United States 3, France 1
Finel Worldcup 2011
Extra Boost Lifts the U.S.
Friso Gentsch/European Pressphoto Agency
Lauren Cheney, second left, celebrated with teammates during the semifinal match with France on Wednesday.
MÖNCHENGLADBACH, Germany — She had been a starter on the left wing until the Women’s World Cup opened. And then Megan Rapinoe was sent to the bench. No one could be happy with such a demotion.
But where she might have complained, Rapinoe instead brought a substitute’s vital energy and craftiness to an American team that would not have reached the tournament final without her.
Rapinoe entered the semifinal Wednesday with 25 minutes remaining in a precarious tie. The American midfield struggled to keep possession, and France’s savvy passing wreaked havoc, bringing a volley of shots against a beleaguered defense. And then, for the second time in two games, Rapinoe rescued a staggered team.
On Sunday, her cross late in overtime resulted in the goal that sent the Americans into penalty kicks against Brazil. On Wednesday, Rapinoe earned a corner kick that became another headed goal by Abby Wambach, the go-ahead score in the 79th minute. Three minutes later, Rapinoe put Alex Morgan, another substitute, behind the French defense for a decisive chip that gave the Americans a 3-1 victory and put them in the World Cup final against Japan on Sunday.
“Megan came off the bench and changed the game,” Coach Pia Sundhage said.
The United States will seek to become the first team to win the Women’s World Cup three times, after taking titles in 1991 and 1999. Sundhage and her assistants made the right chess moves Wednesday. Wambach scored for the third consecutive game with her predatory instinct. Goalkeeper Hope Solo made poised saves. Determination and fitness played their familiar roles. Lauren Cheney pushed inside from the wing and settled a fraught midfield. Morgan entered in the 56th minute and scored yet another supersub goal.
But no contribution was more valuable than Rapinoe’s.
“Megan has a confidence in herself; that’s a uniqueness she brings having been a starter for months,” Wambach said. “The best part about this team is that she knows she makes a difference. She’s not sitting on the bench pouting; she’s sitting on the bench planning. Megan came in today, and I just felt a difference.”
The key for Rapinoe, 26, has been to maintain the assuredness, if not the position, of a starter. She is 5 feet 7 inches and not particularly fast on surgically repaired knees, but proficient with both feet. She is funny and engaging and has a cheeky presence on the field that can be as audacious as her bottle-blond hair. In group play against Colombia, Rapinoe scored a goal and ran to the corner, picked up a field microphone and began singing “Born in the U.S.A.”
“I believe I’m a fantastic player,” she said, “and I try to go out there and do those things.”
On Wednesday, the United States was left reeling by France’s clever skill. Shannon Boxx and Carli Lloyd were overrun in midfield, especially early in the second half. So Sundhage switched from a 4-4-2 formation to a 4-5-1, drawing Wambach deep to help shore up an uncertain defense. And in the 65th minute, Rapinoe entered on the left wing and Lloyd went to the bench.
Cheney, whose impressive play in practice thrust her into Rapinoe’s starting spot, shifted inside and began to control the ball. And Rapinoe began exploiting the flanks, running into spaces vacated as France pushed its outside backs forward.
“If you start a game, you can try to get in the flow a little bit; you have a little more time to feel it out,” Rapinoe said.
There was no such luxury Wednesday. Time had grown urgent. In the ninth minute, Cheney had deftly redirected a cross from Heather O’Reilly to give the United States a 1-0 lead. But that advantage evaporated 10 minutes into the second half.
Sonia Bompastor, France’s left back, bent a superb cross toward a streaking Gaëtane Thiney in the penalty area. Until that moment, Becky Sauerbrunn had been steady in central defense in place of the suspended Rachel Buehler. But the cross left Sauerbrunn stranded and helpless, and she did not clear the ball as Solo expected. Instead, it deflected off the left post, tying the score at 1-1.
“It was a tweener,” Sauerbrunn said of the cross. “I didn’t think I could get my head on it without maybe causing an own goal. And I wanted to make sure Thiney didn’t get her head on it. I think maybe it was so close that it made Hope kind of delay a second, and it had that terrible skip into the post.”
