The U.S. Women’s National Team defended their SheBelieves Cup on Wednesday and did so convincingly.
Needing just a draw to secure its fourth title, the USWNT put six unanswered goals past Argentina, as Megan Rapinoe’s two goals and an assist led the way in a 6-0 victory at Exploria Stadium in Orlando, Florida to finish the tournament with a perfect 3-0 record, with three shutouts.
Rapinoe opened the games scoring in the 16th minute, getting on the end of a chipped pass from Rose Lavelle. Slipping in behind Argentina’s backline, Rapinoe let the ball pass behind her before firing into the back of the net.
Whoop there it is! 🙌@roselavelle with the chip over the top and @mPinoe makes no mistake 🎯 pic.twitter.com/JgCuKIQNKB
— U.S. Soccer WNT (@USWNT) February 25, 2021
The 35 year-old doubled the lead just 10 minutes later, finishing a well-worked play that exposed the visitor’s defensive shape. Alone with the goalkeeper, Carli Lloyd opted to find Rapinoe at the far post, allowing the forward to score her third goal of the SheBelieves Cup.
Lloyd scored a goal of her own in the 35th minute, marking her 299th cap with her 124th international goal. The 38 year-old latched onto the end of a low cross from Kristie Mewis and gave the USWNT a convincing three-goal lead.
Mewis added a fourth goal before halftime, capitalizing on a well-read interception by Casey Kruger. After beating her defender with a pair of touches, Mewis fired a left-footed shot across goal and into the bottom corner.
The USWNT continued to push in the second half, finishing the game with 11 shots on target. The Americans added two more goals late in the match courtesy of second-half substitute Alex Morgan and Christen Press.
Head Coach Vlatko Andonovsk made seven changes to the team that beat Brazil 2-0 on Sunday, most notably giving Jane Campbell the nod in goal. The 26 year-old didn’t face a shot on target in the victory.
Well, the final score tells everything here. Our US women looked like they were ready for Tokyo. I just hope everyone stays healthy between now and then. Most impressive in this match was the U. S. being able to convert a higher percentage of scoring chances than they had against Canada. They won’t get that many chances in the Olympics, so conversion rate becomes a BIG DEAL!! I don’t think anyone had a bad game with Argentina, and I thought that Tierna Davidson had her best match at deep back. She showed a lot more confidence the entire match. However, I would still want her to have 5 or 6 more matches under her belt before I would start her back there in any match that really counted for something BIG.
OK – Here are my selections for the final 18 O/G player roster. You can’t have any weak links here, so I went with a predominantly veteran Roster.
GK – Naeher, Harris
F – Rapino, Morgan, Heath, Press, Macario
M – Ertz, Horan, Lavelle, S. Mewis, Lloyd
D – Dunn, Dahlkemper, Sauerbrun, O’Hara, Kreiger
Utility – Sonnett
Conversion rate…absolutely agree! I keep talking about that too. I like your choices in general, but think Williams will be on there and hope she can up her conversion rate because Vlatko really likes her and she’s relentless in her defending. But for whom I do not know…Lloyd? Macario? Sonnett? I hope it’s not for Cat and doubt he won’t pick Carly…KMewis has also played her way on imo, she adds something in that midfield, tho I doubt she gets the call. I’d take her over Sonnett even tho different players, different roles. We’ll see what Vlatko does
My problem with Williams BB, is that she is more of a Center-Forward than a right winger. I thought she had her best recent matches as a C/F where she could use her size and power shooting. However, with both Lloyd and Macario backing up Morgan, its unlikely she would get the call there. And as a Right Winger, she struggled to get by any of the defenders put on her, when down deep in the enemy territory. Tobin Heath is much more adept at beating a defender and making that critical cross or even shot than Williams is. Crystal Dunn, and Kelli O’Hara also. If we had a 23 man roster, Williams is in for sure. But with 18 (assuming no KO injuries) I see everyone else on the roster more critical. She would be my 1st alternate
However, in case anyone gets the Virus or MCL tear or something like that.