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USA triumph in a tale of two penalties

By on June 30, 2015

Carli Lloyd couldn’t have picked a better time to convert a penalty. It’s a moment dreams are made of: the chance to put the USA into the Women’s World Cup final. It’s black or it’s white, no middle ground. Lloyd made it after Celia Sasic of Germany had missed her chance earlier in the second half.

What a different story it could have been if Sasic had scored her penalty. The US’ gradual crescendo throughout the tournament peaked in this game and especially in the first half, when they thoroughly outplayed a flat Germany side. But with one fell swoop, Germany’s chainsaw could have cut the legs off a sparkling US performance when Julie Johnston pulled back Germany forward Alexandra Popp in the penalty box.

Football is a cruel game. Years of work and almost more painfully, ninety minutes off football, all boiled into one decision: go left or go right. It’s almost too simple and perhaps Sasic overthought her decision (thanks possibly to Hope Solo’s stalling tactic). No matter if Sasic is the tournament’s top scorer or the fact that Germany were flat on the ball for the second straight game — she shot the ball wide of the target.

“Hope did take quite a bit of time to get their penalty kick shooter, who is very good at (shooting) both ways,” forward Abby Wambach said per USA Today. “That was a big reason why Hope wanted to take as much time as possible, to get her to think more about it. It is very difficult to make a penalty kick if the keeper stalls.”

But anyone has the potential to score a penalty on the same Hope Solo in their backyard. Yet few could make it on the big stage.

Then twenty minutes later, Alex Morgan was blocked by Annike Krahn on her path to goal and the Romanian referee pointed to the spot. “It was clearly outside of the area and it can be seen quite clearly on TV,” complained German coach Silvia Neid after the match.

Lloyd made the resulting penalty look easy, as it should be. That’s why she’s known for her performances in big games.

“That felt like a good five minutes where I was waiting to take that PK,” Lloyd said. “But I walked over, I got the ball, I don’t know what was going on behind me, I don’t know what the ref was saying, I don’t know what the goalkeeper was doing. All I know is I put the ball down and I had a seamless PK.”

Maybe Alex Morgan missed too many chances and the US failed to capitalize on their excellent first half. Germany goalkeeper Nadine Angerer certainly had something to do with that, however, denying a Julie Johnston header early on. Twice in the first half, Morgan got herself in one-on-one with Angerer at tight angles but both times pulled her finish wide.

Center-back Johnston freely roamed forward and the US’ 4-3-3 was more fluid than it has been all tournament despite Germany’s high pressing. On the pitch, Lloyd was given free range to pick and choose her spots. They picked the right time to peak. In the eighty-fourth minute, the US sealed the deal as Lloyd crossed the ball across goal for Kelly O’Hara to finish. The US are back on track.

“It’s a dream come true,” Lloyd told the Fox broadcast. “This is what we trained for, the blood, sweat, tears, everything. I know this is a great win, but my eyes are on the final.”

Photo credit: By Ampatent, via Wikimedia 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.