United States (Women's Football)

Carli Lloyd, who's won two World Cup titles and two Olympic gold medals with the United States women's national team, announced Monday her plans to retire from soccer after this fall's international friendlies and the 2021 NWSL season with NJ/NY Gotham FC.

Lloyd released a statement about her decision through U.S. Soccer:

When I first started out with the National Team in 2005, my two main goals were to be the most complete soccer player I could be and to help the team win championships. Every single day I stepped out onto the field, I played as if it was my last game. I never wanted to take anything for granted, especially knowing how hard it is to get to the top, but even harder to stay at the top for so long.

🇺🇸 FIFA & @USWNT legend @CarliLloyd has announced her retirement

👏 Thank you for inspiring so many young footballers across the globe, Carli

🏆 This #FIFAWWC Final strike will never be forgotten ♾ pic.twitter.com/4XQ9yJwPWy

— FIFA Women's World Cup (@FIFAWWC) August 16, 2021

The 39-year-old New Jersey native was the driving force behind the USWNT's triumph in the 2015 World Cup, winning the Golden Ball as the tournament MVP. She scored a hat trick inside the first 16 minutes of the final against Japan to jump-start a 5-2 victory.

It's part of an impressive 16-year run that's made her one of the most accomplished players in the national team's history, ranking second in appearances (312), fourth in goals (128) and sixth in assists (64).

"I would like to thank U.S. Soccer for helping to provide the opportunities and memories that will last a lifetime. I am forever grateful to have represented the crest and to be able to play for my country for the last 17 years," Lloyd said. "I will continue to support and cheer this team on and continue to find ways to help grow the game and inspire the next generation."

The USWNT is scheduled to play four upcoming friendlies, two in September and two in October, but dates and opponents haven't been announced for Lloyd's final matches.

Meanwhile, the Rutgers product has also played for 10 teams at the club level since 1999.

She won the FA Women's Cup during a loan stint with Manchester City in 2017, while the rest of her professional stops have come in the United States. She rejoined Gotham FC in 2018 after previously playing for the club in 2010 when it was known as Sky Blue FC.

Gotham FC currently sits third in the NWSL standings with a 5-6-2 record (21 points). They are eight points behind the Portland Thorns (29) and three points behind the North Carolina Courage (24) with a game in hand on both of those clubs.

The NWSL regular season runs through the end of October followed by the playoffs, with the championship match set for Nov. 20.

Gotham FC's next match is scheduled for Saturday, when they visit Cheney Stadium in Washington to take on the OL Reign.

American women dominated the headlines on Day 12 in Tokyo as Sydney McLaughlin etched her name in the history books, Team USA's women's basketball team extended its unbeaten streak in Olympic play to 53 games and the U.S. women's soccer team collected its bronze medal.

Elsewhere, Team USA baseball advanced to the gold-medal game, and Allyson Felix advanced to the finals of the 400 meters.

GOLD MEDAL GAME BOUND.#ForGlory🇺🇸 #TeamUSA #Olympics pic.twitter.com/RQhZM0G6Pv

— USA Baseball (@USABaseball) August 5, 2021

How did the United States' success Thursday affect its medal count and just how far behind China in gold does the country stand at this point in these Games?

   

Updated Medal Count

1. China: 34 gold, 74 overall
2. United States: 29 gold, 91 overall
3. Japan: 22 gold, 46 overall
4. Australia: 17 gold, 41 overall
5. ROC: 16 gold, 58 overall
6. Great Britain: 16 gold, 51 overall
7. Germany: 9 gold, 34 overall
8. France: 7 gold, 27 overall
9. Italy: 7 gold, 35 overall
10. Netherlands: 7 gold, 26 overall

Complete list available at Olympics.com.

   

Day 12 Highlights

USWNT Wrap Up Games on Positive Note, Wins Bronze

There was nothing easy about Thursday's bronze medal-winning victory over Australia for the United States women's national team. Originally expected to win gold, the team limped into the match following a humbling defeat to Sweden in the opening match and a stunning upset loss to Canada just two days earlier.

A players-only meeting, a bit of refocusing and contributions from team leaders Megan Rapinoe and Carli Lloyd in what may prove to be their final Olympic competition were enough to outlast an equally determined Australian squad.

