In case you didn't know, U.S. Socer has been replaying past games that the US Women's team played in (and the men) every Wednesday. Last week was the unforgettable Snowclassico and this week's game was the US Women's National Team game against Brazil on August 2, 2018, in the Tournament of Nations. Women On the Pitch had not been made yet so we did not write a blog for this game so we figured this would be the opportunity to write one. So here it goes.
Background knowledge about the match:
The USWNT starting line up was Megan Rapinoe, Crystal Dunn, Alyssa Naeher, Lindsey Horan, Becky Sauerbrunn, Tierna Davidson, Emily Sonnett, Rose Lavelle, Alex Morgan, Julie Ertz, and Tobin Heath. An interesting fact is Julie Ertz was wearing number two instead of the number eight and Jill Ellis was still coaching the USWNT. This was the Tournament of Nations final and the USWNT had to win by two or more goals to win the Tournament. If the USWNT did not win by two or more goals, Australia (who were all sitting in the stands) would win. One last thing is that Alex Morgan was the starting captain for the US.
First Half
The game started off with Brazil who had kickoff. Three minutes in the US earned a corner kick. Megan Rapinoe lined up to take the corner and rocketed it into the air but a Brazilian player was able to clear it out. A few seconds later in the fourth minute Brazil served a freekick into the eighteen-yard box but Tobin Heath was able to knock it out. Two minutes later in the sixth minute, Tobin Heath crossed the ball into the eighteen-yard box. Alex Morgan went for it but missed so then Meagan Rapinoe went for the ball and shot it but it missed the goal. In the eleventh minute, Rapinoe got the ball on the left side of the field and took a shot but it curved wide. One minute later Crystal Dunn got a yellow card after pushing a Brazilian player in the face. Two minutes later in the fourteenth minute, Megan Rapinoe crossed the ball in on the ground from the left side of the field right to Julie Ertz who took the shot but the ball went straight to the goalkeeper. In the sixteenth minute, Brazil got on the board after Tierna Davidson on the US tried to deflect the ball over the goal but accidentally put in the goal in the upper ninety. In the twentieth minute, Rose Lavelle took a free kick for the US which soared into the eighteen-yard box but it went straight to the Brazilian keeper's arms. Later in the twenty-second minute, Crystal Dunn got the ball inside the eighteen-yard box and kicked a beautiful volley but the goalkeeper was able to tip it over the bar. In the twenty-seventh, as the Brazilian player dribbled down the field, Alyssa Naeher came out out of her goal but stood her ground and made an amazing save to keep the score from becoming two to zero. In the thirty-third minute, Lindsey Horan crossed the ball from the right side of the field to Rose Lavelle who shot it the first time and put the ball into the goal near post!! The score was one to one. In the thirty-ninth minute, Megan Rapinoe scored but it was called offsides. Each team was taking a lot of shots but the score managed to stay one to one after 2 minutes of stoppage time before the halftime whistle was blown.
Before the second half began the US subbed McCall Zerboni in for Rose Lavelle.
Second Half
The US started with kickoff and the second half was underway. Only seven minutes after the half started in the fifty-third minute, Julie Ertz charged into the box. Ertz slotted the ball into the upper right corner after a cross in from Tobin Heath. The US was up 2-1!! Eight minutes later in the sixtieth minute, Tobin Heath shot the ball and it looked like it was going wide but the Brazilian goalkeeper was able to get it before it went out. A few seconds later in the sixty-first minute, Alex Morgan passed the ball to Tobin Heath. Heath received it just outside the box and rocketed the ball into the lower-left corner! The US is now up 3-1!! Then eight minutes later in the sixty-ninth minute, Casey Short was subbed in for Tobin Heath. In the seventy-fifth minute, the US earned a free-kick just outside the box and Megan Rapinoe lined up to take it. She served the ball into the box but it went just wide of the goal. A few seconds later the US earned another free-kick. Megan Rapinoe served the ball into the eighteen-yard box and Alex Morgan ran onto the ball and tapped it into the goal! Now the US is up 4-1! Later in the eightieth minute, Carli Lloyd was subbed in for Meagan Rapinoe. Eight minutes later in the eighty-eighth minute, Abby Dahlkemper was subbed in for Crystal Dunn. Only a minute later in the eighty-ninth minute, Alex Morgan was taken down and needed to be taken off by stretcher. Morgan was not taken to the locker room but instead was taken to the US bench to be checked out. Christen Press ended up subbing in for Alex Morgan. The referee then announced at the end of the ninety minutes that there would be three minutes of extra time. Even though those three minutes felt like thirty years, the USWNT held on and were able to win by three goals which meant they won the 2018 Tournament of Nations!
A lot has changed since that game. The USWNT won another world cup, Alex Morgan is having a baby, and the USWNT got a new head coach!
Make sure you keep supporting the US Women's National Team and check out our other blogs!
Smed, Jamie. Tobin Heath, Alex Morgan & Rose Lavelle. 16 May 2019. Flickr,
flickr.com/photos/highwaytodistraction/47923973977/. Accessed 26 Mar. 2020.
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