The US women's national team can breathe a sigh of relief after thrashing New Zealand by a comfortable 6-1 score in Saitama on Saturday.
The victory is enough to neutralize the threat of an exit from the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, which looked surprisingly real for the USWNT after their initial loss four days earlier. But the truth is that the score line against New Zealand was more flattering than performance. The Americans certainly saw better, but the concerns raised by the early defeat to Sweden are not yet reflected in the rearview mirror.
The USWNT looked more aggressive, but also a bit troubled, with four possible goals eventually being called offside in the first half because the players were "a bit impatient" according to American manager Vlatko Andonovsky. Through the worry of scoring the first goal and then padding the score when the goal difference was needed as a tiebreaker, the Americans still didn't look like themselves.
In the end, he benefited from what felt like an infinite space and time, a gift given to him by New Zealand. Within moments New Zealand tried to apply pressure, they lacked coordination and, clearly, the bravery of the Swedes, leaving room for the Americans to play. It didn't take long for New Zealand to give up and just sit deep, allowing the U.S. needed to be set up and played according to plan at all times.
With that extra breathing room, the uncharacteristic slope shown against Sweden was gone, and the USWNT swung the ball well several times, using one-touch passes and overlapping runs to create good interplay. . Two of the six goals he scored were New Zealand's own goals, but the others showed the USWNT's lethality on the counterattack - at least when they had pockets of space to play.
Rose Lavelle scored the first goal on a quick transition in the ninth minute as Tobin Heath cut a ball into the box for Lavelle's run, giving the OL Reigns midfielder the opening he needed to finish. The fourth goal was perhaps a quintessential USWNT goal: Julie Ertz raised her head in midfield and watched Kristen Press run into the box - Cross followed, as did a touch to bring the ball down and a confident strike, from all May be locked in defense first.
As Andonowski said after the Sweden match: "It felt like we lost the ball too many times before we started our build-up, before setting up our structure to start the build-up." There was no such problem against a New Zealand team that was never going to create a similar problem, boasting of less talent and lack of adequate preparation to get into these Olympics.
But despite the freedom to play as they please, the Americans did not quite show the ruthlessness promised by the players after the Sweden game. The Americans didn't come out and just crush New Zealand; It would probably be unreasonable to expect that, except for the fact that that's what the Americans did in almost every game of the 2019 World Cup.
In fact, the USWNT's story in Japan is one of overcoming conflicts so far, which is perhaps surprising considering the players Andonovsky brought in. This is a "run-it-back" roster of players who made their way through France in the 2019 World Cup. But the magic of that group just isn't there, and the USWNT's performance, even in its 6-1 win over New Zealand, has felt different.
Crystal Dunn said after New Zealand, "It wasn't our best performance in Game 1 and we came into Game 2 knowing that we're not a great team for not being a really great team two days ago." Play. "We just got a little more relaxed and trusted each other."
Dunn has a point. But haven't the Americans really become a great team now from what was a great team two years ago? It also seems improbable: in its last 46 games, the USWNT has still lost only once, to Sweden a few days earlier. But if America wants to reach the gold medal match, as it has at every Olympics except 2016, it has to play better.
The Americans looked out of sync in the attack at times with their four offside goals and several other offside calls, but fluidity improved as the game progressed. Defensively, however, he again showed a vulnerability in tracking runners into the box, with New Zealand's only goal being proof that this is something that will need to be addressed sooner or later. Had a problem a few days ago, then again on Saturday.
There is no easy fix. AB Dahlkemper was to blame for the goal, and she also struggled against Sweden – a surprising tendency given her top-shelf play for both club and country. He could be replaced in the lineup, but the back line has left surprising gaps all over, suggesting it is more of a cohesion issue than a personnel issue.
If this USWNT in Tokyo is like the previous World Cup winning team, it is not the 2019 edition, despite the majority of the players on the roster winning the trophy in France. No, this group could be pretty close to the 2015 team, which started off with a poor performance and helped by some luck and mistakes of the opponents, before they found their footing.
Carli Lloyd, who became that team's star in 2015 (but only after several ineffective games), said on Saturday that the USWNT could still advance to the tournament.
"I still think we have a lot to offer," Lloyd said on Saturday. "It's just the beginning. It was a good response, good results, good goals. We can always learn, we can always get better, but it's a start in the right direction."
Fortunately for the Americans, they won't need to make the better jump until the next match, which is only three days away. A draw against Australia to close out the group stage would be enough to ensure that the U.S. Second in Group G and secure a spot in the quarter-finals. But from there, where the challenge awaits against Brazil or the Netherlands, a better show will be inevitable.