The USWNT has been far from impressive at the Tokyo Olympics. The defense has been shaky, the midfield often overrun and the forwards unable to stay onside. But Team USA is through to the medal rounds thanks to the heroics of goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher, the one constant this tournament.
In 1999, the USWNT was on top of the world. Americans fell in love with the 99ers who won the Women’s World Cup on home soil, with Brandi Chastain’s shirtless celebration becoming one of the first soccer moments to transcend into mainstream culture in the U.S.
Twenty years later, the USWNT was back on top of the world. Megan Rapinoe led the USWNT to a fourth Women’s World Cup, but the love didn’t necessarily follow. Half of the country hated the team for reasons having little to do with soccer.
U.S. Soccer morale isn’t too high across the board right now. On the women’s side the USWNT has done anything but impress at the 2020 Olympics with one decent performance and two horror shows. Meanwhile on the men’s side, the B-team is grinding out Gold Cup results and is preparing for its biggest challenge yet, Qatar.
I’ve seen several posts online from fans in agreement that they would rather lose to Mexico 5-0 than fall to Qatar at home. I would have to agree in all honesty.
Athletic apparel company Title Nine gifted the USWNTPA $1 million on Wednesday — the largest sum the players association has ever received — saying it’s to help solve the pay gap between the men’s and women’s national soccer teams. It’s an awesome gesture similar to when LUNA Bar made a large donation in 2019. What does it really mean for how much the USWNT is paid for the Olympics? Let’s dig in.
Se acabó la fase de grupos del fútbol femenil en los Juegos Olímpicos de Tokio y entre las conclusiones no hay dudas de que Estados Unidos fue una verdadera y sonora decepción. Las actuales campeonas del mundo avanzaron a los cuartos de final, pero detrás dejaron una imagen bastante vulnerable: derrota ante Suecia (0-3), triunfo ante Nueva Zelandia (6-1) y un extremadamente aburrido 0-0 ante Australia.
After a 0-0 draw with Australia confirmed the USWNT’s runner-up finish in Group G of the Summer Olympics, our collective focus shifted to Group F with the U.S. scheduled to play the winner on Friday in Yokohama.
With a 2-0 win over New Zealand, Sweden locked up top spot in Group G at the 2020 Summer Olympics, rendering Tuesday morning’s 0-0 draw between the USWNT and Australia somewhat meaningless. Both the U.S. and the Matildas will be joining Sweden in the quarterfinals, where the Americans will meet either the Netherlands or Brazil.
For all the talk about building momentum and playing their best stuff come the knockout rounds, the USWNT has very little momentum and could put you into a soccer-induced coma heading into a quarterfinal against either the Netherlands or Brazil after drawing Australia 0-0 on Tuesday morning.
The optimist might say “job done.” The USWNT had nothing to gain here with Sweden locking up the top spot in the group, but the team could’ve still dropped to third with a defeat. The realist will say “yeah but that was terrible.”
Estados Unidos tuvo un debut horrendo en los Juegos Olímpicos. La caída 0-3 ante Suecia fue tan categórica que Megan Rapinoe lo resumió mejor que nadie: "nos patearon el trasero". Hoy, sin embargo, el USWNT se recobró del mal paso con una contundente victoria de 6-1 ante la selección de Nueva Zelandia. La historia es que pudieron ser diez, pero cuatro conquistas fueron anuladas por fuera de juego.
The USWNT bounced back, as basically everyone expected it to do, taking care of New Zealand 6-1 on Saturday in Saitama, Japan. After they were crushed by Sweden in the Olympic opener, the Americans needed a response, and this was a pretty good one. It was a fairly straightforward victory, though not necessarily the sort of performance that will scare the other medal favorites in Japan.
One thing Team USA did accomplish was providing one of the few audience members a profound understanding of the intricacies of the offside rule.