USA-Colombia Women's Olympic Soccer Player Ratings
- by Ridge Mahoney @ridgemax, Aug 10, 2016
Aug. 9 in Manaus
USA 2 Colombia 2. Goals: Dunn 41, Pugh 59; Usme 26, 90.
With first place in Group G all but clinched, the Americans rested several starters and couldn’t suppress an energetic Colombian team, for which Catalina Usme twice caught keeper Hope Solo below her best and earned the Cafeteras a 2-2 tie.
Megan Rapinoe started her first game since suffering a torn ACL in December and despite the lineup changes, the USA dominated play, outshooting Colombia, 16-3, but couldn’t hold a 2-1 lead provided when Crystal Dunn and Mallory Pugh scored on either side of halftime.
U.S. Player Ratings:
Starters
RATING PLAYER (TEAM) GP/G
3 Hope Solo (Seattle Reign), 201/0.
For the first time in a long time, Solo looked terrible while conceding a goal, allowing Usme’s tame shot to slip underneath her. Usme’s swerving free kick from a tough angle would have required a spectacular save but that is what Solo has done for the past decade.
6 Kelley O’Hara (Sky Blue FC) 85/2.
Delivered a great cross late in the first half that Dunn failed to convert. Worked tirelessly on the flank to smother Colombia and push balls into good positions.
6 Becky Sauerbrunn (FC Kansas City) 112/0.
Marshaled the defense confidently and sprayed several accurate passed into the middle third. Solid tackle thwarted Colombia’s first attack.
5 Whitney Engen (Boston Breakers) 39/4.
Lost track of Lady Andrade a couple of times, passes occasionally went awry.
5 Ali Krieger (Washington Spirit) 92/2.
Anchored her corner competently, a bit unlucky to be carded for wasting time.
5 Morgan Brian (Houston Dash) 57/4.
Took on a slightly more linking role and handled the duties well. Stifled a lot of what Colombia tried to play through the middle.
6 Lindsay Horan (Portland Thorns) 23/3.
Stepped right in and played a smart, efficient game connecting to the attackers while stabilizing the middle. Nearly scored twice with a bending shot and firm header that forced a pair of good saves.
4 Megan Rapinoe (Seattle Reign), 114/31.
Reckless foul that led to Colombia’s first goal tainted an otherwise encouraging, albeit brief, display. Got right into the flow to deliver an early cross that Lloyd (offside) headed against the crossbar, flicked a nice ball to Horan, and delivered another cross the keeper bobbled.
5 Carli Lloyd (Houston Dash), 229/99.
A bit out of sync and off her game but her fierce shot bounced free for Dunn to equalize. Should hit the century mark on Friday.
7 Crystal Dunn (Washington Spirit 38/16).
Made up for the miss on O’Hara’s cross by getting to a saved Lloyd shot first and poking it over the goal line. Took on multiple defenders and delivered the ball that evaded everyone except Pugh.
5 Christen Press (Chicago Red Stars) 73/34.
Fired over the bar in the opening minutes, on a long ball out of the back she squandered a clean breakthrough the keeper did well to save. Nice pass to Lloyd set up her shot that produced first goal.
Substitutes
6 Mallory Pugh (Real Colorado), 16/4.
Caught and collected Dunn’s pass to score with a confident finish.
5 Alex Morgan (Orlando Pride), 115/68.
Shot just over the bar on a great through ball from Press. Drew a lot of attention without threatening the goal directly.
5 Allie Long (Portland Thorns), 13/2.
Brought her usual poise and quality to the fray, shook off the effects of an opponent’s foot to her face. Dawdled on a shooting chance that was blocked.
TRIVIA. Usme’s goals were the first ones scored by Colombia against the USA. In five previous meetings, the USA had outscored Colombia, 18-0.
Aug. 9 in Manaus
USA 2 Colombia 2. Goals: Dunn 41, Pugh 59; Usme 26, 90.
USA – Solo; O’Hara, Sauerbrunn, Engen, Krieger, Brian (Long, 65), Horan, Rapinoe (Pugh, 33), Lloyd (Morgan, 46), Dunn, Press.
Colombia -- Sepulveda, C.Arias, N.Arias, Ariza (Vidal, 80), Clavijo, Salazar, Santos, Usme, Velasquez (Echeverri, 46), Gaitan, Andrade (Ospina, 62).
Referee: Teodora Albon (Romania).
14 comments about "USA-Colombia Women's Olympic Soccer Player Ratings".
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What were they thinking?!? – A super naïve version of tiki taka that backfired. And if starters were to be rested, why not resting Solo? Her back-up would have prevented the goals.