With 25 minutes remaining, France still seemed to have the upper hand. But Rapinoe had fresher legs. Her vigor lifted the Americans almost immediately.
“We didn’t want to do the whole 30 minutes of overtime and P.K.’s again,” Rapinoe said with a laugh about the quarterfinal match against Brazil. “I found the rhythm of the game pretty quickly.”
In the 79th minute, Rapinoe’s hustle earned a corner kick for the United States. Cheney lofted the ball toward the far post, and Wambach, considered the best in the world with her head, charged at the far post. She jumped over goalkeeper Bérangère Sapowicz and nodded the ball forcefully into the net, scoring in her third consecutive game — and 12th over all in three World Cups — to give the Americans a 2-1 lead.
“I have a unique ability to predict the flight of the ball, and my teammates have a unique ability to find me,” Wambach said.
In the 82nd minute, a one-touch pass from Rapinoe sent Morgan free into the penalty area. Last November, Morgan’s goal in a playoff against Italy helped the United States become the last team to qualify for this World Cup. On Wednesday, she patiently held the ball, touching it once, twice, drawing Sapowicz out of goal, then chipping a shot off her hands to put the Americans indelibly ahead, 3-1.
“I saw her darting in behind the defender,” Rapinoe said of Morgan. “She’s made quite a name for herself scoring clutch goals, so now we expect it out of her.”
And now, perhaps Rapinoe has made such a name for herself that Sundhage will consider returning her to the starting lineup with Cheney for Sunday’s final.
“I will consider a lot of things,” Sundhage said.
JAPAN RALLIES Homare Sawa redeemed herself for a huge error by scoring the go-ahead goal, and Nahomi Kawasumi had two goals in Japan’s 3-1 victory over Sweden in the semifinals. Sweden scored first when a giveaway by Sawa led to Josefine Oqvist’s goal in the 10th minute. (AP)
MÖNCHENGLADBACH, Germany — She had been a starter on the left wing until the Women’s World Cup opened. And then Megan Rapinoe was sent to the bench. No one could be happy with such a demotion.
Marcio Jose Sanchez/Associated Press
Abby Wambach scoring the go-ahead goal against France's goalkeeper, Bérangère Sapowicz, in the 79th minute off a corner kick.
Patrik Stollarz/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
Megan Rapinoe, who played a key role after coming in with 25 minutes left, being lifted up to relatives after the U.S. victory.
Frank Augstein/Associated Press
Lauren Cheney of the United States scored the first goal of the game.
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Rapinoe entered the semifinal Wednesday with 25 minutes remaining in a precarious tie. The American midfield struggled to keep possession, and France’s savvy passing wreaked havoc, bringing a volley of shots against a beleaguered defense. And then, for the second time in two games, Rapinoe rescued a staggered team.
On Sunday, her cross late in overtime resulted in the goal that sent the Americans into penalty kicks against Brazil. On Wednesday, Rapinoe earned a corner kick that became another headed goal by Abby Wambach, the go-ahead score in the 79th minute. Three minutes later, Rapinoe put Alex Morgan, another substitute, behind the French defense for a decisive chip that gave the Americans a 3-1 victory and put them in the World Cup final against Japan on Sunday.
“Megan came off the bench and changed the game,” Coach Pia Sundhage said.
The United States will seek to become the first team to win the Women’s World Cup three times, after taking titles in 1991 and 1999. Sundhage and her assistants made the right chess moves Wednesday. Wambach scored for the third consecutive game with her predatory instinct. Goalkeeper Hope Solo made poised saves. Determination and fitness played their familiar roles. Lauren Cheney pushed inside from the wing and settled a fraught midfield. Morgan entered in the 56th minute and scored yet another supersub goal.
But no contribution was more valuable than Rapinoe’s.
“Megan has a confidence in herself; that’s a uniqueness she brings having been a starter for months,” Wambach said. “The best part about this team is that she knows she makes a difference. She’s not sitting on the bench pouting; she’s sitting on the bench planning. Megan came in today, and I just felt a difference.”
