Any match between the fourth (Germany) and fifth (USA) ranked teams in the world would be expected to produce a close, entertaining spectacle.
On Sunday in Marseille, we got the latter but not so much the former as the U.S. women’s national team took sole possession of the top spot in their Olympic group with a convincing 4-1 victory.
Soon after a big early save from goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher to deny what was likely Germany’s best chance of the entire match, the USWNT quickly took control of the game led by their world-class attacking trio. Within ten minutes, Sophia Smith opened the scoring at the back post from a Trinity Rodman cross.
The woman donning eye-catching pink braids who German magazine Kicker described as an “American pop star” caused their country issues throughout the first half with her pace down the right flank while Smith’s opener made her the sixth USWNT player to score a goal in both the Olympics and World Cup before the age of 24.
Under mounting pressure, the Germans found a release through fullback Giulia Gwinn pushing forward to score a wonderful long-range goal to equalize in the 22nd minute. Naeher would have wished to do better, getting little push-off on her attempted diving save, but it should take nothing away from Gwinn’s strike.
Regardless, the USWNT generated an immediate response through Swanson who tapped in a rebound off the post following Smith’s top-of-the-box shot. Give credit to Swanson for continuing her run by crashing the goal, which her defender did not, ensuring she would be first to the loose ball. Of course, none of it would have occurred without the initial fight from Smith, pushing off her German defenders to get off the shot attempt.
With the goal, Swanson became the second player in USWNT history to score three goals in the group stage of a single Olympics tournament alongside Abby Wambach in 2012.
Before the half ended, and immediately following an injury to…
Source link : https://sbisoccer.com/2024/07/uswnt-delivers-dominant-group-stage-win-over-germany
Author : Justin Ruderman
Publish date : 2024-07-29 01:05:07
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Author : soccernews
Publish date : 2024-07-29 01:58:23
Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.