USA Defeats Brazil, Advances To Play France

Soccer News: Solo Save Gives USA 5-3 Win Against Brazil in Penalty Shooutout to Advance to Face France in Women's World Cup Semifinal

The U.S. Women’s National Team earned one of the most dramatic wins in FIFA Women’s World Cup history, scoring the tying goal in the dying seconds of overtime while playing with 10 players for more than 55 minutes.

U.S. forward Abby Wambach scored the latest goal in Women’s World Cup history when she headed home a cross from Megan Rapinoe to tie the game at 2-2 in the second minute of stoppage time in the second and final 15-minute overtime period. The USA then showed tremendous composure to convert all five of its penalty kicks in the shootout with U.S. goalkeeper Hope Solo saving Brazil’s third attempt by Daiane to give the Americans the margin of victory.

Ali Krieger, who has played the last four years in Germany for FFC Frankfurt, nailed the fifth and decisive penalty after Shannon Boxx, Carli Lloyd, Wambach and Rapinoe had all scored. Boxx initially had her shot saved, but replays showed that Brazilian goalkeeper Andreia had moved off her line early, and the kick was correctly ordered to be retaken by Australian referee Jacqui Melksham. Boxx calmly converted her second attempt to get the USA started in the shootout.

"It's hard to put together all the thoughts I have,” U.S. head coach Pia Sundhage said. “There's something to be said about this team. This American attitude of pulling everything together and bringing out the best performance in each other is contagious. I am very, very proud and I'm very, very happy to be the coach for the U.S. team.”

In their own words, the USA Women's Team at the FIFA 2011 Women's World Cup Speak Out:

U.S. forward ABBY WAMBACH 
On the match: 
“I really don’t know what to say. I think that is a perfect example of what this country is about. What the history of this team has always been. We never give up. We literally went to the last second it seems. I mean, Hope. How many penalties has she saved legitimately today? We never gave up. Brazil is a great team. I really don’t have many words for this.” 

On her goal: 
“It was a perfect ball. (Megan Rapinoe) got an opportunity down the left flank and sent the ball in. It just popped over that defenders head. I was sitting on that back post. I’m so happy it went in.”

On the goal and the moments afterward: 
“Megan Rapinoe just put that ball on my head. Luckily I didn't miss and the rest is history, I guess. We had the momentum going into penalties. Shannon Boxx being able to retake that first one obviously gave us a lift. Getting that first goal is huge.” 

On playing a man down: 
“Stastically, based on what just happned, Brazil usually comes out on top in terms of being down a man. The U.S. National Team has had tough moments in world championships and I think we learned a lot from last night's game against Japan. If you get a chance you have to take it and we went for it.” 

On the emotions of the game: 
“To be honest, I lieterally can't believe that just happened. The last three hours of my life have been some of the most by far some of the most emotionally up and down moments I've ever experienced and I'm glad to be able to say I did it with my teammates because in the end it took all of us. It took every single player on the team to win that game.” 

On the victory against Brazil: 
“Getting the red card and going down in extra time is tough. It's a tough hill to climb. But this team is willing to put their hearts on the line. This team is willing to do whatever it takes to win and I think it showed tonight.”

U.S. goalkeeper HOPE SOLO 
On the match: 
“Up and down, up and down. Emotional. I didn’t know if we were going to pull it out at the end. It started to look grim, but you felt the energy. It’s not like we held our heads. But you see the clock winding down and you wonder if this is going to be our time, our tournament. And we fought. I knew Abby would come up big. I don’t care if she has two goals are 10 goals. When it counts she comes up big and that’s what she did today.” 

On the shootout: 
“I was very confident. It’s a hard way to win. It’s a hard way to lose. You want the better team to win and I think the better team did win, but sometimes it doesn’t always go that way. You never know what is going to happen, but I was confident. We’ve been practicing, we’ve been looking good in practice. Everybody was pretty much stone cold. We were ice. I felt like we put them away well.”

On managing emotions durting the game: 
“You have to really manage your emotions in a game like this. I’ll be the first to admit that I get very emotional , but you have to be able to contain that…We stayed together the entire time, until the final minute and we put that final goal away.” 

On the re-taken penalty kick in the second half: 
“I was definitely frustrated. I got caught up in the emotions of making that first save. I celebrated, I was excited and by the time I turned back around they were lined up to take another kick. Again, it was an emotional rollercoaster but we contained emotions and we came out on top.” 

On the emotion within the team after the win: 
“Even when we lost to Sweden, you could feel the energy, you could feel the confidence. Nobody hung their head. We have a great leader in Pia that brought us together. There’s something special about this group – the energy, the vibe, the leadership. There’s something special about this group. Even going down a man, even going down a goal in overtime, you felt something. You felt something was going to happen. People kept fighting all the way down to stoppage time. When the clock was winding down, this team kept fighting, and we’re down a man. All I can say is that you can’t coach that necessarily, it’s a feeling and we play with that feeling.” 