Even then, the Aussies fought back from three goals down to bring it within one. They pushed late but it was for naught.

▪️ Second-most international caps of any player ever (312)
▪️ First USA player to score at four different Olympics
▪️ USA’s all-time leading scorer at the Olympics (10)

Carli Lloyd. Legend. 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/oyEJ9jzlm6

— B/R Football (@brfootball) August 5, 2021

Talk will soon turn to whether Rapinoe, Llloyd or Becky Sauerbrunn will make the multiyear commitment to return to international competition. If they don't, their legacies among the greats are cemented. They are leaders on a team that achieved unprecedented success during their time with it and they would walk legends; Lloyd became the leading scorer in team history following her score on Day 12.

   

McLaughlin Breaks Record, Earns Gold

Sydney McLaughlin just beat fellow countrywoman Dalilah Muhammad to earn the gold medal in the 400-meter hurdles and set a world-record time of 51.46 seconds. It is the latest competition between the two in which a record has been broken, dating back to 2019.

McLaughlin found herself being Muhammad down the stretch, ever-so-slightly hesitating coming off the penultimate hurdle. A lesser racer probably would have seen her dreams of gold unsatisfied. With momentum on her side, she pushed past her rival and earned the win.

Sydney McLaughlin and Dalilah Muhammad embrace each other after taking gold and silver in the women's 400m hurdles ❤️ pic.twitter.com/REfI1yppVg

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) August 4, 2021

"I saw Dalilah ahead of me with one to go. I just thought, 'run your race.' The race doesn't really start until hurdle seven. I just wanted to go out there and give it everything I had," she told Reuters.

Silver medalist Muhammad spoke with pride following the race. "Just like the men's race, all three of our times would have won any Olympics, any other year. I'm so proud to be part of that history and even more proud of my teammate Sydney."

McLaughlin downplayed the idea of a rivalry with Muhammad, also according to Reuters: "I just say iron sharpens iron. It's two people pushing each other to be their best."

Rivalry or not, the iron is indeed sharpened and the U.S. track and field team is better because of it.

Megan Rapinoe and Carli Lloyd scored two goals apiece as the United States women's soccer team scored a wild 4-3 win over Australia in the bronze-medal match at the Tokyo Olympics on Thursday.

The U.S. raced out to a 4-1 lead at Kashima Soccer Stadium in Japan, but the Aussies nearly mounted a comeback with a pair of second-half goals, including one by Emily Gielnik in the 90th minute. The Americans were able to hold off the late rally to secure bronze.

It marks a return to the Olympic podium for the USWNT, which was eliminated by Sweden in the quarterfinals at the 2016 Rio Games.

HISTORY MADE!

ICYMI, Carli Lloyd becomes @USWNT's leading scorer in Olympic history with 10 goals. @TeamUSA x #TokyoOlympics // @OnHerTurf x #OlympicHERstory pic.twitter.com/bqNRK3wKHr

— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) August 5, 2021

The match featured three goals within the first 21 minutes as Rapinoe tallied a brace for the U.S. sandwiched around a tally for Australian legend Sam Kerr.

WATCH. THIS. GOAL.

An unbelievable corner by Megan Rapinoe! #TokyoOlympics x @USWNT

Stream: https://t.co/FmEtvutDRA pic.twitter.com/jvod0GDyAB

— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) August 5, 2021

Lloyd scored just before the halftime whistle and added her second just six minutes after the break as it appeared the Americans were heading toward a blowout win.

The Matildas' Caitlin Foord cut the deficit to 4-2 in the 54th minute, though, and Gielnik got them back within one late on, but they couldn't find a stoppage-time equalizer to force extra time.

It was an impressive performance for the USWNT attack, which was struck in neutral for much of the Olympic tournament, including in a 1-0 loss to rival Canada in the semifinals. The U.S. racked up 18 shots, including nine on target, in the win.

Coming home with that fresh Bronze and couldn't be more proud of this team! Battling until the end it's been 40 days on the road and ending on a high makes it all worth it!! https://t.co/GV55i264Ie

— Alex Morgan (@alexmorgan13) August 5, 2021

While the Americans celebrate their podium finish, the conversation will soon shift to whether the roster could see a significant overhaul before the next major tournaments, the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup and the 2024 Summer Olympics.

