USWNT's dreams of Olympic gold dashed in listless 1-0 loss to Canada
KASHIMA, Japan — The U.S. women’s national team crashed out of the Olympics with a dud of a 1-0 loss to Canada here on Monday, a fitting end to a tournament in which the most dominant soccer team in the world never hit top gear.
Officially, the Americans are going home because of a 75th-minute penalty, conceded by Tierna Davidson, awarded after a video review. Canada’s Jessie Fleming converted it. Backup U.S. goalkeeper Adrianna Franch just barely couldn't save it.
But really, the Americans are going home because they were poor, throughout the Games and here on a sleepy, sticky-hot evening at the Ibaraki Kashima Stadium. They had no rhythm. No composure. No verve.
Instead, there were errant passes. Sloppy touches. Fatigue. Frustration.
Head coach Vlatko Andonovski and fans alike had envisioned a fluid, ferocious USWNT that pressed opponents high up the field, picked them apart through midfield, and pounced on mistakes. It did very little of that here in Japan, throughout the tournament and Monday night.
It tried, but didn’t have the legs to stifle teams in the attacking half, and didn’t have the sharpness to play the beautiful, clockwork soccer that it knew — or thought — it could play.
And in the struggle, it learned why the World Cup-Olympic double has, for almost three decades now, been an unconquerable challenge.
No team has ever won the Women’s World Cup and Olympic gold medal back-to-back, and the reason often postulated is that success restrains evolution. Formulas that lead to trophies are retained, and trotted out again 13 months later, by which points stars have aged, opponents have caught on and tactics have become outdated.
U.S. Soccer interrupted that logic when it introduced Andonovski as its new head coach months after World Cup glory. Andonovski brought a new system, new styles, and new energy to the USWNT. They didn’t lose a game for 19 months. They entered the Olympics unbeaten in 44 games, and seemed impervious to all that had felled previous World Cup winners. “I don’t even remember the last time we gave up a goal,” Megan Rapinoe would later say.
Then they arrived in Tokyo, and realized 25 months is a really long time.
They weren’t stale tactically. They were just old, weighed down by a grueling five games in 13 days, all in 90-plus-degree heat and humidity. They were pummeled by Sweden, and neutralized by Australia, and clutch against the Netherlands but never the world-beating machine that anybody thought they’d be.
On Monday, they came alive at times in the second half. The first half had yielded zero shots on target, and really zero attacks of note whatsoever from the U.S. After an hour, Andonovski went to his big-name stars off the bench. Megan Rapinoe, Christen Press and Carli Lloyd replaced Lynn Williams, Tobin Heath and Alex Morgan, all of whom had been anonymous. And the U.S. immediately perked up.
In truth, it had been better after halftime even before the subs. Rose Lavelle and Crystal Dunn were lively. Lindsey Horan combined with Dunn down the left.
Lloyd finally tested Canadian goalkeeper Stephanie Labbe with a curling shot in the 65th minute.
A few minutes later, Julie Ertz rose to meet a Rapinoe corner, and met it well, but Labbe tipped it over the bar.
And then there was a Lindsey Horan header that settled right into Labbe’s arms. The U.S., suddenly, seemed to have a firm grasp on the game. Canada couldn’t get hold of the ball, or out of its defensive half. Press tested Labbe again in the 71st minute. Lloyd later clipped the bar with a header.
But it was Davidson’s defensive lapse, against the run of play, that proved costly. She didn’t feel a Canadian attacker on her back, and swung her leg. The ref initially gave a goal kick. Upon review, she pointed to the spot. Fleming tucked the spot-kick in the side-netting. And the U.S. is going home.
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