USWNT equal Dutch in frenzied World Cup draw
from Alyssa Clang, with YardBarker.com/www.yardbarker.com
Two 2019 World Cup finalists. Two injury-stricken powerhouses. Two frenzied, physical playing styles. And, in the end, two teams with nothing to separate them on the field.
The Netherlands and the U.S. Women’s National Team played out an aggressive and absorbing 1-1 draw in Wellington. It’s a result that suits both teams in their hopes to advance to the World Cup knockout rounds, but one that leaves plenty up to chance: the worse off of the two will likely face Sweden, a team that delights in killing giants.
It was a quintessential ‘game of two halves’, with the Dutch handily winning the first and the USWNT, powered by substitute Rose Lavelle, bossing the second.
The Fox broadcast in the States made much of the Dutch three-person defensive line before the game. Their concern — one shared by many soccer neophytes tuning in — was that the U.S. attackers would blitz through the three defenders, and that the Dutch would be much better off fielding four.
But Dutch coach Andries Jonkers knew something the Fox crew didn’t: that a strong, abrasive five-person midfield would be plenty of cover for his team’s lightweight defense. Within 10 minutes of the first half the Dutch had dominated the center of the park, passing casually to one another without much concern of losing possession. They forced the USWNT to play a game of chase.
And that worked beautifully for the Dutch, because when they did finally break forwards to attack, the USWNT were often too tired to follow them. Jill Roord’s brilliant daisy-cutter goal in the 17th minute sailed past several U.S. players who lacked the legs to block it.
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When the halftime whistle blew, the USWNT looked exhausted and defeated. But when they took the field for the second half, substitute Rose Lavelle threw her arms in the air and forced the crowd to cheer, and suddenly, everything was different.
The USWNT built confidence slowly but surely as the game progressed, leveraging Lavelle’s energy and speed to break behind the previously impenetrable Dutch defense. But when the breakthrough finally happened, it didn’t come from Lavelle’s speed; instead, it came from captain Lindsey Horan’s palpable frustration.
After getting shoved over for what felt like the thousandth time, Horan finally complained to the referee, delaying the taking of a USWNT corner for a full two minutes while she argued her case for better protection. It all came to naught, and a visibly irritated Horan returned to the penalty box to resume her position for the corner.
In true captain fashion, she jumped up, slammed a perfectly timed header into the far corner, and responded to her anger by getting the U.S. back into the game in a big way.
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Neither team looked happy to settle for a draw. Both continued to press until the very last minute. But the tied score line was a fair representation in the end.
Two 2019 World Cup finalists. Two injury-stricken powerhouses. Two frenzied, physical playing styles. And, in the end, two teams with real designs on deep tournament runs.