The core that led the USWNT to the last two World Cup titles, a group that includes Lloyd, Rapinoe, Alex Morgan, Christen Press, Julie Ertz, Becky Sauerbrunn and Kelley O'Hara, already faced uncertainty before Tokyo about whether a youth movement was on the horizon.

Although those inquires grew louder throughout an often lackluster showing in Tokyo, the performance in the bronze-medal match showed what the current group remains capable of when clicking on all cylinders.

Expect to see more rising stars, including Mia Fishel, Ashley Sanchez and Naomi Girma, in friendlies and smaller tournaments over the next few years, but for now it appears the squad's longtime veterans will continue to fight for their spots on the national team in pursuit of a third straight World Cup championship.

Meanwhile, the women's Olympic soccer tournament wraps up Friday as Sweden battles Canada in the gold-medal match.

Canada's stunning upset over the United States in women's soccer at the Tokyo Olympics on Monday, its first victory over its neighbors to the south in two decades, catapulted them into the gold-medal game against Sweden Thursday.

The team's improved defense will be key to surviving the onslaught of a Swedish team that has looked like the class of these games, which began with a 3-0 shellacking of that same United States team.

That matchup headlines a day that will also see the previously favored U.S. women's national team battle Australia for the bronze medal.

     

Schedule (ET)

Thursday, August 5: United States vs. Australia (Bronze Medal Match, 4:00 a.m.)

Thursday, August 5: Canada vs. Sweden (Gold/Silver Medal Match, 10 p.m.)

      

How to Watch

Olympic coverage on NBC and Telemundo

Streaming available on the NBCOlympics.com, the NBC Sports app, the Telemundo Deportes app and Peacock

    

Preview and Predictions

Bronze-Medal Match: United States vs. Australia

The USWNT did not travel to Tokyo not to win a medal. That they will have to settle for the bronze after inconsistent performances in these games is enough of a blow. Leaving Japan without anything to show for their efforts is not an option.

The American team must improve their field awareness if it is to have any shot at beating a tough Aussie team that it drew 0-0 to in the group stage. Throughout these games, the U.S. has had nine disallowed goals after drifting offside. It has scored only eight goals during this year's Olympics.

The team will also be without starting goalie Alyssa Naeher, who suffered a bone contusion and hyperextension of her knee during Monday's loss to Canada. Adrianna Franch finished out that game and should be the starter for Thursday's pivotal matchup.

She and the rest of her squad will look to improve on a 1-1-2 record against Australia over the last four games, all of which were decided by two goals or fewer.

The American team will be looking to send Carli Lloyd out on a happier note after teammate Megan Rapinoe expressed disappointment in not being able to deliver her another gold medal.

Megan Rapinoe got emotional when asked about Carli Lloyd’s tenure with the USWNT following their Olympic semifinal loss 🗣️ pic.twitter.com/H0H3X9xalv

— B/R Football (@brfootball) August 2, 2021

"I mean, who knows, it might not be her last Olympics—but it probably is. Obviously, we want to send everybody out on the happiest note, and we weren't able to do that today," she said after Monday's loss.

Australia striker Sam Kerr is the player to watch for her team. Of the eight goals the Aussies have scored in these games, she has been directly involved in six of them. The USWNT did a great job of taking her out of the equation in their previous meeting, but letting her get loose Thursday could spell disaster for a U.S. team that cannot afford to give up even one goal.

Prediction: USWNT wins bronze in close 1-0 battle

       

Gold-Medal Match: Canada vs. Sweden

Canada's victory over the United States may have been a glorious moment 20 years in the making, but it will be imperative for the team to refocus because Sweden has looked like the team to beat in these Olympics.

They don't care that Canada has settled for bronze in two previous Olympic appearances, that the team has made it a goal to "change the color" of their medal or that they finally knocked off the USWNT. 

