USA vs Chile Women’s World Cup – United States cruises past Chile in a 3-0 victory, Sweden left to decide who tops Group F.
If the first match against Thailand was US’s appetizer, then Chile was the soup and salad course. A little less exciting than the first food brought to the table, not nearly as filling as the later entrées, but still a vital part of a satisfying feast.
But Chile was not Thailand. Their keeper far more effective and confident—honestly I would argue the best keeper at the WC so far. The Chileans were far more organized in defense, more physical in challenges, and motivated to score.
But despite Chile’s heartfelt performance, they posed little trouble for the USWNT. So much so, the US played a heavily rotated roster with many of their “B Squad” players getting the start--totally 7 squad changes between the two lineups, but with performance put in against Chile, one would never know this wasn't the US's strongest side.
First Half
Another bright start for the US. The first 10 minutes set the pace for the entire match. The US settled in their attacking half and hardly left. Flashes of the Thailand match filled fans’ eyes as early goals began to go in, starting in the 11’ with the opening goal for Carli Lloyd. She’d get her brace in the 35’ when the US went up 3-0 before the half.
Between the Lloyd goals, Julie Ertz got the games second in the 26’ minute off a cheeky set piece, something the US would return to again for another goal. Don’t let the 3 goal lead fool you. The US could have easily scored 6 in the first half.
Chile were chasing shadows the entire time. Desperate to get a taste of the ball. Possession was 70% - 30%. Halfway through the 1st half, every Chilean who went down took ages to get back up. They dragged their feet, tried everything to take the speed out of the game, and even resulted in some hard questionable challenges heading into halftime. None of it was effective though in stopping the US.
Second Half
Early in the 2nd half, Chile appeared to be growing in confidence after a couple of huge blocked shots in goal. The attacking onslaught never ceased, and the 2nd half only offered more in the way of blood thirsty attacks from the US. Chile didn’t do much better in stopping the attacking flow of their opponents, but the Chilean goal keeper, Christiane Endler, was jaw-dropping, making incredible stop after incredible stop. Her performance really stood out. All credit goes to Endler for keeping things from getting out of hand. Best goal keeping I’ve seen so far from this WC by far. It had to have been one of Endler's best career performances.
Although Chile did better in the 2nd half on the defensive end, they were clueless trying to attack. They were their own worst enemy, turning the ball over immediately with so many sloppy passes one couldn’t keep track. The US seldom dropped back to play defense as Chile found it near impossible to ball over the halfway line.
As the match neared is forgone conclusion, the US merely saw things through. The last 20 minutes became routine. Even going through the motions, Chile were unable to threaten the US in any meaningful way, and just like that, the US was on their way to the Sweet 16 and Chile were on their way home.
Heartbreaking for Christiane Endler. I would have loved to have seen more of her. I'm looking forward to catching her performance in the consolation match between Chile and Thailand.
Jill Ellis & Carli' Lloyd Talking Points
Pertaining to the starting eleven for today, the word coming from Jill Ellis, the USWNT manager, before the match was that she wanted to see who was ready to play and step up in the moment out of this group of players. She likely knows her best eleven, but she is still figuring out her squad rotation. Today offered Jill Ellis a deluge of opportunity for squad assessment: player performance, team cohesion, and tactical execution. Lots to dissect here.
I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention Carli Lloyd’s record breaking performance today. Not only is she the oldest player to score for the United States at age 36, but she also broke the entire tournament record being the first player to score in six straight WC matches. Not too bad for someone who will be 37 years old next month.
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