USA v Netherlands: Women’s World Cup 2023 – live - 16 minutes read




Key eventsShow key events onlyPlease turn on JavaScript to use this featureFinal thoughts …Some people may look at the superficial stats and say the Dutch were lucky. The US outshot the Netherlands 17-4. But heading well wide off well-defended corner kicks won’t win games. The US only put three of those shots on target.The Dutch completed 400 of 509 passes. The US completed 291 of 403. But the US were more ambitious with 29 cross attempts (11 complete) to the Netherlands’ 7 (1).(All that from the Fifa site.)Odd stat alert: No NWSL players scored in this game. Horan is the only US player who plays in Europe.The third matchday in this group now promises to be exceptionally dramatic. Catch those games at … 3 am ET Tuesday? Yikes.Can the Netherlands turn possession into a lot of goals against Vietnam? Can the US overcome a Portuguese team that gave the Netherlands fits? Could the US be (gasp) eliminated?I’ll say probably, probably, and definitely not.Portugal plays Vietnam in a little more than four hours. I’ll be asleep, but if you’re awake, please follow along with us. See you next time. And here’s the report from tonight’s game too:Danielle van de Donk and Lindsey Horan embrace. Photograph: Buda Mendes/Getty ImagesUpdated at 04.20 BSTOur man in Australia (well, one of them) spots a US icon:Enjoying the Guardian’s coverage of the Women’s World Cup? This action-packed, up-to-the-minute live blog is only possible thanks to funding from our fans all around the world. We don’t have a paywall, so everything we publish is open and free for everyone. Unlike so many others, the Guardian is fiercely independent – meaning we don’t have a billionaire owner who can censor us.Fund quality sports journalism from the Guardian today from as little as $1. It takes less than a minute but makes a huge difference.Support the GuardianFunny thing about the halftime commentary – Carli Lloyd was right. Once the US found its spark, those passing lanes the Dutch found so easily in the first 60 minutes were suddenly clogged with players in the distinctive paint-spatter shirts the US have worn so far in this Cup.Will that be enough against a team that has looked more impressive here? Spain? Germany? Japan? Brazil? Hard to say.Full time: USA 1-1 NetherlandsAw, that’s nice. Van de Donk and Horan hug and smile afterwards.It was a fiercely fought but mostly sporting game. You could say it was a tale of two halves, but it was really more of a tale of 60 minutes of Dutch possession and 30 minutes of the Dutch hanging on for dear life.First place in the group will be wide open at this point. The US has a goal-difference edge right now, but the Netherlands could really run it up against what would surely be an exhausted Vietnamese team in their third game. I’ll say the Dutch score at least four, so the US would need … two?And finally, we have a couple of games in which both teams scored!Updated at 04.05 BST90 +8 mins: Clean tackle for the Dutch. The US fans disagree, but they’re wrong.Game over.90 +7 mins: Dunn takes a while to throw it in. The ball gets to Rodman, who’s all alone against five defenders. Surprised to see the USA not going harder for a late winner.90 +6 mins: Van de Donk is getting some sort of headgear.Paul Connelly on why Horan didn’t get yellow: “Good question. I think it’s got something to do with the growth of the game. At this point, I think the referees are comfortable calling niggling fouls that you or I might think aren’t that bad, but it’s hard for the referees to have the confidence to make big calls like giving a yellow card to a star player. I do agree with you that Horan should have got a yellow there.”And I’ve said many times, though my fellow refs may not like to hear it, that the US have had … let’s just say some good fortune with officiating over the years.Play finally resumes.90 +4 mins: Clash of heads between Lavelle and van de Donk. Play understandably stops. While the game has been rather spicy in the second half, that wasn’t malicious.90 +3 mins: Smith does well to create space and put in a cross. Rodman doesn’t quite settle it that well.The Dutch goal scorer, Jill Roord, leaves the game – too slowly for booing US fans. Renate Jansen is on.90 +2 mins: Outstanding play from Dutch keeper van Domselaar to stop a through ball from reaching its target.Play surprisingly continues as two players tangle at midfield.Still