CANADA WILL CHANGE THE COLOUR OF THE MEDAL 🇨🇦

Canada beats the USA 1-0 in their Olympic semifinal

For the first time ever, Canada will play for GOLD in women’s soccer 🥇 pic.twitter.com/gudsTS7GTA

— CBC Olympics (@CBCOlympics) August 2, 2021

Sweden are unbeaten at the games, including a 3-0 group-stage victory over the U.S. 

Canada's defense has been strong of late, including the shutout of Morgan, Rapinoe and the USWNT that cashed their ticket to the finals. Still, they have not been without struggles. They won only one of their three group matches, drawing the other two, and only just scraped past Brazil and the U.S.

Sweden has systematically dispatched every one of its opponents, not needing extra time to do so.

There is a certain Cinderella, underdog story to Canada, and while it may end up having the support of the masses, this feels like Sweden's opportunity to make up for the recent second-place finishes in international play with an emphatic performance and gold-medal victory.

Requesting a change in the time of the match because of the excessive heat will not change the outcome for Canada.

Prediction: Sweden blanks Canada 3-0 to win the gold

The star players on the United States women's national soccer team had similar reactions following their semifinal loss to Canada at the Tokyo Olympics.

Alex Morgan, Megan Rapinoe and Carli Lloyd were all upset but forward-looking in their social media posts Tuesday:

Devastated to say the least not to be competing for a gold medal, but hungry for more and thankful we get to compete for bronze in 2 days. Thank you everyone for the support!

— Alex Morgan (@alexmorgan13) August 3, 2021

“Life has knocked me down a few times. It showed me things I never wanted to see. I experienced sadness and failures. But one thing for sure, I always get up.” #stillnotdone #Tokyo2020 pic.twitter.com/B1f7f5PZWB

— Carli Lloyd (@CarliLloyd) August 3, 2021

"Gutted. Motivated. Together. We have it all to play for," Rapinoe posted on Instagram, via ESPN.

"Not done yet," Lloyd added.

The United States will not play for a gold medal after the 1-0 loss to Canada, but will have a chance to play for the bronze medal Thursday against Australia.

Morgan, Lloyd and Rapinoe have seen plenty of ups and downs for Team USA over the past decade. They were all on the 2012 team that won gold at the London Olympics as well as the 2016 squad that lost in the quarterfinal and failed to medal.

The Americans are also coming off a win in the 2019 World Cup but failed to live up to their enormous expectations at these Olympics. Prior to the loss to Canada, the United States went just 1-1-1 in three group-stage matches before surviving on penalty kicks against the Netherlands in the quarterfinal.

These three stars will have to regroup for the bronze-medal match before considering the next steps of their careers.

There was a moment in the 15th minute of the USWNT's 1–0 loss to Canada on Monday that summed up the whole game and also was reflective of the United States' run throughout the tournament.

Sitting wide-open in a comfortable space between Canada's midfield and defense, Tobin Heath received the ball from an also-wide-open Kelley O'Hara. She turned to dribble toward the back line, with midfielders Quinn and Desiree Scott chasing her, and left back Allysha Chapman dropping ahead of her. Rose Lavelle was making an overlapping run toward the space left behind Chapman, and Lynn Williams and Alex Morgan were both hovering near the Canadian defense, ready to get on the end of a ball over the top.

Instead of taking any of those three options—over the top to either Morgan or Williams, or behind Chapman for Lavelle to run onto—she passed weakly straight across to Lavelle, forcing her to hold her run. Lavelle pinged the ball right back toward Heath, who immediately turned it over. The punchline: Scott then dribbled directly out of bounds. 

That pretty much said it all about how both teams played. Neither side was good. One side got really lucky at the right moment and won.

When looking at the U.S.' tournament as a whole, it's clear how this moment is a microcosm of it. O'Hara was right to pass to Heath. Heath was right to dribble into space. Williams and Morgan were right to be holding their runs on the back line. But somehow, when it counted, Heath couldn't figure out what to do. Plenty of things went right, until they didn't.

Much ink will probably be spilled on what this loss means to the U.S. Is this an indictment of coach Vlatko Andonovski tactically? Has the handover from one generation to the next happened too slowly? Where do they go from here?

