Photo: Paul Rudderow
The United States Women’s National Team continued their dominance in the World Cup group stage Sunday afternoon, defeating Chile 3-0, and sealing their berth into the knockout stage.
Although the U.S. roster looked quite different from that of their match against Thailand, the Red, White, and Blue made it clear early on that they would persist in their attack-first style, garnering 13 attempts in the first half (compared to Chile’s one blocked shot).
As entertaining as Jill Ellis’s tactics are for spectators off the pitch, they are equally as productive on the pitch. Delran native Carli Lloyd nabbed the first of her two goals early in the 11th minute. When Chilean right back Su Helen Galaz attempted to clear a ball out, Lloyd met it at the top of the box and impressively redirected it across her body. Lloyd’s shot sailed into the far corner of the net, and the U.S. were up 1-0.
As impressive as Lloyd’s acrobatics were, Julie Ertz performed some magic of her own in the 26th minute. Racing to meet a Tierna Davidson corner kick at the near corner of the six-yard mark, Ertz somehow managed to head the ball backwards, past Chilean keeper Christiane Endler. Ertz, who had a near-perfect first half brought her side up to 2-0.
As if responding to her teammate, Carli Lloyd scored her own header off a corner kick less than 10 minutes later. Streaking into the box, the U.S. captain lept into the air to meet a lofty ball from Davidson, making solid contact with it. Endler had no chance to stop it, as Lloyd grabbed a brace and brought the lead to three goals before the halftime whistle.
Although they failed to score in the second half, the U.S. still controlled the match. Their press was relentless, keeping the ball in Chile’s half exactly as it had done earlier. The result was an unyielding series of offensive opportunities for the U.S. — notably several shots and headers from Christen Press and a Jessica McDonald shot that hit the far post — that would continuously test Chile’s keeper.
Still, Chile were unable to answer any of the U.S.’s goals, and the tournament’s top seeded team emerged victorious.
The U.S.W.N.T. face off against Sweden on Thursday at 3 PM E.S.T.. The winner of that match will leave Group F as the higher seed.
Three points
Corner kicks. As Chile saw, giving up _____________ corner kicks is not sustainable. Two of the U.S.’s three goals came off of corners, and if not for Chile’s keeper, it would have been many more.
Depth. When you have the likes of Carli Lloyd, Becky Sauerbrunn, Christen Press, and Mallory Pugh starting (or remaining) on your bench for a 13-0 victory, and the likes of Alex Morgan, Megan Rapinoe, Tobin Heath, and Rose Lavelle on your bench for a 3-0 victory… you have some depth. Tournaments like the World Cup can be grueling, and often the teams with the most depth come out on top. It will be interesting to see how the U.S. stack up against talented but more shallow rosters in the knockout round.
Christiane Endler. Chile’s keeper deserves some serious props. The U.S. press was too much for Chile to generate even a semblance of an offensive chance, so her performance wasn’t enough to bring her side to victory. Still, she was outstanding. This match could have been as big a blowout as the Thailand match, but Endler’s reflexes and positioning made sure that wasn’t the case.
Lineups
USA
Alyssa Naeher; Tierna Davidson, Becky Sauerbrunn, Abby Dahlkemper (Emily Sonnett – 82′), Ali Krieger; Lindsey Horan (Allie Long – 59′), Julie Ertz (Jessica McDonald – half), Morgan Brian; Mallory Pugh, Carli Lloyd, Christen Press
Unused substitutes: Samantha Mewis, Kelley O’Hara, Alex Morgan, Megan Rapinoe, Rose Lavelle, Tobin Heath, Ashlyn Harris, Crystal Dunn, Adrianna Franch
Chile
Christiane Endler; Su Helen Galaz, Carla Guerrero, Camila Saez, Javiera Toro; Claudia Soto (Yessenia Lopez – 46′), Karen Araya, Francisca Lara (Daniela Pardo – 89′); Daniela Zamora, Maria Jose Urrutia (Yessenia Huenteo – 68′), Rosario Balmaceda
Unused substitutes: Rocio Soto, Valentina Diaz, Maria Jose Rohas, Yanara Aedo, Natalia Campos, Javiera Grez, Fernanda Pinilla, Elisa Duran, Ryann Torrero
Goals
USA: Carli Lloyd – 11′
USA: Julie Ertz – 26′ (Tierna Davidson)
USA: Carli Lloyd – 35′ (Tierna Davidson)
Disciplinary summary
USA: Lindsey Horan – 23′
CHI: Francisca Lara – 26′
CHI: Yessenia Huenteo – 80′
CHI: Su Helen Galaz – 90 + 4′
It’s ironic how there were some out there who thought the US were classless in their celebrations against Thailand. This performance was “all” class. I can’t recall a women’s team looking this good and that’s saying a lot. Ok, I get it, it’s against another weak side and they’ll see much tougher competition. But you have to hand it to Jill Ellis. The work ethic is above and beyond even prior squads. Put the Thailand goalie in there today and it’s probably 8,9 or 10-0.
It’s a shame Chile is unlikely to go deep in the tournament because if they did, Endler would be a prime candidate for the golden glove award. Unfortunately, with a -5 goal differential they will likely need some luck just to make the round of 16.
Much as I hate to say it, so far this has been a fairly boring tournament. In 21 of 24 games, the higher seed has won. The three games that didn’t go to form included Nigeria beating Korea which is unlikely to mean much more than who finishes 3rd in the group and most likely becomes fodder for Germany in the round of 16. Argentina parked the bus to get a point against Japan for the only draw so far.
.
This means that the only real upset was Italy getting the stoppage time game winner against Australia. This shows to me that there really aren’t enough quality sides to spread out over 6 groups and still consistently provide quality entertainment.
.
Given that 9 of the final 16 have already been determined, I’m not expecting that much out of the next round of games. Hopefully things will improve once the Knockouts come around.
Yeah I agree it still doesn’t warrant a 24 team tourney and that there’s simply not enough quality to spread out. 8 countries already have 6 points after 2 games which is crazy. A 16 team World Cup would’ve been much more competitive.
Careful study of the replay shows that Julie Ertz took her goal with her forehead, not the occupit.
.
Like Ryan Rose, when watching live I thought she had used the back of her head also.
.
The point is worth making only to encourage younger players to practice the neck twist and chin tuck to strike with the safer surface.
That was an incredible goal.