Aggressive, scrappy, tenacious, and tough are words that have been used to describe the Women’s USA Soccer team.
On the attack immediately, the USA Women’s Soccer team got goals from Megan Rapinoe and Rose Lavelle in using a tiger like mentality to grab back-to-back FIFA World Cup titles by cutting down the Netherlands, 2-0 in Lyon, France on Sunday afternoon.
The player of the match, Rapinoe, converted a penalty kick in the 61st minute of the second half to give the USA team a 1-0 lead, one that would hold for the win.
The penalty kick opportunity surfaced when Forward Tobin Heath’s pass found Forward Alex Morgan in scoring ranch before she took a spill caused when Netherlands’ defender Stefanie van der Gragt fouled her with a swift kick to the upper right arm as she entered the boxed area. The ball deflected off the head Dutch Midfielder Sherida Spitse before it reached Morgan at the 57:53 mark of the contest.
With the Netherlands goalkeeper Sari van Veenendaal shifting to the left, Rapinoe, who have scored six goals in five matches, lined the ball to the right side, into the net, sending the crowd into a frenzy.
An interesting fact before the call, watched French referee Stephanie Frappart as she walked over to the VAR room to review the replay before clarifying the penalty.
Eight minutes later, Americas dream girls picked up its second and final goal of the game when Midfielder Lavelle single-handedly weaved and bobbed between three defenders to send a beautiful left-footed shot past an outstretched Netherlands goalkeeper Veenendaal into the right corner of the net as she collected her third goal in six matches.
USA defender Crystal Dunn set the table for the score when she stole the ball from Netherlands’ Midfielder Danielle van de Donk, passed it to Midfielder Sam Mewis, who found Lavelle streaking down the right side of the field.
USA women’s Manager Jill Ellis remains undefeated in World Cup play with two consecutive titles. Ellis, without much to say, filled with emotions in an interview after the game, admitted being ecstatic over her team’s performance.
The USA team now has four World Cup titles with the last one coming in 2015 after defeating Japan, 5-2 in Canada.
The Dutch had a few moments inside of the USA’s territory, but it watched the American team turn up the defensive pressure. It’s best chance for a goal came when Forward Lineth Beerensteyn penetrated the ball from the left side, toward the middle of the field where she got off a shot between three defenders at the 76:48 mark of the contest, but goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher caught the ball in front of the net to snuff out the attempt
The relentless pursue led the USA team on the attack from the opening ticks of the game. Although several strikes were foiled by the Dutch. Despite coming away without any points in the first half, the USA continued its aggressive attack until it paid off.
Its defense spoke volumes as it protected its end of the field by holding the Netherlands scoreless. Its tenacious defense aggravated the Dutch throughout.
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