I'm not convinced any of it means anything. There's truth to a lot of different criticisms: Andonovski probably overthought and overplanned some of the tournament, seeming to have lineup rotations scripted out from the beginning. He probably wasn't bold enough in putting some trust into the hands of his less experienced players. It's not hard to imagine Catarina Macario or even Kristie Mewis injecting some life into this game and finding a way to take it to extra time. 

But you can also see the reasoning behind those decisions. The pace of the Olympic tournament is unlike anything else in the sport, so of course players' minutes have to be micromanaged.

It's easy to criticize Andonovski's decision to trust his veterans after the fact, but how many times have Megan Rapinoe and Carli Lloyd conjured a bit of last-minute magic to get their team through? Macario might have scored an equalizer, or she might have choked.

As much as we can criticize individual coaching decisions or individual performances, there's no one concrete factor to hang this loss on. Rather, it seems clear that these players have been a bit off, for reasons we don't know but can guess at, since the tournament started.

The USWNT is not alone in this. Simone Biles, the best gymnast of all time, got to Tokyo and found that her body, under the weight of enormous expectations and a year older than she'd planned for it to be in these Olympics, suddenly refused to cooperate. Nyjah Huston, who has won more prize money than any other skateboarder in history, got to the finals and choked.

These are athletes who do not miss in big moments. Things aren't quite right for anybody.

But that's obvious, right? We all just lived through what was the hardest year of many of our lives. Some of these players took that whole year off from soccer, and those who didn't only got sporadic training and playing time.

These games are happening with no spectators. All athletes are used to that now, but these players all had a window where they got to play for crowds again, only to be yanked back into the cavernous empty stadiums of the pandemic. Even family members couldn't attend; Alex Morgan left her 14-month-old daughter at home. 

They're living in a bubble in a foreign country—and as that goes, you have to wonder if the whole experience isn't a little too reminiscent of how life was a year ago, whether players were stuck at home, hunkered down in England or living in the strict NWSL Challenge Cup bubble.

Of course those conditions were more or less the same for every team, but none of them carry the same expectations as the best in the world. Being anointed a favorite before the tournament has even started—see also Biles and Huston—is a colossal pressure.

For some on this team, this is almost certainly their last international tournament, but nobody's going to remember Lloyd or Rapinoe or Becky Sauerbrunn for these Olympics.

My bet is that this won't be how we remember Andonovski's tenure, either. How can you judge anybody by what they did or didn't do in the second year of a deadly pandemic?

With all of that said, the tournament isn't over. The U.S. still has a shot at bronze, in what will hopefully be a more entertaining match against Australia than the last one. This team always expects to win, and we always expect it to win.

But in the grand scheme of things, a bronze medal at the Olympics wouldn't so bad, would it?   

The United States women's national soccer team will not be taking home gold at the Summer Olympics for the second consecutive tournament.

Canada defeated the heavily favored U.S. 1-0 in the semifinals Monday in a match that served as a microcosm of the Americans' struggles throughout the event. Star forward Megan Rapinoe admitted the team is taking the loss hard.

It's terrible. We just didn't have it today. Just too many errors from us again. I felt like the space was there for us to play and we just couldn't get into it, too many touches or, you know, an errant touch.

That's football. They got, I think, one shot on goal, a PK, and from what it sounds like it was a PK. So yeah, it's a bitter one to swallow. Obviously we never want to lose to Canada. I don't think I've ever lost to Canada.

So it's a bitter one. Obviously there's still a lot to compete for. That's what I told the girls and what we talked about in the huddle. It's not the color we want, but there's still a medal on the line. That's a huge thing and we want to win that game, but yeah, this is...this sucks. It sucks.

The USWNT failed to live up to their pre-tournament billing as favorites from the outset. They dropped their opening match to Sweden, which halted a 44-match unbeaten streak and then played a goalless draw against the outmatched Australia in their final group-stage contest. 

While the team seemed to coalesce as the tournament progressed, the U.S. looked lifeless on the attack Monday against Canada.

It was clear that the United States had a significant talent advantage, but they came they came through with consistently poor execution when given scoring chances.

The United States will get a chance to earn bronze in a rematch against Australia on Thursday. That match could also be the 36-year-old Rapinoe's final Olympic contest as a member of the national team.

