U.S. women begin Cup quest today
tion has been excellent. We are focused on the match.”
The Americans will have to use that excitement and hunger if they want to win back-to-back titles. Many have already called this tournament the toughest World Cup ever, given the increased popularity of women’s soccer. While Thailand may be the weakest of the U.S.’s three group-stage opponents, the talent gap around the globe has narrowed. Hosts France, England and Australia have emerged as contenders. Few would have given them a second though just few years ago.
In group play, the No. 1ranked Americans will also face Chile on June 16 at the Parc des Princes stadium in Paris and Sweden four days later at Stade Oceane in Le Havre. It is worth noting that the first tie-breaker in determining which teams advance to the knockout stage is goals scored.
“Right now, this is our sole focus,” striker Alex Morgan said of today’s game. “This team is united as I’ve never seen it before.”
The Sweden game — the toughest of the first round for the Americans — will be a rematch of the quarterfinals of the 2016 Rio Olympics, where the U.S. was eliminated on penalty kicks. After the game, outspoken goalkeeper Hope Solo called the Swedes a “bunch of cowards” for employing defensive tactics. As a result, U.S. Soccer terminated Solo’s national team contract.
Solo’s absence means the U.S. will feature Alyssa Naeher in goal. The 31-year-old Bridgeport, Conn. native will be making her World Cup debut against Thailand. Although there is pressure on Naeher, it certainly doesn’t help that Solo, in a recent BBC interview, blasted Ellis.
“Jill is not the leader I wish her to be,” Solo said. “She relies heavily on her assistant coaches. She cracks under the pressure quite a bit. But often that doesn’t matter because the quality of the players on the U.S. team is superb.”
Ellis shrugged off the comments, saying outside distractions won’t affect them.
“The focus is on the internal part of the game,” she said.
Twelve of the 23 players Ellis has called up for this tournament were part of the team that won the 2015 World Cup. In central defense, the U.S. will rely on the duo of Abby Dahlkemper and Becky Sauerbrunn, while Lindsey Horan and Julie Ertz will be tasked with securing the midfield. Ertz’s husband, the Philadelphia Eagles tight end and Super Bowl champion, is also along for the ride to cheer on the team.
Morgan, Megan Rapinoe and Tobin Heath — arguably the strongest frontline among the 24 nations competing at the Women’s World Cup — will be expected to get things off on the right foot. If that wasn’t enough offensive firepower, Ellis also has strikers Carli Lloyd, Mallory Pugh and Christen Press on the bench as super-subs.
At the last World Cup, Thailand lost its first two games to Norway and Germany by a combined score of 8-0, but closed out the group stage with a 3-2 win versus Ivory Coast. The team, currently ranked 34th, qualified for the World Cup after reaching last year’s Asian Cup semifinals, where it finished a surprising fourth.