Megan Rapinoe is a good soccer player.
Rapinoe displayed world class skill: from juggling the ball on the run, to going around defenders with ease, to sending curling passes to Abby Wamback darting to the back post, and back heels to set up chances. Megin Rapinoe was a joy to watch.
She and the rest of the U.S. Women’s National Team displayed their talents for the world to see against Australia, in a match that began competitive, but did not remain so.
Early on in the match, the U.S. relied first on some individual brilliance… and luck…
From the set piece, Rapinoe traps the ball, spins away from defenders into a pocket of space. She then, shoots aiming for the near post, only for the ball to deflect off of a defender and gently bounce inside the far post.
Australia used their clever passing in the counter attack to expose and utilize large gaps in the U.S. defense whenever the U.S. lost possession. This led to their only goal.
Lisa De Vanna was left completely unmarked in the box, the rest is history.
Canada would continue to threaten to expose the U.S. over the top, with Australian attackers working hard to attempt to stretch the U.S. back line. This led to a few foot races, but not many clear cut chances.
After surviving the first half of play, the U.S. returned with an inprovement of vigor and tactics. Now instead of Rapinoe sending crosses to the back post, she made an effort to get the ball down the flank to Sydney Leroux.
At some point during halftime Sydney Leroux turned into the Hulk, as she began the half with muscling tackles and clearances on set pieces as well as darting down the flank, to send in dangerous crosses like the one above to Christen Press.
Leroux’s hard work, Rapinoe’s consistent attacking, and the U.S.’s growing percentage of time with ball (once Tobin Heath came in) left Australia tired and exposed; leading to…
After Rapinoe collects the ball off of the Carli Lloyd’s tackle in the middle of the field, and runs to the box and tucks in a laser in the far post netting.
As beatable as the USWNT looked in that first 30+ minutes, they looked as UN-beatable in the last 30 minutes.
The lone blemish to Rapinoe’s night, was the yellow card handed to her during the 62 minute.
Being that she was one of the few dangerous players on the field for the U.S. for much of the match, Rapinoe will have to be mindful of her play throughout the tournament as another yellow card could suspend her for her next match.
Losing Rapinoe for a game would leave a large gap in the midfield, considering that she has had her foot involved with each of the USWNT’s goals tonight.
Based on the game tonight, she is poised to have a ridiculous tournament. Considering Abby Wambach missed two crosses from her (which probably won’t happen again) and Alex Morgan is just getting healthy, Megan Rapinoe is just getting started.
Photo by Adam Pretty – FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images
