David vs. Goliath in the WWCup
The moment that American soccer fans have waited for has finally arrived once again.
The United States Women’s National Team has again reached the finals of the Women’s World Cup. Today marks the fifth trip to the finals, and the world will soon see if the winningest women’s national team in the world will claim its fourth Women’s World Cup or if it will fall to what is likely the biggest underdog to reach the final, the Netherlands.
Known as Oranje (Orange) or Leeuwinnen (Lionesses) in its home country, the Dutch women’s team is playing only in its second FIFA Women’s World Cup. Add
to that the team’s record of 1-2-1 (win-loss-draw) from the 2015 Women’s World Cup and the fact that the team has outscored its opponents 11-3 in a 6-0 run this year makes this one of the WWCup finals for the history books.
The Netherlands won its group in the first stage of the quadrennial competition, conceeding a goal each to Cameroon and Canada, before taking on Japan in the first round of the knockout stage. After the Dutch striker Lieke Martens scored in the 17th minute of the match, Japan leveled the game in the 43rd minute. Martens then took to the spot after a Japanese defender handled the ball in the penalty area, the FC Barcelona star converted the penalty kick for what became the game-winning shot.
From that PK, the Dutch have not conceeded another goal, defeating Italy 2-0 and sending Sweden to its third opportunity for a third-place medal. (Sweden defeated England 2-1 Saturday afternoon in Nice to earn the medal once again.)
But today marks the biggest match Oranje has ever played, despite winning the 2017 UEFA European Championship in its third appearance. (The team also earned its first Olympic qualification by becoming one of the top three European finishers at the Women’s World Cup.)
While this might be the Netherlands’ first trip beyond the group stage, it is not unusual to see the reigning European champion reach the final — although the last two times it happened
(2003 and 2007) Germany earned its only two WWCup titles. Germany, the reigning Olympic gold medal team, was defeated by Sweden in the quarterfinals, eliminating the eight-time European champion from Olympic qualification.
The Stars and Stripes is no stranger to the final two matches in the Women’s World Cup. The USWNT has reached the final round in each of the eight Women’s World Cups, never leaving with less than a third-place finish. It has also claimed four Olympic gold medals and a silver before struggling in 2016 with a fifthplace finish.
The USWNT is by far the favorite for this year’s final, and despite outscoring its opponents
18-0 in the group stage (including a 13-0 rout of Thailand that was criticized by many soccer fans as unsportsmanlike), the team gave up a goal in each of its three knockout stage games. Prior to the goal scored by Spain in the ninth minute of the Round of 16 match, the USWNT had not conceeded a single goal in its last eight games
(648 minutes).
While an official lineup will not be released until about an hour before the match, some players are all but guaranteed to see time on the pitch today. For the US, Alex Morgan, Carli Lloyd, Rose Lavelle, Crystal Dunn, Lindsey Horan, Julie Ertz, Tobin Heath, Ali Krieger, Samantha Mewis, Kelley O’Hara and Becky Sauerbrunn have all seen significant time in the front 11 spots with Alyssa Naeher dominating in the goal.
Naeher has given up just three goals in her second Women’s World Cup while turning in three clean sheets and 12 saves while Morgan, in her third WWCup, needs just a single goal to earn the golden boot for the most goals scored in this Women’s World Cup. Megan Rapinoe, the team’s most outspoken member, trails Morgan by a single goal with five, but after injuring a hamstring against France in the quarterfinal round, she did not take the field and may not take the field for today’s match.
Sari Van Veenendaal will all but be guaranteed to start in goal for the Dutch team with Desiree Van Lunteren, Stefanie Van Der Gragt, Merel Van Dongen, Dominique Bloodworth, Sherida Spitse, Danielle Van De Donk, Jackie Groenen, Jill Roord, Shanice Van De Sanden, Vivianne Miedema, Lieke Martens and Lineth Beerensteyn likely to see significant time on the pitch.
Regardless of the outcome, the winner of the match will go down in history books — either as the Dutch David that defeated an American Goliath or as another win for a dominant American squad.