USWNT Hitting Stride as Women's World Cup Final Approaches
The United States will play in a second straight FIFA Women's World Cup final after knocking out Germany on Tuesday night in an impressive semifinal performance. It was, in fact, the Americans' finest showing of the tournament, and it came directly after what had previously been their best match, against China in the quarterfinals.
That makes for a pattern, which will be a welcome development for USWNT supporters. After enduring a string of indifferent displays from their team early in the tournament, American fans can now take heart in the fact that the U.S. is peaking at exactly the right time.
Earlier in the tournament, that hardly seemed possible. The team's problems started to show in Group D, the so-called "Group of Death," which the U.S. won despite often lacking coherence in midfield and the final third. The attacking issues were most apparent in a scoreless draw with Sweden, a match in which the U.S. seemed to lack both the ideas and ability to break down the opponent. The trend continued in wins over Nigeria in the final group game and Colombia in the round of 16.
But the most important fact at the time was that the Americans kept winning, which gave Ellis and her staff time to identify and address the issues. Meanwhile, the defense excelled, as it had from the start. After allowing a goal to Australia in the first half of the opener, the back five simply stopped conceding. Since then, no team has scored against the U.S.
Goalkeeper Hope Solo starred in the opener, making a string of top saves to stem an early onslaught by Australia. Center-back Julie Johnston stepped into the spotlight next, leading and organizing the back line like an old pro despite the fact that this is her first World Cup at the senior level.
Full-back Meghan Klingenberg made a memorable goal-line clearance to preserve the draw with Sweden, while center-back Becky Sauerbrunn and right-back Ali Krieger have played solid, reliable football throughout the tournament.
Thanks to that solid defensive foundation, the U.S. had the time it needed to grow into a strong offensive side. Starting with China, the Americans finally began playing better attacking soccer, and against Germany in the semifinals, they were clearly better than the world's top-ranked team.
The transformation came largely from tweaks made out of pure necessity. After drawing a yellow card against Colombia in the round of 16, Lauren Holiday had to sit out the China match through suspension. Her absence represented a problem for Ellis: Who would partner with Carli Lloyd in central midfield?
Ellis settled on 22-year-old Morgan Brian, a teammate of Lloyd's with the Houston Dash in the National Women's Soccer League. It turned out to be a brilliant decision. More so than Holiday—or Lloyd, for that matter—Brian played a deeper, more defensive style in central midfield, allowing her partner to push forward freely into the attack.
"Whoa. Morgan Brian had 10 interceptions and won 6 tackles. A lot of times defensive actions don't tell a whole story, but here... damn.
— Michael Caley (@MC_of_A) July 1, 2015"
With more balance in the middle of the team, the U.S. quickly became better across the pitch. Passing and movement improved. Opponents were unable to mount damaging counter-attacks so frequently. Attacks had more purpose, and Lloyd—a player with a reputation for performing well in big games—began scoring important goals.
Against Germany, the improvement reached a crescendo. With Lloyd, Holiday and Brian all in the starting lineup, the U.S. played its best game of the tournament yet. The Americans dominated most of the match and secured a 2-0 victory, though admittedly Germany missed a penalty and the referee helped the U.S. with two bad calls.
Ellis had gambled with her team selection, changing her formation from a 4-4-2 to something of a hybrid between a 4-3-3 and a 4-2-3-1. The risk paid off, with the U.S. creating plentiful chances while playing typically stout defense. The Germans, who had scored 20 goals in five previous matches, managed just one shot on target over 90 minutes.
"I think it just helped us dominate the midfield more, and in the modern game, I think that that's really important," Megan Rapinoe told espnW.com's Jeff Carlisle. "It did free us up on the outside, but it was also able to stem their attack, and then we could start (our attack) from there."
The American soccer media were duly impressed. "Tuesday was the best the United States has played in a long time—like two years kind of long time (sic)," wrote Jeff Kassouf at NBC Sports. "The U.S. played its best game of the Women’s World Cup," Sports Illustrated's Grant Wahl proclaimed in his lead sentence.
At Deadspin, Kevin Draper took the next logical step, arguing that the U.S. will now be favored in the final no matter the opposition:
"The American backline is the best in the world, only conceding a single goal to Australia. Their weakness has been regressive offensive tactics. But if they have finally figured out how to get their ridiculously good individual offensive players into a system that actually works, they’re unstoppable.
In the final they’ll face the winner of (Wednesday's) England-Japan match. Either way they will be the favorite—a much heavier favorite if it is England—to win their third World Cup.
"
Draper is right about all of that. The U.S. defense has dominated all opponents, making the Americans a formidable team throughout the tournament. But when playing kick-and-rush tactics in an outdated 4-4-2 system, Ellis' side didn't—or couldn't—play attractive, effective attacking soccer.
That latter part has been changing steadily over the last two matches, as the U.S. has played its best soccer so far in Canada. At this rate, the Americans are looking like the favorites to lift the trophy.
It won't be easy, for obvious reasons. Japan is the defending champion, having beaten the U.S. on penalty kicks four years ago in the final. But the Americans are peaking at the right time, and with another improvement between the semifinal and final, they will surely be able to beat either Japan or England.
Follow @MiguelCominguez
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