cup winner and forward Jessica McDonald said the champion side were a shadow of their regular selves.
“As far as performance, I did expect more from them, I’m sure a lot of us do, and they’ve been outperformed,” she said.
“I know they’re walking on eggshells right now. It has not been to their standard so far.”
McDonald said she “felt sick” when Capeta’s shot beat US goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher but slammed into the post and then bounced straight back out.
There’s good news for the Matildas however with the side now not able to come up against the defending world champs until the final, if they both make it that far.
Why is the US team struggling at the Women’s World Cup?
By Tara Subramaniam and Matt Foster, CNN
Wed August 2, 2023
CNN —
After the thrill of winning successive Women’s World Cup titles, the 2023 tournament – so far – has brought the US team very much down to earth with a bump.
Hearts must have been in the mouths of US fans during Tuesday’s tense 0-0 draw with Portugal as the four-time world champion came within inches of being knocked out of the tournament altogether.
Portugal was desperately unlucky not to engineer one of the great Women’s Cup shocks, notably when Ana Capeta’s shot deflected off the post in the last few minutes of the game.
For a team that has been so historically dominant at the Women’s World Cup, performances throughout the 2023 edition so far have been underwhelming for women’s soccer’s most dynastic team.
Head coach Vlatko Andonovski admitted his side “did not play well” against Portugal, while TNT soccer analyst and the US Women’s National Team (USWNT) great Julie Foudy told CNN: “They just haven’t been clicking – the thing I keep coming back to is it doesn’t feel like there is a lot of chemistry.
Their three matches at this tournament represents the US women’s worst group stage performance in World Cup history – and no team has ever won the competition having picked up so few points in the preliminary stage.
Fans of the US team get ready for the Women's World Cup group game against Portugal.
Doubt among the fans?
Known for their extravagant support of the normally all-conquering side, US women’s soccer fans appeared to demonstrate the same nerves that reverberated among the squad during the draw against Portugal in Auckland.
From the outset, the players were greeted by a relatively subdued fanbase with supporters arriving at the stadium much later in comparison to the matches against Vietnam and the Netherlands. Both of those games had seen fans streaming in more than an hour before kick-off – whereas empty seats remained plentiful at Tuesday’s decider right up until the start of the game.
Similarly, tension seemed to affect the vociferousness of the crowd. Compared to the constant cheering and chanting that accompanied the US draw with the Netherlands in Wellington, the loudest cheers against Portugal came when substitutes Rapinoe and Trinity Rodman entered the fray.
Criticism
Former US stars have been scathing in some of their analysis, most vocally Carli Lloyd, who said the team was “lucky not to be going home right now” following the “lackluster and uninspiring” performance against Portugal.
Americans from coast to coast flock to Women's World Cup, including one very dedicated superfan
“There is a difference between being respectful to the fans and saying hello to your family, but to be dancing, to be smiling – I mean the player of the match was that post,” Lloyd said in response to footage of Rapinoe, Morgan and Crystal Dunn dancing before the Portugal match.
Coach Andonovski said it was “insane” for anyone to question the team’s commitment when asked by CNN to respond to criticism from Lloyd.
“To question the mentality of this team, to question the willingness to win, to compete, I think is insane,” Andonovksi said. “Everyone is entitled to their opinion and you know, they can say whatever they want, but I just know how this team feels,” he added.
English referee Rebecca Welch (R) shows a yellow card to US midfielder #16 Rose Lavelle (L) in the match against Portugal. Lavelle will now miss her team's last-16 match on Sunday.
“I’m very confident in this team,” she said after the match. “Obviously, this is not the performance that anyone wanted to see, or we felt like we could do.
“I think we need more and we build off of that. You’re going to see a better team in the round of 16.”
Andonovski himself added, “We’re not happy with our performance, but we qualify for the next round. We’re moving on.”
The USWNT’s next fixture takes place on Sunday at 5 a.m. ET. The match against Sweden, No. 3 ranked in the world by FIFA, has plenty of World Cup history. Sweden drew with the US in 2015 and also beat them in 2011 – the last time any team defeated the USWNT inside regulation at a World Cup. The US defeated the Scandinavian side in the group stage in 2019.
By Tara Subramaniam and Matt Foster, CNN
Wed August 2, 2023
CNN —
After the thrill of winning successive Women’s World Cup titles, the 2023 tournament – so far – has brought the US team very much down to earth with a bump.
Hearts must have been in the mouths of US fans during Tuesday’s tense 0-0 draw with Portugal as the four-time world champion came within inches of being knocked out of the tournament altogether.
Portugal was desperately unlucky not to engineer one of the great Women’s Cup shocks, notably when Ana Capeta’s shot deflected off the post in the last few minutes of the game.
For a team that has been so historically dominant at the Women’s World Cup, performances throughout the 2023 edition so far have been underwhelming for women’s soccer’s most dynastic team.