On her save on third shot in the penalty kick shootout: 
“Going up against two different penalty kicks during the flow of the game by two different players kind of threw me off during the shootout. I had in my head that the first two shooters we’re going to go a particular way and I didn’t try and read it. After that, once I got those two out of the way, I was able to read it and I was really able to just clear my mind so to speak, play my game and read the shooter. I think that was a benefit to me, not to have seen that third shooter in the run of play.” 

On the play of the U.S. defense against Marta: 
“I think our defense played great against Marta. I don’t think she was too much of a threat. Yes, she got that goal, that happens, but our defenders did a great job of covering, supporting one another, sending two players to the ball. It was part of the game plan given to us by our head coach, which we all trusted in, executed it and came out on top.”

U.S. Women's National Team defender ALI KRIEGER
On taking the fifth penalty in the shootout:
“I don't think I was really thinking. I just stepped up to the plate. We had practiced in training and I felt confident in making it. I blocked everything out and stepped up. Everybody shot the ball in so perfectly I told myself I had to do it as well. I was confident, knew my place and it worked out.” 

On the momentum shift with Abby Wambach's goal:
“We couldn't be stopped at that point in the game. It was very exciting in the last two minutes after fighting with 10 men against 11. It was amazing that we figured it out in the end. We never give up until the last minute and you can see that from tonight.” 

On her mindset stepping up to her penalty kick:
“I didn't really think that much. All I knew is I wanted to win this game and go to the semifinal and help my team in any way I could. To do that was to make this PK. It's a dream come true, especailly in Germany, to be the last shooter. Given that opportunity I did the best I could.”

On her selection as one of the penalty kick takers:
“In training we discussed who would take the [penalties]. I said, of course, I'd love to take one. We trained and trained and two minutes before we had to take it [goalkeeper coach Paul Rogers] said you're gonna be number five. I was confident.”

On the support of the fans in Dresden:
“It was amazing. I don't know if it was because of the game yesteday, which was unfortuante and very unlucky for the German National Team. I have a lot of respect for them. I was so proud to play tonight and all you hear is "USA, USA" and everyone is clapping, whistling at the Brazilians. Having that support just really makes us play even better.” 

U.S. head coach PIA SUNDHAGE 
On the drama of the match: 
“I have no words. Phenomenal. The goal and then the PKs. Someone is writing this book. There is something about the American attitude to find a way to win. Unbelievable.“ 

On her mood after the game: 
“Right now I’m the happiest person on earth.”

On the match: 
“It’s hard to put together all the thoughts I have. I want to talk about how emotional I came. There’s something to be said about this team. This American attitude of pulling everything together and bringing out the best performance in each other is contagious. I am very, very proud and I’m very, very happy to be the coach for the U.S. team.” 

On the re-taken penalty kick in the second half: 
“To be honest, it doesn’t matter. I just go with whatever the referee says, she’s the one that decides what is going on out there. I was very happy with the way Hope coped with that whole situation because she saved it and then she comes back.” 

On her changes after Rachel Buehler got a red card: 
“When Rachel Buehler was sent off, I think we started to play. It’s funny, in the first half we probably got the goal too early because we played too safe and didn’t run as much as we could have. We played too direct. When Buehler was sent off, you could see something happened to the team and it was more than a running game and we explored the width. If you look at how we kept possession, Megan Rapinoe came in and late in the game Tobin Heath as well, those [players] prepared off the bench and made a difference.” 

FIFA 2011 Women's World Cup USA vs Brazil GAME RECAP: 

The match was a topsy-turvy emotional rollercoaster with the U.S. getting things underway with a dream start on a Brazil own goal by Daiane just 74 seconds into the match. The U.S. held the 1-0 lead until the game took one of many dramatic turns as Rachel Buehler and five-time FIFA Women’s World Player of the Year Marta clashed in the left side of the penalty area in the 65th minute. Melksham ruled that Buehler had denied Marta an obvious scoring opportunity, awarded a penalty kick to Brazil and sent off the U.S. central defender, forcing the USA to play a woman down for the rest of the game, which included the 30 minute overtime period. 

Cristiane stepped up to take the kick, but Solo dove full out to her left to push the shot away. As the U.S. team celebrated wildly, Melksham stunned the American side by ordering the kick to be retaken for an apparent encroachment violation. Marta stepped up to take the second chance and buried it, tying the score at 1-1. 

As the half continued, the U.S. gained the support of the sold-out crowd at Rudolf-Harbig Stadium, who perhaps felt the USA had been slighted, and urged the USA forward despite the playing down a player. The U.S. ended up with the better of play during the final 23 minutes after the penalty, but regulation ended with the teams tied. 

In the second minute of extra time, Marta took a pass from Maurine, who was apparently offside, to convert a beautiful left-footed flick that bounced on the turf and off the right post before settling behind Solo to give Brazil a 2-1 advantage. 

