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Women’s World Cup: Round Two Recap

By on June 13, 2015

Nigeria’s objective for Tuesday’s World Cup meeting with the US is simple: win. It’s their only remaining shot at qualifying from Group D, and a rather slim one at that. Sweden need to win to overtake Australia or the US in the group. Australia only need a draw in most situations to progress to the Round of 16, though a win would make it safe; the US, on the other hand, need a win for different reasons.

It’s a simple enough objective but a far more complex task for Jill Ellis’ women. They’ve struggled to find their feet in Canada and although a draw would suffice to ensure qualification from the group, they’ll need a win to avoid a potential Round of 16 meeting with Brazil and Quarterfinal with Japan, as well as to build confidence and make a statement to their competitors in this competition. The US would do well to embody the spirit of Germany’s 10-0 win over Ivory Coast in the first match-round.

But that’s far from likely. Nigeria, in fact, were expected to be challengers to win the group coming into the tournament and drew Pia Sundhage’s Sweden 2-2 in their tournament opener.

On Friday, the US also drew Sweden. The US defense was the highlight of the game and Meghan Klingenberg, the US’ smallest player, excelled with the tall order of keeping the game level with a goal-line clearance.

However, their forwards failed to combine well and the midfield varied from nonexistent to disjointed; the intensity wasn’t there. Megan Rapinoe carried the US front line through the first match but couldn’t match her performance in the next — not that she was bad by any means, indeed a step ahead of Christian Press on the other wing.

Despite all the attacking threat and pace Nigeria offers, the US should focus on their own attack. Alex Morgan has made cameos in both the US’ matches but appears unlikely to reach full fitness during the tournament. Abby Wambach was also benched, but the front two of Sydney Leroux and Press failed to utilize their pace and energy. Tobin Heath, another winger alternative, has been relegated to the bench so far. Yet the US need the magic from somebody.

Expect another tight match. So far, sixteen of the twenty-four games in the tournament have either drawn or been decided by one goal. The US-Nigeria match on Tuesday, as well as Australia-Sweden, shouldn’t be any different.

Photo credit: Noah Salzman on Wikipedia Commons

About Alex Morgan

Alex Morgan, founder of Football Every Day, lives and breaths football from the West Coast of the United States in California. Aside from founding Football Every Day in January of 2013, Alex has also launched his own journalism career and hopes to help others do the same with FBED. He covers the San Jose Earthquakes as a beat reporter for QuakesTalk.com and his work has also been featured in the BBC's Match of the Day Magazine.