For the past five years, even as the US women’s soccer team has won a World Cup and pitted win after win, the Olympic quarter-final exit from Sweden has protracted.
It lingered in the period leading up to the match between the two sides at the 2019 Women’s World Cup (the United States won, 2-0, against a far from full Sweden XI). It lingered before an April friendly in Stockholm, a pre-Olympic test for both heavyweights (the two sides drew, 1-1, after a late penalty from the United States). And it lingered, of course, as countries returned to the crime scene, with the USWNT conveniently opening its run at the Tokyo Olympics against the same opponent it had stopped in 2016 on a field in Brasilia, stunned after the his first ever elimination in the tournament.
On Wednesday, Sweden took that enduring narrative and knocked the door down, setting a creepy Olympic tone for the United States and giving its pursuit of gold a boost.
Dominating in almost every respect, the Swedes have set up a clinic against the No. 1 in the world, executing a perfect game plan in a 3-0 win that exposed the United States in a way that even Sweden’s ’16 iteration didn’t come close to doing.
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“They kicked our asses, didn’t they?” striker Megan Rapinoe, who took over Wednesday in the 64th minute with her team already down 2-0, said succinctly afterwards.
From the beginning, he felt that there was something wrong with Vlatko Andonovski’s team, normally the one that presses the accelerator at the first whistle and never gives up. The “days off” for the United States are usually the code for the days when it struggles to finish chances, eventually understanding it enough to build what had been a streak of 44 straight wins and a torrid run over the past four. years, when his only defeat in France came in January 2019.
But in Tokyo, it was the United States that came in pursuit almost immediately, repeatedly succumbing to Sweden’s relentless pressure and disruption and failing to generate any kind of cohesive attack.
Missing star Julie Ertz – who entered the Olympics as a big question mark, hadn’t played since May due to a knee injury – the formidable US midfield was largely beaten in the first half and the defense cut and dice in amidst offbeat matches like Crystal Dunn and Abby Dahlkemper. Andonovski’s punctual half-time substitutions – inserting Ertz for Sam Mewis and Carli Lloyd for striker Alex Morgan – did little to change the trajectory of the match and failed to stop the bleeding as the Swedes tacked two more. .
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In 2016, Sweden received a lot of attention for the defensive style of play that successfully brought that game to penalties and cracked the US code, including the famous post-match remarks by then-American goalkeeper Hope Solo.
“We played a bunch of cowards. The best team didn’t win today… They didn’t want to open the game. They didn’t want to pass the ball. They didn’t want to play great football, “Solo said that day.
Nobody could make such an accusation this time. Sweden have been courageous and resolute, they have upset the United States in a way that few opponents can and have consistently applied offensive pressure on the Americans and goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher. And while Naeher made a series of highlight saves ahead of time and kept the game from being an even worse 3-0 outbreak, there was little he could do to stop an onslaught that became increasingly inevitable.
US chances, meanwhile, have been few and far between, summed up by the fact that it took nearly a full time for the team to earn their first corner. The attempts of Rose Lavelle and Christen Press who fell off the post were equally compelling for the US attack, normally so powerful and inflexible but held to five shots on goal by the Swedes, who played without center-back star Magdalena Eriksson .
“We have to learn from our mistakes in this match and then we have to move on. We have to forget that, “Morgan told Telemundo.” We have to take every game as it comes and then of course it’s taking care of our body because it’s a shorter tournament than a World Cup, so the turnaround is much faster. “
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The United States arrived in Japan with a clear expectation: anything less than their fifth gold medal will be a disappointment. Andonovski opted for a tried and tested and even older list, full of experience; of the original 18 that made the cut before rosters expanded to 22, only 30-year-old Kristie Mewis was not part of the 2019 World Cup winning team. This is a team that has long embraced and bragged about its ruthlessness, his confidence and his desire to win. He has suffered defeat just four times since that 2016 Olympic outing, three of which came over a five-month period in 2017, when the team’s apparent invincibility showed real cracks and had then-coach Jill Ellis on the thin ice.
The answer to that difficult time — losing only once in the next four years — is a testament to the mentality and resilience of the group. These traits will now be fully tested in Japan, where the US still controls its own destiny but has complicated their path to the podium.
Sweden are now in the driving seat of Group G with two group games for both (against New Zealand and Australia) left. The group winner will face a third-placed finish from one of the other two groups in the quarter-finals, while the runner-up will have a difficult draw with the winner of Group F, most likely the Netherlands or Brazil (third place would not necessarily condemn not even the United States, as eight of the 12 teams in the tournament advance to the second round).
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Brutal draws are nothing new for the USWNT – look no further than their 1919 World Cup run, when they defeated host France in a raucous quarter-final atmosphere before winning a slugfest with England in the semi-finals – but didn’t have to respond to such an early disappointment in a major tournament in a long time. And aside from Lloyd and Tobin Heath, the current roster is in uncharted waters.
“2008 Olympics, I was part of that team, we also lost our first game and came out with a gold medal,” Lloyd told Telemundo after Wednesday’s defeat, recalling the initial 2-0 defeat of the States. United against Norway at the Beijing Games. “It is really very important for us not to dwell too much on this game.”
There won’t be much time to do that, with New Zealand waiting on Saturday before the group stage final against Australia on Tuesday. The United States will be favorites to win both, and New Zealand in particular represents an excellent opportunity to bounce back and get back on track. With the need for a squad rotation, Saturday will have to be a real team effort after Andonovski put what appeared to be the United States’ best foot forward against Sweden.
Ultimately, American women will be judged by one thing in these Games: whether or not they take home the gold medal they failed to win in Rio. To get there, they may not even have finished with the Swedes. Assuming they end up 1-2 in the group one way or another, when is the next time these two sides could meet and further increase their decorated rivalry?
The Olympic final.
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