Congratulations to the US women's national team, who outplayed the world's No. 1-ranked team (No. 1 according to the wise algorithms of FIFA, at least) and were deserving winners in Tuesday's Women's World Cup semifinal at Montreal's Big Owe.
That said, the women's soccer world – particularly the Germans – may be talking about the performance of referee Teodora Albon for a long time.
The Romanian was generally perceived to have let Julie Johnston off easy by only showing yellow, not red, when the US center back tugged down Alexandra Popp deep in the American penalty area in the 59th minute of a 0-0 match.
The red that wasn't given... #USAvGERpic.twitter.com/R4Us3qvBKk
— Ben Jata (@Ben_Jata) July 1, 2015Just under 10 minutes later, Albon was widely seen to have gifted the USWNT a PK of their own – setting up what would become Carli Lloyd's game-winner – when she pointed to the spot again at the opposite end of the field, despite the appearance that Annike Krahn had fouled Alex Morgan outside the 18.
Postgame, Germany coach Silvia Neid was honest about her team's dissatisfaction with the ref's decisions. But she's a veteran head who knows full well that the old Argentine saying rings true:
If you don't make the goals, the goals make you.
My three thoughts from a riveting night in Quebec:
1) Fortune favors the bold
This is one of New York City FC coach Jason Kreis' favorite sayings, and it clearly informs much of his footballing worldview: Seek the ball. Seek possession and the control it brings. Don't react – get forward and act.
Until quite recently, we certainly wouldn't have said that about USWNT boss Jill Ellis. After head coach Tom Sermanni's sudden, strange dismissal last year, she was the safe pair of hands on the till, the company woman who already knew the program and the players. And she made her tactics and selections accordingly, even when situations seemed to be screaming out for something different.
But on Tuesday she made a few brave calls. With the suspended Lauren Holiday available again, she had to either break up the central midfield combo of Morgan Brian and Carli Lloyd that had so dominated China, or leave out Holiday, one of her most naturally talented players. Or so it seemed.
Ellis kept the Houston Dash duo intact, added Holiday to the mix in an “8.5” role alongside Lloyd and left Alex Morgan alone up top in a 4-2-3-1 look that the USWNT claimed they hadn't trained on much in the runup to the tournament. It was a mirror to the Germans' system – but surely they'd be better at it, at this point, than the Yanks?
Morgan suffered a bit from this decision – she looked out of sorts and missed a hatful of inviting chances, though her mastery of Krahn was eventually decisive. But combined with the return of Megan Rapinoe's incisiveness and dynamism out wide, it helped keep possession and brought the midfield under control, which proved crucial against such savvy, methodical opposition.
Both individually and collectively, the USWNT's gut proved tougher than the Germans'.
2) Who wants to be a hero?
The flipside of Kreis' favorite catchphrase: The soccer gods do not merely reward the assertive; they actively, cruelly punish the meek.
Celia Sasic has been a revelation this tournament. Coming into this match, the German striker was leading the tournament's golden boot race and had shown a full striker's skillset – scoring, running, combining, muscling up on defenders. She appeared to herald the next evolution of the position: Abby Wambach, mk II.
But when face to face 12 yards away from Hope Solo, the world's best goalkeeper, Sasic was hit with a sudden bout of meek passivity. After Popp resourcefully won the penalty off Johnston, the game – maybe the trophy, even – was in her hands thanks to a basic error from one of the USWNT's best players. But she handed it back.
Whether it was her own nerves or Solo's desperate attempts at pre-kick gamesmanship, Sasic's focus was disrupted, and she missed the target at the worst possible moment. And she paid a heavy price, becoming another chapter in the steadily-growing legend of Solo's antihero persona. It was a very unclutch, un-German moment.
Lloyd, a well-established “big-game player” in her own right, was more than willing to pick up the cape.
(Just don't expect Japan or England to be as forgiving of such mistakes in the final.)
3) Narrative, narrative, narrative
Quick rant: Prepackaged plotlines are the bane of this business. They're lazy, stale, usually boring and they distract from the fascinating intricacies of what's actually happening.
The USWNT have always carried theirs like golden chains around their collective neck. After years of success in every other facet of their sport, the elder members of the current crop are desperate for the World Cup trophy that has eluded them, haunted by the success of the “99ers” who won the USA's last one, 16 years ago. At the team's media day in Manhattan last month, Abby Wambach admitted as much to a packed room of journalists: “You're damn right, I need it.”
That kind of legacy hunt can become a crippling millstone. Yet this group – even, or maybe especially, Ellis – finally seems to be thriving on the traditional narratives. They seemed to relish the rare sensation of being underdogs against the Germans, and after months of assuring unimpressed observers that they were a big-game team that would step up when it mattered most, they did exactly that, producing best-of-tournament displays in the quarterfinal and semifinal rounds.
Though they sleepwalked their way through the group stage in Canada, their noses have perked up as the trophy stand has grown closer. And now that it's just 90 good minutes away, they feel the updraft of destiny under their wings.
