By Samindra Kunti in Sydney
August 4 – In search of a third consecutive world crown, the US face a moment of truth in the last 16 against Sweden, a team that has defied the Americans in the past.
The Americans arrived in New Zealand with a lot of swagger and confidence but the Netherlands and Portugal gave the defending champions a reality check. Vlatko Andonovski’s team played a dramatic first half against the Dutch and almost crashed out of the tournament when Ana Capeta’s late strike for Portugal rattled the bar. Ultimately, the United States garnered five points from three games, a modest total by their standards and an indication of their poor form, or perhaps the improved levels of their opponents.
“We’re going to try and keep the noise out as much as possible, but use it to our advantage too because we are going to go out and fight and do everything that we have done in past World Cups to win this game,” said captain Lindsey Horan ahead of the Sweden match in Melbourne, referring to former player Carli Loyd’s severe criticism of the team.
The two teams have a long history and will meet for the sixth Women’s World Cup in succession, and the seventh time overall, an all-time record in the history of the tournament, and the consequence of the United States finishing second in their group for the first time since 2011. In their last competitive meeting, the Swedish defeated their rivals at the Tokyo Olympics en route to the final, ending the US’s 44-game unbeaten record.
“I always want to defend my team and say you have no idea what is going on behind the scenes. You have no idea every single training what we are doing individually, collectively etcetera, so for anyone to question our mentality hurts a little bit,” explained Horan.
“Once we get a little bit of that joy back things are going to move a little bit better on the field. The one thing I have said to this team a lot is that pressure is a privilege.”
However, Horan and the United States have been warned that this might be their most difficult title defense yet. Their performance level has been underwhelming, but the current tournament has also been replete with upsets, with three top 10 teams crashing out early. Olympic champions Canada, South American giants Brazil and two-time champions Germany departed in the group stage.
In the weekend’s other round of 16 matches, the Netherlands play South Africa, who made it out of the group phase for the first time and are one of three African teams in the knockout rounds. Switzerland and Norway will be underdogs in their encounters after enduring torrid group stages. The Swiss will meet Spain, who will need to regroup after a 4-0 thrashing at the hands of Japan in their final group game. The Asian side face a Norway side burdened by internal problems in the group stage.
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