The two Columbian goals were perfectly struck and extremely difficult to stop. Certainly an "average 5" keeper performance would not have stopped them. I suspect that the "3" rating is a sign of the high expectations we have for US keepers.
BOB, IT IS C-O-L-O-M-B-I-A!!!
I love Hope Solo, and I still think that she is the best female GK on the planet by some margin, but that was a shocking display. I think the boos and Zika chants are a big distraction for her, although she won't admit it.
The first shot was hit directly at her and went through both her hands and between her legs. Any keeper at any level should make that save. The second shot she misread by charging out into traffic and then misplayed by whiffing on her punch. If she stayed back on her line she simply catches that ball or easily knocks it over the bar. She seemed too fired up to come rushing out for that ball.
Before I opened the article I though her rating would be a 2 or 3, and 3 seems fair. I know that she is close with Lloyd. I hope that she pulls Hope aside and helps her get her head on straight. Hope played very well the first 2 games and the US need her to block that stuff out and play at a high level to win the Gold.
Minor correction - Morgan Brian was superb on the ball, repeatedly working out of traffic and finding an outlet. Lindsay Horan, on the contrary, did not do a very good job of taking care of the ball and had numerous turnovers. I think we should expect more from Alex Morgan. She got the ball in some good spots and just was not efficient. It's a treat to see Pugh play.
I also think Hope Solo was distracted by the negative chants, but she brought it upon herself which is no surprise.
The US was pretty dominant, and should have scored more (and should have been awarded a penalty when Lloyd was clearly taken down at the corner of the box). But Usme's free kicks were of the highest quality, and while Solo saves the first one 99/100 times, it still wasn't easy. A lot of keepers would've been beaten by the 2nd, but Solo did misjudge it, and had she not, she would have saved it. As long as Solo doesn't let this performance affect her, we'll be fine. If you're going to have a bad game (and most teams do, ask the Brazilian WC men's team...), getting a result you need while doing so is the way to do it.
Should have, could have doesn't win games; execution does.
A weak display with way too much lateral and backward soccer asking for counter-attack and unnecessary fouls.The game should have been out of reach.A stronger tam wold feast off these tactics.
Press did a very good job of opening up Columbia. Pugh had a nice goal but, most of her play was sloppy. Morgan has not been very sharp. Hope Solo is entitled to a howler as long as it was in that game. Dunn, Horan, Brian & the backs were very solid.
Bonus points, of course, for the goals, but how does anyone otherwise get more than a 5 for a game in which the USA should have put in at least 4 or maybe even 5.
Heyas, senores, soccer players/gks can't have a perfect game alla the time!!! Bound to happen, look at Brazil two years ago, and Mexico last 7-0....
When an outfield player has a bad game, a good team can compensate. But when a keeper is off, it can be catastrophic. The problem as I see it was not the howler (that happens at point blank range), but the recycled ball she kicked straight to the Colombian attacker. Those mistakes always wind up in your box, and created the situation with Rapinoe's the dumb foul. Sadly, a dumb foul led to the 2nd goal too. Imo, Solo was a bit over aggressive on the 2nd goal, prob trying to fix her earlier mistake. Which is the biggest problem with her. She has always been, and will continue to be, her worst enemy. When the day arrives when she cannot cover her own mistakes (on or off the field) with her play, it will come to a sad, crashing end. The easiest way to lose to an inferior opponent is to give them set-plays around your box and not finish your chances. Blame Hope all you want, but that was a collective team effort. She has been a huge reason for our success, so let's pick her up and finish some chances ladies! Go get the GOLD!
Overall, a less than standard performance and HopeSolo had a nightmare. The second goal should also have been stopped, she was positioned to close to the near post and was caught out. The outfielders played decently but not particularly well. Megan Rapinoe was not used correctly, she should have subbed on late in the match rather than started. Very disjointed play, too many errors and hopefully this match will be forgotten quickly. This side is much better than they performed,which I put down to playing the third match in group play in the hostile environment of Manaus. Brasilia should yield a much better performance.
You can't bring Rapinoe in as a sub. You have to start her to see what she can give, for as long as she can go in case she gets reinjured. Since the plan going into the game was for her to only play about 30 minutes, it is a clear indication they just wanted to see how she would do in a real game situation getting hit. Now that the knock-out stage has started, unless you know that Rapainoe is 100% and can go 45+ minutes, if she is used, she has to start. Otherwise it is too big a risk to bring her off the bench with the possibility of OT. If she comes off the bench, and reinjures herself, IF you have other subs still available, Jill would have then used 3 players for one spot. Not the smartest tactic