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USWNT roll past Thailand for largest-ever World Cup win

The U.S. Women’s National Team set a record on Tuesday to kick off its group stage schedule at the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup.

Alex Morgan set a new tournament record with five goals in the USWNT’s 13-0 win over Thailand in Reims.

The USWNT scored three in the first-half with Morgan breaking the deadlock in the 12th-minute. Morgan got on the end of Kelley O’Hara’s cross and headed in her first of the day.

Rose Lavelle’s long-range strike doubled the USWNT’s lead before Lindsay Horan smashed from inside of the box in the 32nd-minute.

Mewis added her second of the match after halftime before Morgan continued the onslaught in the 53rd-minute. A Tobin Heath free kick fell to Morgan who finished nicely for a 5-0 USWNT lead.

Mewis and Lavelle extended the advantage before the hour mark with tallies ahead of Morgan’s hat trick goal in the 74th-minute. Megan Rapinoe got in on the action in the 79th-minute with a comfortable finish.

Morgan added a pair of goals in the later stages of the second-half while substitutes Mallory Pugh and Carli Lloyd also netted their first goals of the tournament.

The USWNT finished the match with 20 shots on goal compared to Thailand’s two.

Up next is a date with Chile on Sunday, before closing group stage play against Sweden on June 20th.

Comments

  1. On the issue of excess celebrating, you have to remember that despite the fact that they had a nice little winning streak going before the W/C, there were deficiencies in certain aspects of both their team and individual play. In fact, I was so critical at times that some of my posts were pulled. So this was the first time I can remember this year that they got it together for a full 90 minutes. That in itself is worth celebrating each and every time they scored. In any case, the fact that the World Cup is held only once each 4 years, the taste of success there will never be too sweet!!!

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  2. You lot sure are a sour bunch. You’d think they just lost or something with all this negativity. And god forbid they celebrate goals at a WORLD CUP

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  3. The people arguing to pile on don’t really know what they are talking about. It makes abstract sense — though I think it is classless — and it’s not practically true in this case. Look at the knockout brackets. The reward for winning Group F (where we are) is a bracket where you likely play the Group A winner in the quarters (France). That would basically be the final right there and if you lose you are out at the round of 8. The runnerup in Group F goes other half of the bracket from France — paired in the final only — and likely faces Germany/Spain, Brazil, and/or Canada on the way there. A smart team in our place actually has every incentive to play hard for two wins, rest the starters and lose to Sweden in what would be an unnecessarily difficult last group contest, and come up the other half of the bracket. Unless we tie Sweden goal difference is inconsequential, and IMO it is actually more taxing to run the score up than to play keepaway and preserve the game at that point. You save your legs by taking your result and getting the stars off the field.

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    • Amplifying one of those points, the goal difference argument is kind of a loser’s argument. Setting aside my theory on how this should be practically approached to save France for last, my club team that won a fair amount of stuff always shut down and make subs and played keepaway and saved itself for the rest of the tournament, chasing a win each time. It’s the classy thing and it hews to the big picture as opposed to how bad can I bludgeon someone today. If you win each time then goal difference doesn’t matter. The goal difference argument is actually kind of insecure. And to me sometimes in a multigame tournament situation you want to moderate the effort past the point of winning to save gas in the tank for the rest of the trip. The USMNT beat up on Panama — in my opinion a little excessively — a few days before being out of gas for TnT. In a few years the score is a footnote and what people remember are wins and losses. A team that runs hard to run up the score now gets something now at the loss of something later on.

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  4. There is some danger here with this scoreline. The USA overwhelmed a very weak team. By overpowering them , they did some things they will not get away with against better opposition. By trying to feel good about themselves, they reverted to the direct, power soccer that will not serve them well later on.. The coach should have demanded they play to the feet with NO crosses allowed to get them into correct habits. It is like entering a home run contest and screwing up your swing. Hitting a home run against a 60 mph fastball is like scoring 13 power type goals against a nobody. I also agree that their arrogance will make them a worldwide target, maybe even by the referees. Get ready for a bumpy ride. This is still a flawed team that just made it harder for themselves.

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  5. No issues with the scoreline. This is a World Championship. You don’t stop playing.
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    But why is Ellis making three offensive subs up 7-0? I’ll give Pugh a pass as a debutante, but bringing on Lloyd and Press and their combined 150 int’l goals? Those two are gonna get to play a lot down the line so why not get a Davidson or McDonald out there, someone who may not get in otherwise? Heck, send one of the backup GKs out to get some minutes for Naeher. Curious “decision”-making from Ellis. That was her substitute plan coming in I assume but she apparently has no thinking ability to adjust to the situation.
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    The worst part though was the amped-up cellys late in the game. Vets like Morgan and Rapinoe should know better. And given how “woke” and progressive the USWNT is purported to be, it was oddly tone deaf as supposed bastions for women and young girls everywhere. Wambach’s Tweets were cringe-worthy. Why is everyone so afraid to criticize any aspect of the USWNT that doesn’t involve the name “Hope Solo?”
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    Sunday can’t get here soon enough so this can be moved on from.

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  6. Yea, the celebrating was embarrasing. Should have acted like theyve been there before and have bigger fish to fry.

    Wambachs twitter was BS, saying if it were the men, would we say that. My response is yes, Abby. In fact, i would judge a mens team more harshly for that. So stop bringing the gender talk into every situation.

    The amount of goals scored, no prob with that. Bc if Sweden has a chance to win the group, theyd score as many as they can. Its about the classless celebrations. After about halfway, give a high five, get back to the circle and do it again.

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  7. With respect to the score, everyone attempts to get as much of a goal differential before what is typically the final match of the group which decides the group winner. As long as the goal differential counts, you go for as big of a score as possible. Everyone does it that way in the W/C Groups. Anyway, Thailand took Australia into PKs in the Asia Qualifying Semis (2-2) before losings in PKs (3-4). Also Thailand played France 2 weeks ago in FRANCE and had them 0-0 at 60 minutes before losing 3-0. And if the 13-0 score sounds familiar with Thailand, it should be because that is the score that Thailand beat Indonesia by in a 2018 “friendly”. So please don’t be so sad with tonight’s score.

    As for our USWNT, whatever deficiencies appeared to exist in their passing the last few matches definitely disappeared tonight. Everyone appeared to have their “A” Game on the field tonight. I was glad to see the trio who had been the first subs in past matches, Mewis, Lloyd and Pugh continue their offensive brilliance by scoring goals. Mewis gets closer and closer to being another Michelle Akers. The difference is that while she always has had the talent, she now appears to have the confidence to make those charges toward the goal like Michelle did to score the winning goal in the 1991 W/C.

    While a last minute change was made to the tentative starting line-up due to injury on the back line, having Mewis in at Center Half, and Ertz back in her old Center Back Position, it really seemed to work. There is an old saying that “if it works, don’t try change it. Thus, my thought would be to take another look at the same starting line-up in the next match to see if it is as effective as it was tonight!!!!

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    • Not really surprised for any lack of enthusiasm in Latin America. With Mexico Out, and neither Chile or Argentina expected to score a goal, there isn’t much on the small screen to excite anyone South of the Rio Grande.

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    • For a youth rec league, sure. I would have to disagree in regards to any competitive tournament involving elite national players regardless of the sport. It would have been patronizing for the WNT to cease trying.

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