some drama here?90 +1 mins: Now it’s the USA’s turn to build slowly from the back. It doesn’t work, and the Dutch have possession.90 mins: My goodness, time flies when you don’t make any subs. For me, anyway. I’m sure the players who’ve been out there chasing the ball in the first half and battling for it in the second would disagree.Replay – the Dutch defender who headed Fox’s shot clear was actually a forward. Well done, Lieke Martens.Five minutes of stoppage time.88 mins: I have the utmost respect for referees and especially for one with the caliber of Yamashita, but how did Horan NOT get a yellow card for a clearly unnecessary (retaliatory) foul against van de Donk?The Dutch free kick is tame.87 mins: Kerstin Casparij replaces Victoria Pelova as the game calms slightly.85 mins: ANOTHER corner for the US. That’s a Spinal Tap-ish 11th.84 mins: The corner is partially cleared. Emily Fox collects it at the top of the box and drills it. The ball is headed out by an intrepid and well-placed Dutch defender whose number I couldn’t catch.82 mins: CHANCE, and at long last, Smith and Rodman combine. Smith plays forward to Rodman, who shoots wide from an acute angle.Leaving the young players in this game this long may be a good thing down the road. Every minute at this point is a new experience for them.Morgan earns a corner.81 mins: That’s the first corner for the Dutch. I thought I might have seen a foul, but our ref didn’t, and I’d need a better angle to see.Dunn slides through Pelova. No call. Pelova wraps her legs around Dunn while they’re both on the ground, like some attempt at jiu-jitsu. That’s called.80 mins: CHANCE with some masterful passing by the Dutch. Julie Ertz stretches out a leg and probably saves a goal.79 mins: From Twitter, Never Settle Coin has suggested subs: “I’d pick Huerta, with Williams and Mewis close behind.” That’s not bad.Justin Kavanaugh: “Van de Donk’s assault on Lindsey Horan looked like a tribute foul to the most famous Dutch World Cup “yellow but should have been a red” offence, Nigel de Jong’s unforgettable karate kick on Xabi Alonso in the 2010 final. For fight fans, this could get tasty!”Yeah, though I’d rather take a body slam to the midsection than a karate kicks. That said, I’m enjoying sitting on my couch eating jelly beans.Finally, the Dutch get possession in the US third.76 mins: Attendance is a little better than 27,000. There are some empty seats.Bad giveaway from the Dutch. That tussle with Horan and the goal turned this game on its head. I’d love to see stats on pass completion percentages before and after the goal, because I’m a nerd.74 mins: Dunn takes her turn fouling van de Donk. This might be a pattern, but I’d suggest that only players without yellows from the preceding game (or this one) take a shot.Mary Waltz: “The Panic of the Fox crew is palpable. I don’t think the half was as tragic as Alexi and Carli intimated. “they must win this game” As you pointed out pre game this is simply not the case. Winning this game is obviously preferable but this is a young team, a new coach and a tough compition. Every 4 years it’s a new team and the past glory is not a given. Fox might be ready to jump off the cliff but I am reserving judgement.”Absolutely, though again, I think Spain and Germany are watching this and thinking they can do for 90 minutes what the Dutch did for 60.73 mins: Sophia Smith gets the ball and is immediately surrounded by four players. She’s not able to do anything with it.72 mins: Maybe don’t sub anyone. This is going rather well for the US. Another corner kick, and Lavelle takes it again …… and Julie Ertz barges through the middle of the field and slams into the keeper. Spitse has a few words with Ertz.70 mins: Not stringing together thousands of passes now, these Dutch players are.Sub: Egurrola replaces Snoeijs.Pretend you’re Vlatko Andonovski. Who comes in for the US?67 mins: Ball in the net, but Alex Morgan was clearly offside.Still – the momentum is not with the team in orange.A guy in the stands wants to see a replay. OK, man. The result will be the same.67 mins: Horan tangles with van de Donk again. She got a yeallow in the first game, you know.64 mins: I don’t think Lindsey Horan needed any extra motivation to score a World Cup goal. But having such an emphatic answer from the captain after her feud with van de Donk won’t hurt.You poked the bear, Danielle van de Donk.Danielle van de Donk gets acquainted with