Head coach Vlatko Andonovski admitted his side “did not play well” against Portugal, while TNT soccer analyst and the US Women’s National Team (USWNT) great Julie Foudy told CNN: “They just haven’t been clicking – the thing I keep coming back to is it doesn’t feel like there is a lot of chemistry.
Their three matches at this tournament represents the US women’s worst group stage performance in World Cup history – and no team has ever won the competition having picked up so few points in the preliminary stage.
Blending experience with potential
Four-time winners of the tournament, the USWNT arrived for their three Group E games in New Zealand looking to bring home the trophy for the third consecutive edition – something no team in either men’s or women’s football has achieved.
However, the squad perhaps does not possess the veneer of invincibility that characterized those squads.
It was defeated by Canada in the semifinals of the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 – having already been handily beaten 3-0 by Sweden earlier in the tournament. In October 2022, the team suffered back-to-back defeats to England and Spain in high-profile friendlies – marking the first time in over five years that had occurred.
While stalwarts of previous successes such as Megan Rapinoe and Morgan remain in the team, Andonovski has overseen something of a transitional period as a host of young talent looks to establish itself in the team. The US squad contains 14 World Cup debutants – blending them in seems to have taken a toll on the usual ruthless efficiency of the team.
It should also be remembered that the USWNT is missing a number of players due to injury: forwards Mallory Swanson, Christen Press and Tobin Heath, midfielders Sam Mewis and Catarina Macario, as well as defenders Becky Sauerbrunn and Abby Dahlkemper.
Four-time winners of the tournament, the USWNT arrived for their three Group E games in New Zealand looking to bring home the trophy for the third consecutive edition – something no team in either men’s or women’s football has achieved.
However, the squad perhaps does not possess the veneer of invincibility that characterized those squads.
It was defeated by Canada in the semifinals of the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 – having already been handily beaten 3-0 by Sweden earlier in the tournament. In October 2022, the team suffered back-to-back defeats to England and Spain in high-profile friendlies – marking the first time in over five years that had occurred.
While stalwarts of previous successes such as Megan Rapinoe and Morgan remain in the team, Andonovski has overseen something of a transitional period as a host of young talent looks to establish itself in the team. The US squad contains 14 World Cup debutants – blending them in seems to have taken a toll on the usual ruthless efficiency of the team.
It should also be remembered that the USWNT is missing a number of players due to injury: forwards Mallory Swanson, Christen Press and Tobin Heath, midfielders Sam Mewis and Catarina Macario, as well as defenders Becky Sauerbrunn and Abby Dahlkemper.
Fans of the US team get ready for the Women's World Cup group game against Portugal.
Andrew Cornaga/AP
Doubt among the fans?
Known for their extravagant support of the normally all-conquering side, US women’s soccer fans appeared to demonstrate the same nerves that reverberated among the squad during the draw against Portugal in Auckland.
From the outset, the players were greeted by a relatively subdued fanbase with supporters arriving at the stadium much later in comparison to the matches against Vietnam and the Netherlands. Both of those games had seen fans streaming in more than an hour before kick-off – whereas empty seats remained plentiful at Tuesday’s decider right up until the start of the game.
Similarly, tension seemed to affect the vociferousness of the crowd. Compared to the constant cheering and chanting that accompanied the US draw with the Netherlands in Wellington, the loudest cheers against Portugal came when substitutes Rapinoe and Trinity Rodman entered the fray.
Criticism
Former US stars have been scathing in some of their analysis, most vocally Carli Lloyd, who said the team was “lucky not to be going home right now” following the “lackluster and uninspiring” performance against Portugal.
Americans from coast to coast flock to Women's World Cup, including one very dedicated superfan
“There is a difference between being respectful to the fans and saying hello to your family, but to be dancing, to be smiling – I mean the player of the match was that post,” Lloyd said in response to footage of Rapinoe, Morgan and Crystal Dunn dancing before the Portugal match.
Coach Andonovski said it was “insane” for anyone to question the team’s commitment when asked by CNN to respond to criticism from Lloyd.
“To question the mentality of this team, to question the willingness to win, to compete, I think is insane,” Andonovksi said. “Everyone is entitled to their opinion and you know, they can say whatever they want, but I just know how this team feels,” he added.
English referee Rebecca Welch (R) shows a yellow card to US midfielder #16 Rose Lavelle (L) in the match against Portugal. Lavelle will now miss her team's last-16 match on Sunday.
Saeed Khan/AFP/Getty Images
Three-peat?
Amid the criticism it should be remembered that winning three championships in a row is extremely hard to do at the professional club level in any sport, let alone the World Cup in international soccer – no nation has ever won three consecutive World Cups in either the men’s or women’s game.
The biggest enemies of sustained success in sports are waning motivation and, most often, time. The amount of effort, skill and sustained passion it takes to keep up success over a long period of time is beyond difficult and the years between World Cup editions only ratchet that tension up.
