Commentary
USA-Chile: Women's World Cup Player Ratings
- by Mike Woitalla @MikeWoitalla, Jun 16, 2019
June 16 in Paris
USA 3 Chile 0. Goals: Lloyd 11, 35, Ertz 26.
Att.: 45,594.
The USA showed off its depth as Coach Jill Ellis made seven changes to the starting lineup from the 13-0 win over Thailand and the Americans beat Chile, 3-0, in their second Group F game. Ellis swapped the entire frontline and center forward Carli Lloyd's two goals sandwiched a header into the net by Julie Ertz, who moved back into the midfield after playing on the backline against Thailand. Chile, which lost its opener 2-0 to Sweden, was spared of a more lop-sided scoreline thanks to its agile 6-foot-0 goalkeeper Christiane Endler and a missed penalty kick by Lloyd. Going into its final group game, on Thursday vs. Sweden, all 20 U.S. field players have already seen action in France.
USA Player Ratings
(1=low; 5=middle; 10=high.)
GOALKEEPER
In a game that was played mostly in Chile's half -- the USA had about 70% of the possession -- no Chilean shot reached Alyssa Naeher. She did snatch Chile's only corner kick and a low cross.
Player (Club) caps/goals (age)
5 Alyssa Naeher (Chicago Red Stars) 48/- (31)
DEFENDERS
The USA's youngest player, 20-year-old Tierna Davidson, started at left back. Rarely tested defensively, Davidson passed crisply and smartly, and delivered the corner kicks for the USA's second and third goals. Right back Ali Krieger, part of the passing sequence before the first goal, combined well with Morgan Brian and Mallory Pugh on her wing and shut down two Chilean counterattacks. Central defenders Abby Dahlkemper and Becky Sauerbrunn enabled the midfield to focus on offense.
Player (Club) caps/goals (age)
7 Ali Krieger (Orlando Pride) 101/1
(34)
6 Abby Dahlkemper (NC Courage) 42/0 (26)
6 Becky
Sauerbrunn (Utah Royals) 159/0 (34)
7 Tierna Davidson (Chicago Red Stars) 21/1 (20)
MIDFIELDERS
Morgan Brian delivered a low pass across the goalmouth, after receiving a cross-field pass from Davidson, in the
third minute that Lloyd nearly poked over the goal line. Brian sent a wonderfully chipped pass to Christen Press for a chance in the second half. Julie Ertz , who ran the U.S. midfield that
overwhelmed the Chileans, scored her goal with an extraordinarily well-struck header. Lindsey Horan, like Ertz, made sure the Chileans didn't find midfield space. Horan picked up a yellow card
for an rash midfield tackle that will hang over her through the quarterfinals, after which players get a clean-slate. (Two yellows = one-game suspension.) Horan shot high in the 54th minute and in the
55th should have roofed it into the net, instead of shooting low for an Endler foot save, after Press had delivered the perfect pass.
6 Morgan Brian (Chicago Red Stars) 83/6 (26)
7 Julie Ertz (Chicago Red Stars) 84/19 (27)
6 Lindsey Horan (Portland Thorns) 6970
FORWARDS
In its 2-0 loss to Sweden, the Chileans didn't concede until the 83rd
minute and in stoppage time. Fending off the USA's waves of attacks proved much more difficult. Carli Lloyd hammered in a 17-yard half-volley in the 11th minute and scored with a header to make
it 3-0 by halftime. Lloyd did some impressive midfield playmaking in the second half and hit crossbar with a 70th-minute header. Lloyd came up short of a hat trick when she hit her penalty kick wide.
Christen Press' left-wing forays had the Chileans on their heels throughout. Her terrific volley in the 57th minute and her 66th-minute header were well-saved by Endler.
Mallory Pugh faked out Maria Jose Rojas in the 66th minute and delivered a cross that led to the Endler save on Press' header, but that was a rare example of Pugh beating a
defender one-on-one. Her efforts did lead to U.S. corner kicks, of which the USA had a remarkable 15.
