World Cup, Day 13 Analysis
USA survive by the skin of their teeth, while group rivals Netherlands make them pay for a wasteful three games. In Group D, Sarina Wiegman shows first big signs of changing England's system...
USA escape by the narrowest of margins
Talk about skin of your teeth stuff. It felt unthinkable when the groups were drawn, it felt even more so after a comfortable opening game win, but back-to-back world champions USA were the width of a post away from going out of this tournament at the group stage.
They'll just be thankful to be through, with winning the group gone early in the game as the Netherlands raced into a 3-0 lead which became unassailable by the end of the match, and it means a face-off with old rivals Sweden in the second round for Vlatko Andonovski and his side.
The US though will have a lot of thinking to do though. Because whatever they are trying isn't working. Lynn Williams and Rose Lavelle came in for what felt like positive moves, but neither really hit the spot. Williams was the main goal threat, but fired USA's best chance over the crossbar, and while Lavelle made some of her trademark driving runs, her final ball was all too often off-piste. Her costly booking also means she misses the Sweden game.
Alex Morgan could rarely get in the game, Sophia Smith was quiet while as against the Netherlands, Portugal found it all too easy at times to get in behind the USA's midfield. By the end, a team who so often strike fear in the opposition, looked fear-stricken. Passes were wild, shots were snatched at, crosses were flapped at.
Perhaps playing Sweden will suit USA more with pace on the break through the likes of Smith, Rodman and co, because Portugal sat in for far too long and tended to forget about the fact they needed a goal, which means it as at least job done to an extent for the USA.
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Portugal reverted to type, but you can't knock an impressive debut
How to summarise Portugal's World Cup? It's a tough one. Let's be honest, they were given a tough hand, drawn with the two finalists from 2019 wouldn't have been easy for any of the eight debutants we've seen at this tournament.
On the one hand, they were a very solid and well-structured unit from back to front They only conceded once in the group stage and will be one of few teams in recent years who can say they held world champions USA to a 0-0, especially at a major tournament.
But Francisco Neto seemed to forget about the other side of things. Against Netherlands, they barely even entered the opposition penalty box, even after going 1-0 down, and it was a similar story against the US. It felt like with 10 minutes to go the game would get stretched as Portugal would surely pour forward, but it never happened.
One bit of route one football allowed Ana Capeta the chance to knock the USA out, but that was about it. After going for it against Vietnam, he again withdrew two of his most impressive players from that game in Andreia Jacinto and Telma Encarnação.
Don't get me wrong, I understand setting up to contain the USA and remain in the game and they did it brilliantly, but with 10-15 minutes to go there was nothing to lose and everything to gain. Four points from that group for a debutant nation is a superb achievement, but it just feels like it could have been a little bit more.
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