Dominant U.S. women repeat as World Cup champs. Ann Killion’s analysis.
Americans set titles mark behind Rapinoe, Lavelle
Quatre fois.
Four times. The greatest version of the greatest women’s sports team in history is the world champion again. Backtoback and for the fourth time.
The United States beat a tough, tenacious Netherlands team 20 to claim the women’s World Cup trophy Sunday in Lyon, France. With its record fourth championship, the team stands one behind Brazil’s men and tied with the Italian and German men.
On their way to victory, the American women left their blood on the field. Their sweat. Their fight. And ultimately, their tears of joy.
They won it with goals by old and young: Megan Rapinoe, who turned 34 on Friday and was starting her third World Cup, executed a perfect penalty kick. Breakout star Rose Lavelle, just 24 and in her first major tournament, had the goal of the Cup, a leftfooted individual act of perfection in the 69th minute. Their combined success in the biggest game was a statement both of the lineage of the past and the brightness of the future.
The U.S. players proved they were, again, the best in the world while being in the eye of the hurricane: fighting for equal pay and treatment, feuding with the president of the United States, pushing back against charges of arrogance and cockiness.
They talked. They walked. They made their statement on the field and weren’t afraid to state their beliefs off of it.
The final Sunday was the dramatic climax to a threeyear cycle of change and growth that began with a devastating loss at the Olympics in 2016.
The angst and drama lasted through tumultuous phases of turnover, of new strategy and new faces, of criticism and doubt flung at both coaches and players.
The cycle of change included protests during the national anthem, discourse on sexuality and gender rights. It included a genderdiscrimination lawsuit filed in March against the team’s boss, U.S. Soccer. It lasted through recent questions about distraction and parity and, absurdly, against charges of showing too much joy.
And it ended in a packed stadium in Lyon — the world capital for women’s soccer — with a decisive victory.
The game was more difficult than expected, which was fabulous. This U.S. team, which opened against an overmatched opponent in Thailand, ultimately had to fight through the toughest bracket of a loaded tournament. It ran a gantlet against France and England, and then faced the reigning European champions before staking its ultimate claim to greatness.
“This is a team that grabs the moment by its neck and says, ‘This is ours,’ ” ESPN analyst Julie Foudy said, after spending a month in France watching the descendants of her groundbreaking 1999 squad.
With every new World Cup cycle, the skill level and talent pool grows exponentially in the women’s game. The talent in this World Cup was far beyond what we’ve seen in the past. But the U.S. team continues to not only keep pace, but surpass its own high standard of excellence. It has jumped to a different level from where it was just four years ago in Canada, when Carli Lloyd on offense and Hope Solo in goal were largely responsible for carrying the team to the title.
This team was more complete. So deep it could have theoretically fielded two teams in this tournament (though not the top two teams, as U.S. defender Ali Krieger cheekily suggested).
“This team is light years ahead of 2015,” Foudy said. “Deeper, more creative, stronger up front. It’s like night and day.”
Coach Jill Ellis faced withering criticism as she rotated player after player into camp. She tinkered until the last minute, bringing in Krieger after a twoyear absence because of doubts about her defense. And, sure enough, when Kelley O’Hara had to leave the game for concussion protocol after colliding with a Dutch player, it was Krieger who was tapped to replace O’Hara.
Ellis becomes only the second coach in history to manage a team to backtoback World Cup championships. But Vittorio Pozzo, who accomplished the deed for Italy in 1934 and 1938, benefited by a corrupt system under prime minister Benito Mussolini and a depleted field because of the impending second world war. Ellis, it should be noted, made less than a tenth of what former men’s coach Jurgen Klinsmann earned in his final year with U.S. Soccer and less than several coaches on the men’s side, until recently.
Sunday’s final was a matchup between two tough sides full of gritty athletes. The underdog Dutch stayed in the game largely because of the outstanding play of keeper Sari van Veenendaal. The Netherlands had not made the World Cup until 2015 and now has won the European championship and finished second in the world. Like the American men, the Dutch men failed to qualify for the 2018 World Cup. Their women’s side likely benefited from the soccercrazy, orangeclad fans who flooded into France.
The game stayed tense and scoreless through the first half. Becky Sauerbrunn, the indispensable defender, had her head cracked and bloodied, but came back into the game. The image of her kneeling on the ground with blood pouring down her face is likely to become memorable.
But the iconic symbol of this team’s victory will be that of Rapinoe, hair tinted lavender, arms outstretched in triumph, joy and confidence.
Hers was one of the most dramatic story arcs an athlete can have. Doubted because of age and previous injury during the past cycle, she became the essential captain. Because of her actions in support of Colin Kaepernick in 2016 and her statements in January about not wanting to visit the White House, she became the subject of a Twitter tirade by the president. She responded with two goals against France in the quarterfinals. Though she sat against England because of a hamstring injury, she was back for the final and again made her presence known.
At the end of the match, Rapinoe held aloft both her Golden Ball trophy as the player of the tournament and her Golden Boot trophy as the top goalscorer. Her visage was a symbol of what had taken place over the past month in France.
A twist on the French motto: Liberté, égalité, fraternité. Liberty, equality, sorority. And Victory.