The USWNT Can’t Keep Getting Away With This

For about half a second after the shot left Ana Capeta’s foot, the U.S. women’s national team was out of the World Cup. The Portuguese sub had run onto a ball flicked ahead by Francisca Nazareth and smashed a strike toward goal. Emily Fox’s last-ditch challenge had been evaded, Alyssa Naeher was beaten, and Julie Ertz and Naomi Girma—and every other person with a vested interest in the USWNT—held their breath as the shot rebounded off the outside of the post.

That was the best chance for either team to score in Tuesday’s match, but the USWNT was able to hold on to secure a drab 0-0 draw against Portugal. The result means the Americans finished second in their group for only the second time in women’s World Cup history. They’re now looking for answers ahead of a round of 16 game against Group G’s winner, which will probably be Sweden.

Throughout the World Cup so far, the Americans have looked incohesive, sluggish, and frankly bereft of ideas. Those trends continued against Portugal. USWNT players regularly put their passes wide of the target, kicked the ball into space no one was occupying, and failed to put more than one or two threatening attacks together.

When literal alarm bells started going off in the stadium during the beginning of the second half, it seemed a bit on the nose. Yet the warning sign went unheeded and the American attack that was vaunted coming into the tournament continued to struggle. You’d run out of fingers trying to count the number of times a U.S. player tried to do something fancy that didn’t come off, whether it was an ill-advised flick when a simple pass would have sufficed, or a lob down the line that found only an opposing player.

It’s been years since the USWNT has looked this disjointed, and many people will point the finger at manager Vlatko Andonovski. They wouldn’t be wrong. The USWNT hasn’t appeared to have a game plan in any of its matches, and his substitution pattern is bordering on unjustifiable.

Even Andonovski starting super-sub forward Lynn Williams on Tuesday felt like it came too late. Williams struggled to influence the game, which might not have happened had she gotten a chance to build chemistry with her teammates earlier in the tournament. We still don’t have a good reason she didn’t receive any playing time against Vietnam or the Netherlands. After all, she is, by Andonovski’s own admission, the “best 15-minute player in the world.”

Andonovski could have brought center back Alana Cook into the side and moved Ertz up to midfield, a move plenty of people have clamored for, to give the USWNT’s spine a bit more solidity. Instead, he’s remained frustratingly stubborn and has continued to make bewildering tactical choices. (Why on earth are you bringing on 18-year-old Alyssa Thompson with two minutes left in a game your team desperately needs a result from?)

Luckily, many of these mistakes have been covered up by Girma, who has been far and away the best U.S. player in this World Cup. There was a lot of concern about the American defense after Becky Sauerbrunn was forced to miss the tournament due to a foot injury, but that unease dissipates with every good decision Girma makes. The reigning NWSL Defender of the Year has been just as good as advertised. Nearly every dangerous Portuguese attack was stifled by the 23-year-old as she constantly beat forwards to the ball, calmly regained possession for the U.S., and floated dangerous balls over the top that regularly broke down Portugal’s back line. The Americans have let in only one goal in three games, and Girma is a huge reason they haven’t been tested more frequently.

While a great defense can keep you in matches, it rarely wins them for you. Disappointingly, U.S. forwards have looked out of sync for much of this tournament. Putting three past Vietnam seemed encouraging until we saw the Netherlands waltz to a 7-0 win over the tournament debutant.

The attacking depth for the USWNT is vast and varied, so it’s anyone’s guess as to why they’re struggling to find the back of the net. Sophia Smith and Alex Morgan are surely tired after playing the majority of minutes in the past three games. But even subs like Williams, Megan Rapinoe, and Trinity Rodman have found it difficult to establish a rhythm.

The forwards’ misfiring is certainly an issue, but the biggest problem in this team might be its lack of creativity and consistent service. The USWNT has veteran midfielders like Rose Lavelle and Lindsey Horan who are capable of producing individual moments of magic. Yet both have looked restricted and passive for much of the World Cup run. Never has the absence of Catarina Macario been felt so intensely.

None of this should take away from Portugal’s effort on Tuesday, though. The Portuguese were fantastic, executing their counterattack game plan to perfection. Capeta’s shot may have been its single best chance, but Portugal regularly looked dangerous when it got onto the ball. The team’s other major chance came in the 16th minute, when Jéssica Silva latched on to a perfectly weighted through ball, but she ended up dragging her shot wide. If simple balls like that are troubling the USWNT, the Americans might be in for a rude awakening.

I’d be interested to see Andonovski finally make major changes to his lineup, including the aforementioned option to bring in Cook while moving Ertz up the field. His hand might be forced after Lavelle picked up another yellow card on Tuesday, meaning she’ll have to miss the next game due to accumulation. Inserting Sofia Huerta at right back and having Williams or Ashley Sanchez ready to go off the bench could also alleviate the USWNT’s attacking woes. The team will need to be smarter in attack if Sweden is indeed its opponent on Sunday.

The Swedes may have beaten South Africa only 2-1, but they pummeled Italy in their second game, scoring five unanswered goals en route to a clean sheet. For the U.S., keeping Jéssica Silva and Diana Silva off the score sheet is one thing; stopping Stina Blackstenius and Fridolina Rolfö will be a much different beast.

Sweden is a familiar opponent for the Americans. In fact, before Tuesday’s game, the Swedes were the last team to hold the USWNT to a scoreless draw in the World Cup, all the way back in 2015. The U.S. would be crowned champions at the end of that tournament after similarly facing struggles in the group stage, but as things currently stand, it looks far more likely that the USWNT will go out early than repeat 2015’s turnaround.

Typically, USWNT matches have been a cause for celebration. Since the inception of women’s national team soccer, Team USA has been a force, scoring bucketloads of goals and clearly outclassing their opposition. Those days have been temporarily put on hold. Let’s see whether they can bring back that dominating spirit on Sunday.