Lindsey Horan. Photograph: Buda Mendes/Getty ImagesGOAL! USA 1-1 Netherlands (Horan 62)Best way to send a message for Horan would be to score, says Aly Wagner.Lavelle’s corner goes right to her head, and she buries it.Updated at 03.26 BST61 mins: Never Settle Coin: “You’re way off with ‘tactics v athleticism’, but then you’re Ok with blaming bad commentary on a too-small TV (2015 WWC). USA team has few hrs together. We lost 6 starters (700+ caps!) + Macario to injury and 3 others have almost zero USWNT play time in ~12 months.”The injury concerns are valid. The US also lost Mallory Swanson, by far their leading scorer this year.We’ll have a US corner in a bit. The referee is busy mediating between van de Donk and Horan right now. Again – teammates at Lyon. But Horan isn’t interested in hearing anything right now.59 mins: People are still using the service formerly known as Twitter.Bunny Lake: “there are 2 teams on the pitch and not the usa has a goal and more possession. deal with it.”Was I not? Sorry about that.Danielle van de Donk just pile-drove her shoulder into Lindsey Horan – her teammate at Lyon! The tough US captain is down for a bit.57 mins: Another spell of US possession. It’s not the free-flowing passes that the Dutch have managed – it’s more of a “lose possession but win it back” style – but it’s working.Alex Morgan tries a backheel to Lavelle. Clever.Corner, USA. Cleared.55 mins: This is better for the US, and a cross was just another inch or so of height away from landing at the feet of a wide-open Alex Morgan.53 mins: A good spell for the US at the top of the Dutch penalty area, but the final pass isn’t there.In fairness to the US, if we’re going to talk about Miedema’s absence, we could also mention that Samantha Mewis would’ve been an ideal person to introduce into this game.52 mins: More Dutch possession.I still think the US will come up with a big play or two and turn this around for a result. I also think Spain and Germany are watching this game and salivating.51 mins: The first yellow card at last, and it goes to Rose Lavelle, who’s already lashing out in frustration after being on the field for barely five minutes.50 mins: “If you were the Dutch, would you change anything?” asks the great commentator JP Dellacamera.“No!” says Aly Wagner with a laugh.48 mins: And now the women in orange have it again. Imagine if Miedema was playing …46 mins: Lavelle replaces DeMelo. For the Netherlands, Aniek Nouwen replaces van der Gragt, who had a bit of an injury issue near the end of the first half.US start with solid possession.Right on cue … here’s Rose Lavelle.Netherlands completed 285 passes to the USA’s 179 in the first half.Kickoff …More mail, quickly:Torran Turner: “Gotta be said, the US are repeating a pattern here - wasteful in front of goal against Vietnam (could easily have been 6 or 7 nil). Wasteful now of their chances so far against the Netherlands. Shots off target. Chances not quite taken. Yes, the skill gap is rapidly diminishing - particularly amongst the higher ranked teams - but whisper it, this USA team looks *very* beatable by the likes of Spain and Sweden.”Based on what we’ve seen so far, Spain could match what Brazil did to the US in 2007. But I think Vlatko Andonovski has a better chance of fixing it than Greg Ryan did, for a whole host of reasons.Nathalie Jans: “What’s the issue with the number of passes on the Dutch side? Do you not like that style of game play? Sorry if this is a dumb question.”Not a dumb question. A smart style of play – at least, once they started getting past midfield with it.Justin Kavanagh: “These referees being given microphones on the world stage worries me, I must admit. In our age of narcissism and viral fame-seeking, how long can it be until a woman in black breaks out with a bout of womansplaining a red card for dissent, interspersed maybe with an Arethaesque musical plea for “R-E-S-P-E-C-T”? Or a penalty given to the tune of Beyonce’s “Check on it”?”Considering that all we’ve seen so far is an awkward “after … review … it is … penalty,” that would be an improvement.Stephen Mitchell takes issue with my criticism of DeMelo.Sydney Nash: “My friend Morgan and I are watching the game from an outdoor bar in sweltering Chicago, IL and following along with the minute by minute. Thanks, we love it! However, we were very disappointed to see that one our favorite aspects of the Men’s World Cup coverage, the pennant watch (picture