Shock-and-awe football gives US the final edge
Perhaps the Women’s World Cup can be stripped down to this simple truth: 22 women kick a ball around for 90 minutes over the course of a 52-game tournament and then, at the end of it, the United States lift the trophy.
The US looked like the best team in their first game, when they thrashed Thailand 13-0, and they ended it looking in a different class against Holland. Europe has thrown everything it has at them and all have come up short. There can be no arguments, no doubt, no confusion: the US are worthy champions.
As hard as Spain, France, England and the Dutch have made them work, the US have overcome all of them on their way to winning their second successive World Cup and their fourth since 1991.
They walked the toughest, trickiest, most testing path to the final, wobbled occasionally, stumbled a little, but kept marching on. In the end nobody could match their shock-and-awe football, not the skill of the Spanish, the finesse of the French, not the power of the English or the lightning counterattacks of the Dutch. Fitter, faster and stronger, the US have held off the European advance for now. The gap is closing, the threat to US domination has never felt more real. It is a clear and present danger, but for now they remain the only superpower. They are worried about the future, the big clubs of Europe are starting to outspend them, but their glory belongs in the present.
All that is left to decide is how many of them will accept an invitation to the White House from President Trump to celebrate their success. Considering their willingness to engage in political battles on behalf of their gender, and given Trump’s divisive domestic policies, it would be a surprise if any broke ranks to attend. It will be a symbolic middle-finger salute to the most powerful man in the world, which given what this team represent as feminist icons, could not be more apt. It was equally apt that it was the scourge of the US president, Megan Rapinoe, who opened this game up, converting the penalty won by her co-captain, Alex Morgan, after the Californian golden girl had leapt into the boot of Stefanie van der Gragt at the start of the second half. A second goal swiftly followed as Holland were forced to chase an equaliser, a wonderful solo effort from perhaps the tournament’s most skilful player, Rose Lavelle, in which she dribbled, drifted and dipped her way into the area before slotting a shot beyond the goalkeeper.
Game over, 20 minutes left to play, but until that point, Holland had made a real fight of it. The US had scored inside the first 12 minutes in every game of the tournament – take the lead, hurt the opposition early has been the American way throughout. Except Holland did not buckle under the early pressure. This was a proper test, not a walkover, and it took the US half an hour to create their first chance, Julie Ertz smashing a halfvolley straight at Sari van Veenendaal, and the goalkeeper fisted it clear. Samantha Mewis was kept out by Van Veenendaal before Morgan got on the end of a Rapinoe cross – the Dutch keeper making a mess of things, kicking the ball on to her own post.
Van Veenendaal, though, was more impressive when Morgan let one go from range, getting down well to turn the shot round the post.
The US grew bolder, they pushed higher up the pitch and Holland were ready. Twice they almost got through on the counter. And it was Holland who finished the half looking stronger, Vivianne Miedema dribbling into the area, spreading panic in the US defence, a lunge, a trip, but she did not go down looking for the penalty. Perhaps she should have done, because the US certainly would have. Was the balance of power tilting? Maybe, just maybe.
No, the hope was false, the US are relentless and got the little bit of good fortune you need to win finals, the ball looping high into the air, Van der Gragt stuck a boot high to intercept, missed the ball and the streetwise Morgan did the rest. She knew she did not need to control possession, she just needed to get a touch and her momentum would carry her into the defender’s dangerously high foot. A video assistant referee check confirmed Holland’s fears and Rapinoe took over. Lavelle’s goal was the security they needed and it was one that underlined her individual brilliance. Holland tried to come again but the US were too strong, too streetwise. They are the world’s best for a reason. In the year of the 75th anniversary of the D-day landings, the US have conquered rather than liberated Europe.
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