They pushed they usually shoved. They gave in addition to they received. They traded pictures after which they traded targets. However by means of 90 supremely bodily — and at occasions thrilling — minutes on Thursday, the USA and the Netherlands couldn’t separate themselves on the Girls’s World Cup.
And they also walked off after essentially the most eagerly anticipated recreation of the group stage with a 1-1 draw that must be ok.
The Netherlands, which scored first, could remorse that it didn’t come away with a win. However not an excessive amount of. “I feel we’re undoubtedly not sad,” Jill Roord, who scored her group’s purpose, mentioned of the temper within the dressing room.
America, which produced way more scoring probabilities, could really feel it deserved one. Its purpose, from Lindsey Horan, got here after a number of good alternatives and was adopted by a half-dozen extra. “At that time it was our recreation,” Coach Vlatko Andonovski mentioned. “And I’m simply dissatisfied that we didn’t rating a couple of.”
America and the Netherlands know one another effectively, in fact. This recreation was a rematch of the 2019 World Cup closing, but in addition of a second assembly, a 12 months later, within the Netherlands, and a 3rd on the Tokyo Olympics in 2021. America received all of these video games. However even its playmaker, Rose Lavelle, admitted that these have been completely different groups, with completely different coaches and completely different kinds. So maybe it was not a shock that the end result was completely different, too.
The sport at Sky Stadium was a bruising affair, a frigid day marked by powerful tackles {and professional} fouls that at occasions felt it was solely a second or two away from boiling over. Ultimately, although, it was determined by two small moments.
The primary was a slip by U.S. defender Crystal Dunn within the seventeenth minute that set off a scramble completed by a tough, low shot by Roord that sneaked previous U.S. goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher.
The second second, the USA’ response, got here after one more arduous foul within the 62nd minute. Dropped by a deal with in entrance of her group’s bench, Horan, the U.S. co-captain, dusted herself off, strode straight to the center of the penalty space for a nook kick by Lavelle, after which threw herself at it to ship the header that tied the rating.
America pressed relentlessly for a winner from there, however the Netherlands — seasoned by historical past, improved by its previous encounters in opposition to the People — hunkered down and fought off each one in every of them.
The end result left the groups tied atop Group E with 4 factors from a win and a draw, and crunching the mathematics that it’ll take to win the group and attain the knockout rounds. For now, that edge goes to the People on purpose distinction, plus-3 to plus-1, however that might change over the ultimate group video games.
America will face Portugal on Tuesday, a recreation that might be performed concurrently with the Netherlands’ recreation in opposition to Vietnam. The People and the Dutch is not going to see one another once more except they each attain the ultimate. Gritty performances like Thursday’s recommend that each groups could have the mettle to hold round for some time.