If you were having flashbacks to 2016 while watching the United States' shootout against the Netherlands, the players weren't. In a tidy parallel with their quarterfinal exit against Sweden five years ago in Rio, the Americans couldn't avoid penalties Friday with a 2–2 draw—only this time they had ice in their veins.

Whatever happened in the game itself, they looked every inch a championship team as they handily won with just four kicks.

During the run of play, this game was more of a head-scratcher than the U.S.' previous outings. Offensively, the first half was the best it's played all tournament. Players who started their Olympics looking uncharacteristically scared and clumsy—Lindsey Horan, Crystal Dunn and Samantha Mewis—found their feet and looked like world-class soccer players again when playing out of pressure.

Horan consistently did well in beating the multiple defenders who often mobbed her on the wings or outside the Netherlands' 18-yard box, dribbling and passing out of that pressure at different times. Dunn kept up with Dutch winger Shanice van de Sanden and joined the attack with overlapping wide runs, setting in motion the sequence that led to the Americans' first goal. Mewis, in the No. 10 role, used every bit of the considerable space the Oranje midfield often ceded as it shifted toward one side or the other.

The real highlight of the first half, though, was Lynn Williams, who made her first start of the tournament. From the whistle, Williams was effective in harassing the Dutch defense and combining with Mewis and Carli Lloyd to counter-press high up the field.

The Netherlands seemed unprepared for her to be as dangerous as she was, with its back line often squeezed narrow, leaving her lots of space to operate out wide. She punished it for that decision, setting up the U.S.' equalizer with a lovely cross that found Mewis' head.

In the second half, though—and especially after Vivianne Miedema scored her second goal nine minutes in—the U.S. started slipping. Everything got steadily sloppier. Defensively, much of the team looked switched off, and in possession, the ball wasn't finding its target.

Numerically, the first half had looked one-sided, with the U.S. maintaining considerable advantages in possession, duels won, passes and passing accuracy. By the end of extra time, it led only in duels won, and that was with a relatively narrow advantage of 53 percent to 47.

Extra time is almost always ugly; in this game, that ugliness started around the 60th minute for the Americans. The Netherlands was unlucky not to score a third goal, especially when Kelley O'Hara gave away a cheap penalty with a foul she should know not to make. Alyssa Naeher came up big with a save, foreshadowing what was to come.

This wasn't the first time Naeher saved her teammates from themselves—she also came up with a penalty save to keep the U.S. in the World Cup in 2019—but the penalties spoke to more than just her clutchness.

Despite having fallen apart in the hour or so before the final whistle, the Americans took those kicks like they knew they were through to the next round. Rose Lavelle, who's been one of the bright spots for the U.S. throughout the tournament, set the tone with a powerful chest-high strike well out of Sari Van Veenendaal's reach.

Christen Press, who famously shanked her 2016 attempt over the bar, took a big windup and then placed the ball cleverly in the lower left-hand corner. Finally, Megan Rapinoe's winner to the top right was downright cocky.

Or maybe it was Miedema, who led off the shootout, who set the tone. The Dutch striker had been excellent, scoring both goals for her team. She'd been excellent all tournament. Her kick, which Naeher saved, wasn't even particularly bad. But her expression as she trudged back toward her team—frustrated, defeated, queasy—said it all. She knew her team was done in that moment.

Sometimes it all comes down to vibes.

The Americans will face Canada in the semifinals, which is as favorable a matchup as they could have hoped for. Despite talk of a rivalry, it's been years since Canada has seriously competed with the U.S.

There's plenty of room for improvement: Abby Dahlkemper was bad enough again that she could have cost her team the game, and, of course, the whole squad needs to figure out how to stay alert for 90 minutes. But all things considered, the Americans should look forward to the semifinals with confidence.

They won ugly against the Netherlands, but they got the job done.

From the whistle, this one was different.

If you thought Team USA's scoreless draw against Australia on Tuesday was wildly dull (it was), it wasn't because the United States was playing in its usual fashion. In fact, the match represented a drastic and unprecedented tactical shift not just within this tournament, but also from Vlatko Andonovski's whole tenure managing the team.

The forward line was nominally Megan Rapinoe, Alex Morgan and Christen Press in a 4-3-3 configuration. In practice, though, it was Morgan and Rose Lavelle, as the U.S. played a de facto 4-4-2.

