FRA 1-3 USA

July 13, 2011

What’s most remarkable is that until about the 65th minute or so, the USA were not the best team on the pitch at all. So being able to react and change after a fresh substitution and score two goals after giving up a goofy one to Sonia Bompastor in the 55th minute is a major plus. The good teams can dominate play and look better, the ones that win titles are the ones who can pull out games when they are not necessarily dominating the run of play or are even the more fluid squad.

Because let’s be honest: until Pia Sundhage used her first sub to bring on Megan Rapinoe in place of Carli Lloyd, shifting Lauren Cheney into central midfield, the USA had been ahead by dint of one very good counterattack and score by Cheney from Heather O’Reilly in the 9th minute. Otherwise, the French were dominating play, keeping the ball in the Americans’ half and away from their weak links: the center halves and the keeper Sapowicz. Their 4-5-1 pretty much dominated a defensive-minded 4-4-2.

When Bompastor’s would-be cross bounced into the goal without going off another player, I wasn’t surprised at all. The French virtue is very attractive, attacking football. They run circles around opponents if they can hold the ball, and the U.S. women couldn’t connect passes until Cheney moved into the midfield and the additions of Rapinoe and Alex Morgan forced the French fullbacks to have to respect the speed.

The pass threaded by Cheney to Wambach’s header was exquisite timing, and headed with enough force to hear the goal rattle half a world away. Watching Morgan run on after that — two shots denied before the third goal meant the momentum shift was complete.

Credit the French for playing out of their shoes. If the Olympique Lyonnais ladies’ squad can produce a better center half or two over the next few years, les Bleus will be in the final next go-round. The benefit of playing a squad full of attacking mids like les Bleus is that after Sunday’s dramatics, we had to see for ourselves whether the U.S. could take control of a match they’d never had for the majority of it. We know that answer now, and now the Yanks will have to see if they’ll be taking on Japan for the first time in the tourney or looking for vengeance against the Swedes.

2:19pm | URL: http://tmblr.co/ZoH2Iy73pDjP
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(Notes: 23)