The US Women’s national team went unbeaten and scored an unconscionable 18 goals in its three CONCACAF Women’s Championship matches over the past seven days, and are now 90 minutes from qualifying for the 2019 Women’s World Cup. The semifinals are Sunday against the runners-up in Group B, which will be decided Thursday.
That being said, I have a few leftover thoughts about the Americans’ performances, as well as another interesting thing while watching the Group A matches:
Dominant? Yes. That’s crystal clear. Clinical? Not so much.
I’ll be honest when I say that the last 270-plus minutes of football were enjoyable to watch. Refreshing, even. Lunenburg, Mass. High School boys’ soccer coach Andy Christensen wrote to me on Sunday evening: “These women play amazing football; why can’t our men’s program be so effective?” He went on to comment about how well the US women move off the ball, and that he hoped his Blue Knights — and again, I stress it, the boys’ team — were watching how to move off the ball. Simply put, the US Women — the world’s No. 1 team, according to the FIFA rankings — were totally and thoroughly dominant, from the first kick of the ball against Mexico last Thursday night to the full-time whistle against Trinidad & Tobago Wednesday.
However, let’s ask this question: were the Americans as clinical as they should have been in the final third?
Given the scores — 6-0 over Mexico, 5-0 over Panama Sunday, 7-0 over Trinidad & Tobago Wednesday — one can look at that and say, “Sweeney, you must be out of your Samuel Adams-loving mind.” Seriously, it wouldn’t be the first time someone said that. Those score lines humble most men’s teams — yes, I’m looking right at the Revs, looking right at any men’s team in MLS, the Premier League, etc; and yes, that includes the US men’s national team, too.
But when you look at the amount of possession, the amount of chances, and the amount of time in the opponent’s defending third (and granted, the quality on the ball compared to that of the Americans lacked in Group A), the Yanks weren’t clinical enough for my liking. There were plenty of opportunities for goals; how many times did their shots kiss the woodwork? And with the exception of Trinidad, Mexico and Panama didn’t exactly park the bus; I don’t mind the "lack" of goals Wednesday, given T&T’s defensive deployment. Did you turn off the TV thinking that the US should have doubled their scores? I sure as hell did.
The reason I’m being so nit-picky about this? When the Americans get to France next June, they will be going up against 23 of the world’s best, and if you’re not clinical there, on the world stage, you are going to get punished. The quality of a Germany, of a Sweden, of an England, of a Japan… they can be ruthless.
The Americans need to do that, too.
US Women scoring leaders for the tournament:
- Alex Morgan 4 goals
- Carli Lloyd 3 goals
- Rose Lavelle, Megan Rapinoe, Tobin Heath 2 each
- Julie Ertz, Sam Mewis, Christen Press, Crystal Dunn, Lindsey Horan 1 each