The key for Rapinoe, 26, has been to maintain the assuredness, if not the position, of a starter. She is 5 feet 7 inches and not particularly fast on surgically repaired knees, but proficient with both feet. She is funny and engaging and has a cheeky presence on the field that can be as audacious as her bottle-blond hair. In group play against Colombia, Rapinoe scored a goal and ran to the corner, picked up a field microphone and began singing “Born in the U.S.A.”
“I believe I’m a fantastic player,” she said, “and I try to go out there and do those things.”
On Wednesday, the United States was left reeling by France’s clever skill. Shannon Boxx and Carli Lloyd were overrun in midfield, especially early in the second half. So Sundhage switched from a 4-4-2 formation to a 4-5-1, drawing Wambach deep to help shore up an uncertain defense. And in the 65th minute, Rapinoe entered on the left wing and Lloyd went to the bench.
Cheney, whose impressive play in practice thrust her into Rapinoe’s starting spot, shifted inside and began to control the ball. And Rapinoe began exploiting the flanks, running into spaces vacated as France pushed its outside backs forward.
“If you start a game, you can try to get in the flow a little bit; you have a little more time to feel it out,” Rapinoe said.
There was no such luxury Wednesday. Time had grown urgent. In the ninth minute, Cheney had deftly redirected a cross from Heather O’Reilly to give the United States a 1-0 lead. But that advantage evaporated 10 minutes into the second half.
Sonia Bompastor, France’s left back, bent a superb cross toward a streaking Gaëtane Thiney in the penalty area. Until that moment, Becky Sauerbrunn had been steady in central defense in place of the suspended Rachel Buehler. But the cross left Sauerbrunn stranded and helpless, and she did not clear the ball as Solo expected. Instead, it deflected off the left post, tying the score at 1-1.
“It was a tweener,” Sauerbrunn said of the cross. “I didn’t think I could get my head on it without maybe causing an own goal. And I wanted to make sure Thiney didn’t get her head on it. I think maybe it was so close that it made Hope kind of delay a second, and it had that terrible skip into the post.”
With 25 minutes remaining, France still seemed to have the upper hand. But Rapinoe had fresher legs. Her vigor lifted the Americans almost immediately.
“We didn’t want to do the whole 30 minutes of overtime and P.K.’s again,” Rapinoe said with a laugh about the quarterfinal match against Brazil. “I found the rhythm of the game pretty quickly.”
In the 79th minute, Rapinoe’s hustle earned a corner kick for the United States. Cheney lofted the ball toward the far post, and Wambach, considered the best in the world with her head, charged at the far post. She jumped over goalkeeper Bérangère Sapowicz and nodded the ball forcefully into the net, scoring in her third consecutive game — and 12th over all in three World Cups — to give the Americans a 2-1 lead.
“I have a unique ability to predict the flight of the ball, and my teammates have a unique ability to find me,” Wambach said.
In the 82nd minute, a one-touch pass from Rapinoe sent Morgan free into the penalty area. Last November, Morgan’s goal in a playoff against Italy helped the United States become the last team to qualify for this World Cup. On Wednesday, she patiently held the ball, touching it once, twice, drawing Sapowicz out of goal, then chipping a shot off her hands to put the Americans indelibly ahead, 3-1.
“I saw her darting in behind the defender,” Rapinoe said of Morgan. “She’s made quite a name for herself scoring clutch goals, so now we expect it out of her.”
And now, perhaps Rapinoe has made such a name for herself that Sundhage will consider returning her to the starting lineup with Cheney for Sunday’s final.
“I will consider a lot of things,” Sundhage said.
JAPAN RALLIES Homare Sawa redeemed herself for a huge error by scoring the go-ahead goal, and Nahomi Kawasumi had two goals in Japan’s 3-1 victory over Sweden in the semifinals. Sweden scored first when a giveaway by Sawa led to Josefine Oqvist’s goal in the 10th minute. (AP)
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