Photo Credit: The Equalizer
Los Angeles, CA | April 13 | Kelly Landaverde – @kel_una
The women’s national team capped off its two April difficult friendlies with a strong start, to finish, at Stade Océane with no fans allowed.
This match was sort of the rematch of the 2019 World Cup quarterfinals. Two of the top three teams in the FIFA World Rankings faced them in these April friendlies. Versus Sweden they weren’t able to take a victory, and uncovered some light cracks in their foundation, but secured a tie. But in today’s game the story was a different one, Megan Rapinoe, and Alex Morgan scored early goals, and sealed the three-point winner even before the final whistle, reasserting their dominance. “This team is the best when they’re getting tested, and I thought this was a great test for us to see how quick we could adapt from the Sweden game to this game. … To see how we could bounce back from some of the things we didn’t do well,” said Andonovski.
As always, the champions of the CONCACAF are known for always pressuring from beginning to end. That eventually drew a penalty in their favor, when Alex Morgan was brought down in the box by Aïssatou Tounkara who stomped her foot, and the referee pointed a penalty in their favor in the 4th minute. From there, the master, in penalties Megan Rapinoe converted their 1st goal, and her seventh goal of the year. She has scored five goals over four of their consecutive games. In the 19th minute Morgan would put them up 0-2, after cutting between two French defenders, with her right foot shot in such a tight angle on the right side of the six-yard box, after receiving the assist from Christen Press. “Very happy with her attitude and mentality,” said Andonovski, who addressed Morgan getting her “killer instinct” back. “I think she executed her role very well. Beside from the direct impact (on the goals) she was also very involved in our buildup, she was able to hold the ball, bring the midfielders into the game and release pressure for us.”
That is her 109th career goal, and her second of this year, and as a mother. The pressure continued to build up throughout the first half. Julie Ertz fired over the bar, and Crystal Dunn was denied a goal with a great save from Pauline Peyraud-Magnin. In the 38th minute, the French goalie stopped Rapinoe as well from scoring her brace off a cross from Kelley O’Hara. France would then, begin to show more aggression, and their defensive side. They created a number of dangerous opportunities off of corner kicks, but weren’t able to capitalize them in the last step. They continued to grow into the game and eventually became a threat in the second half of the game, but were short on time, and weren’t able to score those two goals that would change the momentum of the game, so it ended with two goals against them. The youngest of the USWNT Sophia Smith came on as a sub in the 75th minute, and earned her fourth cap. Various of the top tier French players were missing in this game. Such as Wendie Renard, Griedge Mbock, Sakina Karchaoui, Amandine Henry, Amel Majri and Delphine Cascarino all ruled out following a COVID-19 outbreak at Lyon. Kadidiatou Diani and Baltimore were also among those kept on the bench to start, though the opening front line did include the dynamic Marie-Antoinette Katoto and Eugenie Le Sommer. France didn’t qualify for the Olympics. The next friendly match for the USWNT is scheduled to take place on May 30 against Switzerland.