Professional teams have a hard enough time keeping a core championship group together and healthy for three consecutive years on a club level – the US women’s team is attempting to do the same thing eight years after winning the 2015 World Cup.
The legendary generation of players which won that tournament is largely gone – just five players from 2015 remain on the squad in this tournament.
The teams that have pulled off three-peats are often legendary. The 1990s Chicago Bulls, the late 90s-early 00s New York Yankees and Los Angeles Lakers, the mid-century Boston Celtics and Montreal Canadiens, the New York Yankees (again) in the 1930s and 40s – all teams that live long in the consciousness of American sports fans.
In club soccer since 2000, only an iconic Real Madrid side led by Cristiano Ronaldo won three UEFA Champions Leagues in a row from 2016 to 2018.
Meanwhile Spain is the only country to ever win three major international championships in a row – Euro 2008, the 2010 World Cup and Euro 2012 – and those were still two different competitions taking place every two years, not very comparable to what the US women are attempting to do in winning three World Cups in a row.
This US Women’s National Team still has a path – albeit one that might be rockier and steeper than most observers expected even two weeks ago – to join those legendary ranks. If they pull it off, perhaps the disappointing draws from the 2023 tournament’s group stage will be seen as a case of survive-and-advance.
Sophia Smith (R) comes off to be replaced by Rapinoe (L) during the match against Portugal.Buda Mendes/Getty Images
Eyes on the prize
USWNT players and Andonovski are looking ahead to the knockout stage, where they will meet Sweden, who topped Group G.
“The approach is do or die,” Morgan told reporters after the game. “You know, the knockout stage, anything can happen and we are looking to get back, feel good, get our bodies back and we’ll be watching tomorrow to see who will be playing.”
Star midfielder Lindsey Horan, who has scored two of the team’s four goals, was keen to focus on the positives after the game but recognizes the need for improvement.
Amid the criticism it should be remembered that winning three championships in a row is extremely hard to do at the professional club level in any sport, let alone the World Cup in international soccer – no nation has ever won three consecutive World Cups in either the men’s or women’s game.
The biggest enemies of sustained success in sports are waning motivation and, most often, time. The amount of effort, skill and sustained passion it takes to keep up success over a long period of time is beyond difficult and the years between World Cup editions only ratchet that tension up.
Professional teams have a hard enough time keeping a core championship group together and healthy for three consecutive years on a club level – the US women’s team is attempting to do the same thing eight years after winning the 2015 World Cup.
The legendary generation of players which won that tournament is largely gone – just five players from 2015 remain on the squad in this tournament.
The teams that have pulled off three-peats are often legendary. The 1990s Chicago Bulls, the late 90s-early 00s New York Yankees and Los Angeles Lakers, the mid-century Boston Celtics and Montreal Canadiens, the New York Yankees (again) in the 1930s and 40s – all teams that live long in the consciousness of American sports fans.
In club soccer since 2000, only an iconic Real Madrid side led by Cristiano Ronaldo won three UEFA Champions Leagues in a row from 2016 to 2018.
Meanwhile Spain is the only country to ever win three major international championships in a row – Euro 2008, the 2010 World Cup and Euro 2012 – and those were still two different competitions taking place every two years, not very comparable to what the US women are attempting to do in winning three World Cups in a row.
This US Women’s National Team still has a path – albeit one that might be rockier and steeper than most observers expected even two weeks ago – to join those legendary ranks. If they pull it off, perhaps the disappointing draws from the 2023 tournament’s group stage will be seen as a case of survive-and-advance.
Sophia Smith (R) comes off to be replaced by Rapinoe (L) during the match against Portugal.Buda Mendes/Getty Images
Eyes on the prize
USWNT players and Andonovski are looking ahead to the knockout stage, where they will meet Sweden, who topped Group G.
“The approach is do or die,” Morgan told reporters after the game. “You know, the knockout stage, anything can happen and we are looking to get back, feel good, get our bodies back and we’ll be watching tomorrow to see who will be playing.”
Star midfielder Lindsey Horan, who has scored two of the team’s four goals, was keen to focus on the positives after the game but recognizes the need for improvement.
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“I’m very confident in this team,” she said after the match. “Obviously, this is not the performance that anyone wanted to see, or we felt like we could do.
“I think we need more and we build off of that. You’re going to see a better team in the round of 16.”
Andonovski himself added, “We’re not happy with our performance, but we qualify for the next round. We’re moving on.”
The USWNT’s next fixture takes place on Sunday at 5 a.m. ET. The match against Sweden, No. 3 ranked in the world by FIFA, has plenty of World Cup history. Sweden drew with the US in 2015 and also beat them in 2011 – the last time any team defeated the USWNT inside regulation at a World Cup. The US defeated the Scandinavian side in the group stage in 2019.
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