Instead of playing aggressively, Team USA sat back contentedly when the Australian defense had the ball, happy to cut off passing lanes and watch defenders pass uselessly among themselves. When the American defense had possession, they mostly mirrored the Australians. It was all very chill, as if the two sides had shaken hands before the game and agreed to take it easy.

But what shouldn't be missed about this game is the U.S. didn't need to win. It only needed a draw to comfortably advance. There's a notion that this team's yee-haw ethos is the reason it's so dominant, and if it drops that killer mentality, it must be because Andonovski is scared or doesn't trust his players. (Against Australia? Really?)

I think it's the opposite. I think he trusts them to adjust to a different system mid-tournament—and adjust again later. This versatility will be a huge benefit to the U.S. in the knockout stage as the competition gets tougher, starting with a World Cup Final rematch against the Netherlands on Friday. 

Team USA's approach may have looked passive, but it was formed by an important tactical principle: deny Australia's biggest scoring threat, Sam Kerr, the ball. For the most part, the Americans succeeded in doing that. The change in shape meant the Matildas' midfield trio was consistently outnumbered.

Australia's No. 6, in particular—initially Chloe Logarzo, who later was subbed off for Kyra Cooney-Cross—was played out of the game almost entirely by Morgan and Lavelle's smart positioning. The Aussies saw significantly more of the ball, owning a rather shocking 65 percent of the possession time. But offensively, they largely resorted to hopeful long balls over the top or up the wings.

When they did advance with the ball in wide areas, the U.S. worked to fence them in using three or four players, with their outside backs and wide midfielders both sitting deep. That strategy worked. In the second half, Kerr dropped deep a little more often, but it was with a note of frustration that she wasn't seeing more of the ball higher up. 

That's not to say there were zero concerns for the U.S. The one real chance it conceded—Mary Fowler's header hitting the crossbar after a long throw-in by Ellie Carpenter in the 18th minute—is worth studying. Aerial dominance in the box is one area the Americans can't let slip, regardless of tactics. Also worrisome was the dreadful passing accuracy everywhere in front of the back four. There, again, the team needs to be sharper, no matter what.

Andonovski also—and this, I believe, was the main reason he played Simpsons ball—wanted to save his players' legs going into the knockout stages. People forget how ridiculously grueling the Olympic schedule is. These teams have all played a game every three days, and those advancing are about to play a quarterfinal in another three days. A lot of those games are taking place in suffocating heat and humidity. Squad rotation is the main tool everyone uses to deal with that schedule, but if you're handed a game you don't have to win, why not give everyone as easy a day as possible? 

Of course, this strategy could have backfired. If Australia hadn't gotten unlucky and hit the crossbar, things might have been different; some will argue that it still could backfire, because the U.S. isn't cultivating the right mentality to win the tournament. That take comes off as a bit infantilizing, though, as if the players aren't smart enough to know the difference between a knockout game and a late-group-stage game when they only need a draw. Then there's the possibility the things that went actually wrong in this game really do spell disaster going forward.

Ultimately, it's hard to judge this performance without knowing what the next one will look like. Team USA faces the Netherlands, its opponent from the 2019 World Cup Final, on Friday. The Dutch, who have plenty of attacking talent in players like Vivianne Miedema, Shanice van de Sanden and Lieke Martens, dropped eight goals on China on Tuesday. They lead the field in goals scored with an outrageous-sounding 21. But they also drew the weakest group, and 18 of those goals were against China and Zambia.

Relevant to the U.S. is that the Oranje have also conceded eight goals, at least two in each game and by far the most of all the teams advancing to the quarters. Looking back at their dominant win over China, both Chinese goals came down to dreadful defending, and a number of Dutch goals were scored in footraces the Americans aren't likely to lose, especially if Andonovski sticks with the Tierna Davidson-Becky Sauerbrunn pairing on defense.

There are certainly reasons to doubt the U.S. None of the group-stage games were stellar, and one was positively grim. But I like their odds as they go into the quarterfinals well rested and on the back of a solid defensive performance against Australia.

Can we just pretend that first game didn't happen?

