2011 Women’s World Cup: USA-France

by Kunle Demuren

I will be covering the 2011 Women’s World Cup; this match review is part of that coverage. 

The USA faced a major challenge coming into this game, coming down from a massively draining (physically and emotionally) victory in the quarter-final against Brazil, and also on one less day of rest (France also went the distance in their quarter-final against England, but they had 11 players for the entire time.) France are also the kind of team that could really rip into tired opponents, since they pass the ball so well and could force them to chase the ball to get any sort of possession. However, the United States showed little sign of their earlier exertions affecting them, as they came out 3-1 winners, with goals from Lauren Cheney, Abby Wambach, and Alex Morgan.

- After watching that game, many people might say that France were the better team and perhaps were more deserving of the win, based on their superior possession, many more shots, seemingly more chances created, etc. Possession doesn’t really mean anything, however, if you fail to do anything with it. If such measures were the sole factors in deciding soccer games, Arsenal would have won the Premier League last season, but they didn’t because they failed to take their chances, and the same thing happened to France. They simply were not killer enough with their final ball, and were unable to trouble Hope Solo with shots of enough quality to beat a top-class keeper like she is, as demonstrated by their only goal coming from a bit of a fluke with a cross from Sonia Bompastor that Gaëtane Thiney missed getting contact on but deceived Solo enough for it to end up in the back of the net.

- Speaking of keepers, France’s Bérangère Sapowicz was absolutely awful. She flapped at cross after cross, which led to her being in no position to stop Abby Wambach’s header off of a corner from scoring, and came charging out at Alex Morgan, only to get lobbed for the USA’s third goal because she failed to make herself big long enough to cut down the angle. One valid complaint about women’s soccer is that the standard of goalkeeping for many teams is lower than the men, and Sapowicz’s performance exemplifies that. One cannot expect to go far in a World Cup at any level with a poor goalkeeper, and France were punished for that.

- France’s defending also left much to be desired. While, in general, the US maintained bodies behind the ball and forced the French into many hopeful long-range shots, France seemed to get caught with too high of a defensive line several times, and their set-piece defending was simply appalling. Their shaky defense is exactly why French coach Bruno Bini made a colossal mistake by substituting holding midfielder Sandrine Soubeyrand for striker/winger Elodie Thomis, because up to that point, while they were missing a cutting edge, they were, for the most part, effectively holding on the ball and making it difficult for the US to create anything. Bini was clearly afraid of being caught on the counter and wanted to go for the win, but by losing a midfielder, they seemed to lose some of their solidity, and with a vulnerable back line, it cost them dearly.

- The aforementioned substitution also prevented the French from taking advantage of the frankly awful game that Shannon Boxx had as a holding midfielder for the US. She was good enough when it came to breaking up French attacks, but with regards to maintaining possession, she was terrible. Pia Sundhage has to consider a change for the final against Japan (unlikely, I know, since it’s somehow worked so far). Amy Rodriguez also continued her anonymity up front, although I do agree with the decision not to start Morgan in her place; while she took her goal well, she also showed her inexperience a few times. However, praise should be given to Becky Sauerbrunn, who was playing in her first ever World Cup game, and turned in a very good performance in central defense for the US, and Megan Rapinoe, who once again changed the game when she came in off of the bench.

- Despite the mistakes of the French, we should take nothing away from the quality of the US’s goals, from Lauren Cheney’s delicate flick to her great delivery for Wambach’s goal, and Alex Morgan’s maintaining her composure and calmly chipping over a keeper caught in no man’s land. The United States seem to have found their cutting edge that was missing at times in the group stage.

- As for the US’s prospects in the final, Japan are clearly a very dangerous team, even though they have never beaten the Americans. Their captain Homare Sawa is described as the "Asian female Xavi", and they destroyed a Swedish team against whom the US slumped to a defeat in the last game of the group stage in the other semi-final. Japan did lose to England in the group stages, which may be a good sign for the US because of their similar physical approach. Further, the US has been more technically and tactically proficient than England. As long as they can prevent Japan from converting possession into quality chances like they did against France, the United States should win a third World Cup trophy.