KANSAS CITY, MO (October 15th, 2014) – Wednesday night, in Sporting Park Kansas City, Missouri, the US Women’s National Team began their 2015 World Cup Qualifying campaign with a 1-0 win over Trinidad and Tobago, who played surprisingly stout against a heavily favored US team. The American women only managed one goal, coming in the 56th minute, although having the lion’s share of the possession and chances.
In the first ten minutes of the match the US women seemed to get in their own way. Too many times their skill and their possession play led to forced balls. They just seemed unable to take advantage of the space Trinidad & Tobago’s midfield was giving them in the attacking third. It was almost as if Randy Waldrum’s team was parking the bus and allowing the US to come at them. Several times it seemed that T & T would get numbers forward, but it never seemed to pan out.
Of the chances the US women had, the best was off a ball that nearly found the foot of surprise starter Christen Press, who had a brilliant run into the six yard box and nearly found joy. Press was starting instead of Sydney Leroux. Carli Lloyd had a rocket of a shot that was put wide by T & T keeper Kimika Forbes and on the resulting corner Press again had a great opportunity created by Abby Wambach causing just the right amount of chaos in the box.
Forbes was absolutely heroic when the US women broke down her team’s discipline on defense, even nearly injuring herself deflecting a high curling shot coming from the foot of Megan Rapinoe. She was fearless and aggressive throughout the first half, facing ten shots and conceding none. She was never caught out of position, protecting her goal consistently and organizing her backline effectively. In the second half, Forbes took on Abby Wambach, smothering ball after ball, and rarely looked flustered. This allowed T & T’s forwards to push forward, enabling the US women to find space in between the Trinidad & Tobago defenders. Abby Wambach put it simply, “Their goalkeeper had a ridiculous game.”
Even though these women were not strangers (14 of the players on the roster for the CWC were involved with the qualifying tournament for the 2012 Olympics) to each other, it often felt like the skill was there on this squad, but the chemistry has still not quite developed. Too often play seemed tentative, and creative runs were just a touch out of sync. Alex Morgan was surprisingly off kilter, only turning it on in the 56th. Morgan showed off her dribbling skills, taking a ball around Forbes and creating an easy header for Wambach, who rarely misses a header from that range.
Then Sydney Leroux came on in relief of Press. At that point, the game changed, and the ensuing pressure nearly yielded a Rapinoe goal. Rapinoe again proved dangerous, crossing a ball that was perfectly lined up with Wambach’s forehead. The forward put the ball towards the right corner, but again Forbes was up for the challenge.
On the other end of the field, Hope Solo seemed a bit out of sync herself. Even though she seemed to be distracted, often misplaying balls that should have been easily managed. Of course, that also might be because, for the most part, the bulk of the match was played in the US attacking half. However, Solo was surprisingly shaky, conceding three turnovers to T & T forwards that resulted directly in dangerous chances for the Soca Warrior women.
Leroux, on the other hand, became more dangerous the more desperate T & T became. When she initially came off the bench she found herself mostly held to the flanks, an area of the field that she is not entirely comfortable or effective in. As space in the midfield opened up, the easier it became for her to make creative runs with and without the ball. Leroux was especially dangerous when she forced Forbes to cough up a rebound chance that just missed the head of Heather O’Reilly.
At the end of the day, the result suited both sides. For the US women, it was a win in the opening curtain on this World Cup qualifying stage. For Trinidad and Tobago, it was a satisfying result, holding the US to only a single score.
Whereas the USWNT are the odds on favorite (in most circles, the competition isn’t close), they will need to improve their overall play. The competition does get harder from here, and everyone wants to beat women’s soccer royalty. Coach Ellis will undoubtedly have her hands full in the coming days, attempting to keep her team focused and hopefully generating some sort of chemistry as the road to Canada 2015 rolls along.
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