If Saturday's 6–1 win over New Zealand had been the United States women's first game at these Olympics, rumors of their untimely demise would have been much quieter. It wasn't a perfect performance, but it was a massive improvement over the team's miserable loss to Sweden earlier this week—and in any case, the only fans in the world who would expect a perfect match midway through the group stage in a tournament are American ones.

Of course, the difficulty in evaluating a victory over an opponent such as New Zealand, which looked hapless, is teasing apart how much came down to one team being good and the other team being bad—and it's hard to overstate how limp-wristed an opposition the Football Ferns mounted.

The key to the USWNT's dominance is always that their players are better than the players on other teams, but New Zealand's problem was worse than individual matchups. Unlike Sweden, it gave the Americans little trouble as they moved the ball wherever they wanted, and worse, even when it dropped into a defensive block, it conceded ample space and opportunities out wide. The second- and third-to-last U.S. goals—both of which Christen Press had a hand in, one as a scorer and the second as a facilitator—were made possible by a back line with no shape of which to speak. It was like playing FIFA against the AI with the difficulty turned all the way down.

Still, sometimes turning the difficulty down can be useful both as a confidence builder and to lock in certain patterns of play, and the Americans looked like their old selves in a lot of areas in which they struggled in the first match. The single biggest improvement came in the midfield, where starters Lindsey Horan, Julie Ertz and Rose Lavelle had great outings.

Lavelle, for her part, was fine against Sweden. Her problem was that she was cut off from Horan, Samantha Mewis and both wingers. With that sorted out, she offered quality, opening her Olympic scoring account with a beautiful first-touch finish on a Tobin Heath assist for the first goal.

With Ertz starting in the No. 6 spot, Horan was in her usual No. 8 position, and she notched a goal, a goal that was called offside but should not have been and an assist that didn't count, as the ball bounced off Abby Erceg for an own goal. As she does when she's playing her best, Horan was active across the full length and width of the field, dropping deep to cover for Ertz when necessary, combining with the outside backs and wingers, sending balls into the box and finding scoring chances herself. But again, it's difficult to compare her two performances given her skill advantage over the Kiwis tasked with marking her.

The other major factor in the midfield was Ertz's start. This game was a reminder of just how pivotal she is to the U.S. For one thing, having her as an anchor deep in the midfield frees up Horan to do what she does best. The team also benefits from her aerial dominance in the box and from her vision and long passing accuracy. More intangibly, Ertz is loud.

She's the person who makes sure the group project gets done on time, whether she has to do it herself or delegate. At one point in the first half, she pointed up the field, where she wanted right back Emily Sonnett to pass, then loudly told Sonnett off when she instead passed back to Abby Dahlkemper. You get to do that when you're always right.

That brings us to one of the few areas wherein the U.S. needs to make a change. Dahlkemper has been consistently poor; her performance against Sweden was maybe excusable given, well, everything, but this one sealed it. She was stunningly bad. In the early minutes, when the U.S. still looked a little nervy and was having to go end to end, the Kiwis easily split her and Sonnett multiple times.

Dahlkemper hardly made a move toward the ball on those occasions. She lost several aerial duels in the box, something American center backs are not supposed to do. Worst of all, she was pivotal in allowing New Zealand's consolation goal. Becky Sauerbrunn was probably always going to rotate out of the lineup for this one, but going forward, the pairing has to be Sauerbrunn and Tierna Davidson.

That goal is worth unpacking. Forward Paige Satchell momentarily stole Dahlkemper's soul from her body, cutting inside after the center back mishit her clearance and then easily finding Betsy Hassett after Dahlkempter was in a pile on the ground. On the other hand, the ball got into that area because Horan and Crystal Dunn, whether out of complacency or fatigue, allowed Katie Bowen to set a quick transition play in motion.

That's the sort of thing the U.S. has to tighten up if it's going to make a deep run. You can't drop six on every opponent. On the other hand, it's the sort of thing you expect early in a tournament. But the U.S. will need to continue rounding into form, as Australia presents a step up in quality compared to New Zealand, and the Americans need to avoid a loss to guarantee advancement into the knockout phase.

As the optimal starting lineup shakes out and the pressure ratchets up, expect this team to keep getting better. That's what it's all about, really.