You may not have been watching (you should be watching), but the U.S. Women got off on the right foot in their pursuit of the 2015 Women’s World Cup title, beating Australia 3-1 on Monday night.
Sure, they didn’t get off to the best start, as they were generally outplayed by Australia in the first half, with a deflected goal by Megan Rapinoe against the run of play making the 1-1 scoreline look better than the on-field product. But as the second half wore on, the USWNT wore down Australia and spent the last 30 minutes dominating physically like a good American side should, finished off by Megan Rapinoe taking it in herself for a properly good goal like the boss she is.
Or, if you write for Australia Women’s Soccer’s official website, the sucky jerks from the U.S. were outplayed by a clearly superior Australian team, before the stupid crowd and goalkeeper screwed everything up and the Australians got tired, and wah wah wah. Look at this nonsense:
1: The USA, well, they just aren’t that good
The US certainly like to talk a good game. The reality is they play a fairly rudimentary, bog-standard 4-4-2, were short of ideas going forward and outmanoeuvred tactically. ‘Play it long and look for the head of Wambach’ seems the default game-plan for a team stuck in the past.
World football has moved, in case Jill Ellis hasn’t noticed. US were outplayed by a better, smarter footballing side – who were also without two certain starters in Polkinghorne and keeper Williams – before the Aussies ran out of gas.
US relied on the individual brilliance of Megan Rapinoe to win them this game. And Hope Solo in the US goal saved the Americans on numerous occasions in front of a vocal ‘home’ crowd in Canada. If it wasn’t for this world-class keeper, this could’ve been a different result.
2: Australia has developed into a world-class team
Technically gifted, tactically aware, good pressers, attacking intent, young, fearless – this team is fabulous to watch and has developed to a point where they are clearly a better footballing nation than the US.
Whoa… Take about four steps back, Australia. Maybe try beating the U.S. one time in your country’s history (all-time record: 23 losses, two draws, no wins) before calling yourself a “clearly better” national team, and remember that having world-class players like Rapinoe and Solo on the team is the reason why the U.S. is better, not an excuse for how they beat you.
You know what? Let them talk. We’re done arguing. Next time someone gets beat by the USWNT and tries to play it off as a fluke, we’ll be over here, giving you this look:
(Via FTW and Jose Garcia)