attached for reference) was not making its rightful triumphant return. We would be happy to provide our thoughts on each team’s pennants if that would be helpful.”I’ll ask …The mailbag is restless, and we should point out that an earlier draft of Citizen Kane saw the protagonist saying “Rose Lavelle,” not “Rosebud.”Liisa Sletzinger: “as an american soccer fan i never thought i’d feel the sinking discomfort of being overrated. it’s crazy how much a team can deteriorate in four years. i was in lyon in 2019 and even with a strong squad, we would’ve been nothing without Lavelle vs the Netherlands. hope i’m proven wrong.”Alexi Lalas noted at halftime that if they’re not going to change the formation, they need to improve the players, and he mentioned Lavelle.That was after Ariane Hingst and Carli Lloyd demonstrated the difference between Europe and the US, with Hingst pointing out a bevy of tactical mistakes on the Dutch goal and afterwards, while Lloyd used her “Jersey bluntness” to say the team needs to play with more heart. Heart, maybe, but they also need more brains.Halftime: USA 0-1 NetherlandsIf you’re one of those pedantic people who’ve been insisting for years that the European emphasis on developing tactically sound and technically proficient players will one day push these teams past US teams that rely too heavily on athleticism and “mentality,” the past 45 minutes will help you make your case.But I’m one of those people, and I think it’s too soon to say I told you so. The Dutch haven’t looked that dangerous aside from the goal, and the US just seem poised to convert one swift move or one set piece into an equalizer at any time.We’ll see. Compelling stuff in any case.45 +3 mins: That is a petulant sweep of the legs by DeMelo there, and inexplicably, she isn’t carded for it. The young midfielder hasn’t been too overawed at this Cup, but she might be a prime candidate to be replaced at the half.45 +2 mins: While Lindsey Horan wonders what it’ll take for someone to pass her the ball while she’s wide open in the middle of the field 30 yards out, Smith neatly beats one defender but doesn’t beat the second.45 mins: We’ll have three minutes of stoppage time. We had a merciful lack of stoppages this time. Just the goal celebration and a couple of brief injury breaks.44 mins: Oh, that’s a flop by DeMelo. Our referee falls for it. I reserve the right to change my mind based on replays I can’t see, but she went to ground awfully easily there. The free kick goes nowhere.43 mins: Aly Wagner is one of the most tactically and technically proficient players the US women’s team ever had. Now a Fox commentator, she is marveling at the Dutch possession and movement. Then, of course, they shank a pass straight to Dunn.Updated at 02.44 BST42 mins: A touch for Smith! And it’s only a touch before the Dutch resume keepaway. The young US star has been awfully quiet.40 mins: Are we sick of me saying the Netherlands are completing (an exaggerated number of) passes? Yes? OK. You get the idea.39 mins: DeMelo with an armbar at the top of the Dutch penalty area, and that’s a foul.But the US get it back, earn a free kick of their own, take it quickly, and maintain possession.37 mins: Trainers tend to van der Gragt. She doesn’t seem seriously hurt, but the players are happy for a water break, and the coaches are happy for an opportunity to do whatever coaches do.We mentioned the denim stars jerseys earlier, yes? Here’s player-turned-commentator Jordan Angeli modeling that vintage look.35 mins: Morgan is working on the left again, and it’s dangerous. She drives a cross toward Rodman that’s deflected back to her, and she then wins a corner.Not sure where Smith fits into that attack, though.The corner goes to Ertz, who tries a header that would probably smash my spine if I tried it. That deflects for another corner, and this time it’s Horan heading it wide.33 mins: Another 3,300 passes from the Dutch, though to be fair, the US aren’t pressing all that hard. They finally force a long pass, and the US defenders claim it with ease.31 mins: Smith may think she was fouled, but truthfully, she held the ball far too long.But the US regain possession, DeMelo is fouled, and Sullivan is lined up to take a free kick 45 yards out. She sends it square to Girma, and the young center back floats it into the box, where it’s knocked out for a corner.


Source: The Guardian

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