

Continued defensive mistakes aren’t reassuring, either. The team’s finishing and its general forward movement have been abysmal, as they lack any kind of excitement in the final third. In those three games, they’ve scored zero goals. After a tough loss on penalties in last year’s Olympics quarters, the U. But Australia is a team that’s never gotten beyond the quarterfinals of a major world tournament, and even if they’re solidly in the second tier now, a United States A- minus team of the past would still have embarrassed them off the field. To give you an idea of how low- stakes it was, Carli Lloyd came off the bench. Admittedly, there wasn’t a lot on the line here, not in this tournament of friendlies. 7th- minute score last night in Seattle, after what announcer Ian Darke referred to as “dithering defending,” gave her side (ranked seventh by FIFA) a historic result and proved another sign that top- ranked America’s iron grip on women’s soccer domination is loosening.


Tameka Butt capitalized on a Becky Sauerbrunn mistake to score the only goal of Australia’s first- ever win against the USWNT in 2. Don't Panic, The USWNT's Struggles Might Be A Good Thing.
