USA vs. Nigeria: Score and Twitter Reaction from 2015 Women's Soccer World Cup

Missed set piece after missed set piece after missed set piece. The United States did their best to squander every opportunity Nigeria gave them. In the end, though, the Americans had too much talent to be held out the entire match.

Abby Wambach scored a goal in the 45th minute and Hope Solo posted her second straight shutout, and the United States earned a 1-0 victory in their final Group D matchup. The U.S. clinched a group championship with the win and will move on to the knockout stage. They will play the third-place team from either Group B, E or F. Nigeria, which went 0-2-1 in group play, has been eliminated.

The United States has advanced to the knockout stage at each Women's World Cup since its inception. The current team will move on and attempt to continue a legacy of third-place finishes or better in every appearance.

If the group stage is any indication, the United States has the talent to make that happen—just not quite the rhythm. For the second straight match, goalscoring seemed like a nearly impossible task. The U.S. beautifully worked its way into the teeth of the Nigerian defense, only to botch the play at the worst possible minute.

Throughout the first half, the United States was given set pieces and other opportunities they failed to convert. Wambach eventually ended the scoring drought just before the two sides went in for the halftime break, but this is a problem the U.S. needs to correct moving forward.

"For me, I definitely think that the U.S. has more goals if we're playing on grass," Wambach told Anne M. Peterson of the Associated Press (h/t Los Angeles Daily News). 

Even if the problem is the playing surface—the U.S. complained even before the tournament began—nothing is going to change in the knockout round. It's the reality of their situation, like it or not.

Nigeria was also able to keep the United States off the board by employing a rough, bullying style. The side was whistled for 12 fouls, drew four cards and had defender Sarah Nnodim sent off in the 69th minute. The style continued a trend prevalent throughout the tournament for Nigeria, at that point already playing without defender Ugo Njoku, who was suspended for throwing an elbow. 

The physicality continued even after Nnodim's departure, which had to make the United States' inability to finish even more frustrating. The U.S. ended the match with 14 shots, seven of which were on target, compared to seven for Nigeria.

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After the game, Nigeria coach Edwin Okon showed his frustration by refusing to shake U.S. coach Jill Ellis' hand:

Scoring the team's lone goal should help quiet criticism of Wambach, who has been in less-than-ideal form for much of the tournament. Wambach was even used as a substitute in the United States' 0-0 draw with Sweden, not entering until the 68th minute. 

"I think my role for this team, being a longer tournament, might be different from game to game, opponent to opponent," Wambach told Peterson. "We have such strong depth, that's one of the biggest strengths of our team, and the ability of our coaching staff to go down our bench to fix problems that are happening and to close out games...And hopefully when we get to games four, five and six—and hopefully seven—those decisions will pay off."

Also back in form—or, well, at least in the starting lineup—was Alex Morgan, who has been slowly building her stamina as she recovers from a knee injury. After playing limited minutes against Sweden and Australia, Morgan was on the pitch until the 66th minute Tuesday. She attempted four shots, three of which were on goal, before being subbed out for Sydney Leroux.

Although she wasn't the goal-scoring maven to which we've become accustomed, Morgan appears close to being ready for a full 90 come the knockout round. 

"Going back as far as the send-off games, we kind of put together a plan in terms of loading her," Ellis said, per Jamie Goldberg of the Oregonian. "That's important because we didn't want her to suddenly go from not playing to playing a lot."

Ellis was full of interesting coaching decisions Tuesday, as she also brought Shannon Boxx and Christie Rampone in as subs. Making her first appearance of the World Cup, Rampone became the oldest woman in history to play in the event, per Paul Carr of ESPN. She is the fifth player to appear in five World Cups.

Still, the U.S. will need more on the offensive end going forward. The defense and Solo have done their jobs, allowing just one goal in the first three matches. But the margin for error will close as the knockout round progresses. The longer the U.S. struggles to find its way on the artificial turf, the more vulnerable they'll be for an upset.

For now, though, they're advancing. That's all that counts.