Player (Club) caps/goals (age)
6 Mallory Pugh (Washington Spirit) 55/17 (21)
8 Carli
Lloyd (Sky Blue FC) 276/113 (36)
7 Christen Press (Utah Royals) 118/48 (30)
SUBSTITUTES
Jessica McDonald
joined Press in taking a spectacular shot that didn't find the net. McDonald's 62nd-minute shot from the far edge of the penalty area curved onto the far post. Allie Long committed
what certainly looked like a reckless foul four minutes after receiving a yellow card.
Player
(Club) caps/goals (age)
6 Jessica McDonald (NC Courage) 8/2 (31)
5 Allie Long (Reign FC) 46/6 (31)
nr Emily Sonnett (Portland Thorns) 34/0
(25)
TRIVIA. Carli Lloyd became the first player to score in six straight Women's World Cup matches. At the 2015 World Cup, she scored in the final (a hat trick in the 5-2 win over Japan), in the semifinal (2-0 over Germany), in the quarterfinal (1-0 over China) and in the round of 16 (2-0 over Colombia). At this World Cup, she scored once in the 13-0 win over Thailand in the USA's Group F opener. The 36-year-old's second goal against Chile was her 10th World Cup goal, moving her into third among U.S. players behind Abby Wambach (14 goals) and Michelle Akers (12).
June
16 in Paris
USA 3 Chile 0. Goals: Lloyd 11, 35, Ertz 26.
USA -- Naeher; Krieger, Dahlkemper (Sonnett, 82), Sauerbrunn, Davidson; Brian,
Ertz (McDonald, 46), Horan (Long, 59); Pugh, Lloyd, Press.
Chile -- Endler; Galaz, Guerrero, Saez, Toto; Lara, Araya, Soto (Lopez, 46); Zamora, Urrutia (Huenteo,
68), Balmaceda.
Yellow cards: USA -- Horan 23, Long 88; Chile -- Lara 76, Huenteo 80, Galaz 90+4. Red cards: none.
Referee: Riem
Hussein (Germany).
Att.: 45,594.
Stats:
USA/Chile
Shots: 26/1
Shots on goal: 9/0
Saves: 0/6
Corner Kicks: 15/1
Fouls: 15/11
Offside: 1/2
Possession: 70%/30%
It may have been offside but Naeher looked awful on the free kick that bounced right by her into the goal.
The opponent was two strides off. An easy call.
Lloyd came up big time. The others namely Press, Pugh and McDonald always just don't seem to get the job done when they have the chance. Is this just bad luck a good keeper or something else? Jill have very little time to let them sort shis out. At this moment Lloyd looks to be the first off the bench or a starter when we need to win.
Rather than disparage the other players, why don't we just appreciate Lloyd's exceptional play. She looks every bit the 2015 Player of the Year she was 4 years ago.
Different people age at different rates, but one thing is certain at 36 she doesn't have the same ability to recover quickly from matches that she did 15 years ago. Pulling her after 45 minutes means she will be 100% recovered by the next match.
I thought the team was especially well coached.
I also thought that Chile played well, especially their keeper.
Lloyd's opening strike a volley rather than half-volley ... wonderfully struck side volley!
I personally prefer Press to Rapinoe. This coach isn't afraid to make the adjustments. She realized four years ago that Wambach needed to play off the bench for the team to be better. Hope she pushes all the tight buttons again!
Talk about a tough crowd... they score too much.
They make bad plays, don't score enough.
USA won 3-0 and had near total control.
A total of nine new players on the field.
Everyone has played (in just 2 games) except back up goalies.
Yet some are not happy yet???
While your point is spot on (they talk about the defense as a weakness, and they haven't been scored on in 5 or 6 straight games!), as my father said, even the best can improve! But the US women are certainly in form (and as Ginger said, if the Chilean GK had not been phenomenal it woiuld have been worse). I just hope they didn't peak too early; I don't think they did, it seems like they're just getting warmed up...
70% possession and only 3-goals...zero shots on USA goal...something doesn't add up.
The Chilean keeper had an awesome “Tim Howard game”, else the US would definitely have put more points on the board.