Boxx dropped deeper from her center midfield position to cover for Buehler and was able to settle the team. The veteran also distributed well from that withdrawn position, helping the USA actually control more of the game with 10 players than they had managed with 11. 

The USA never stopped pressing for an equalizer and when Melksham added three minutes of extra time to the second overtime period after Brazil’s Erika was cautioned for some time-wasting shenanigans, the U.S. took full advantage. The play to score the tying goal started in the 122nd minute in the back with Kreiger intercepting a pass in the right corner. She played a pass forward to Lloyd who dribbled to the center circle before finding Rapinoe on the left wing. The 55th-minute substitute played a high, swerving cross over both Daiane and goalkeeper Andreia that Wambach met with a leaping header, sending the ball just inside the right post from six yards out, touching off a unbridled celebration from the U.S. team. 

“It was a perfect ball,” Abby Wambach said. “She got an opportunity down the left flank. She sent the ball in and it just popped over that defender’s head. I was sitting on that back post and headed it near post. I’m so happy it went it.” 

The goal in the 120th minute was the 120th of Wambach’s career and her 11th in the FIFA Women’s World Cup play, tying her for fourth all-time behind Marta, Birgit Prinz of Germany and U.S. legend Michelle Akers. The U.S. advances to the semifinals for the sixth-straight tournament – every tournament that has been held in fact – and exacts a measure of revenge against Brazil which eliminated the U.S. at the semifinal stage in 2007. Coincidentally, that was the last match that saw the U.S. receive a red card. 

The U.S., which wore its black uniforms for the first time in this tournament, earned a foul on Amy Rodriguez just 44 seconds into the game that set up the first goal. Lauren Cheney’s free kick was poorly struck and hit the wall, but Cheney hustled to keep possession and dropped the ball back for Christie Rampone. The U.S. captain played a long, low pass to the opposite side of the field. Wambach alertly dummied the pass while screening a defender, allowing Boxx to chase the ball to the left end line. Her left-footed cross could have found the crashing Wambach or Lloyd, but instead Daiane completely mishit a right-footed clearance and the ball deflected into the right side of the net. 

Brazil’s best chances in the first half came via an Aline header into the side left netting and a shot off the crossbar from outside the penalty area near the end-line by Fabiana. 

In the second half, the skillful Brazilians put together some excellent possession, but Solo continued to demonstrate her dominance with a two-handed save on a Cristiane shot toward the corner in the 60th minute. Three minutes later Lloyd rattled the crossbar with a header after winning a ball that Rapinoe had swerved into the area. 

Before the stoppage time score, the Wambach also had a 98th minute chance that called Andreia to make her biggest save of the game, pushing her left-footed drive just left of the goal. 

Notably, the result in the penalty shootout came on the 12th anniversary of the 1999 FIFA Women’s World Cup final against China that also saw the U.S. win a penalty shootout. On that day in the Rose Bowl the U.S. also converted all five penalties with the U.S. goalkeeper Briana Scurry saving China’s third attempt. 

U.S. Women’s National Team Match Recap:

Match: U.S. Women’s National Team vs. Brazil
Date: July 10, 2011
Competition: 2011 FIFA Women’s World Cup – Quarterfinal
Venue: Rudolf-Harbig Stadium; Dresden, Germany 
Kickoff: 11:30 a.m. ET / 5:30 p.m. local
Attendance:  25,598
Weather: 79 degrees, cloudy

Scoring Summary:     1    2     OT1     OT2        F 
USA                            1    0      0          1          2
BRA                            0    1      1          0          2         

USA – Daiane (own goal)                          2^nd minute
BRA – Marta (penalty kick)                        68
BRA – Marta (Maurine)                              92
USA – Abby Wambach (Megan Rapinoe)     120+2

Penalty Summary: 
USA: Boxx (goal), Lloyd (goal), Wambach (goal), Rapinoe (goal), Krieger (goal) 
BRA: Cristiane (goal), Marta (goal), Daiane (saved) , Francielle (goal) 
U.S. advances 5-3 on PKs 

Lineups: 
USA: 1-Hope Solo; 11-Ali Krieger, 19-Rachel Buehler, 3-Christie Rampone (capt.), 6-Amy LePeilbet; 9-Heather O’Reilly (17-Tobin Heath, 108), 7-Shannon Boxx, 10-Carli Lloyd, 12-Lauren Cheney (15-Megan Rapinoe, 55); 8-Amy Rodriguez (13-Alex Morgan, 72), 20-Abby Wambach 
Subs not used: 2-Heather Mitts, 4-Becky Sauerbrunn, 5-Kelley O’Hara, , 14-Stephanie Cox, , 16-Lori Lindsey, , 18-Nicole Barnhart, 21-Jill Loyden 
Head coach: Pia Sundhage

BRA: 1-Andreia; 3-Daiane, 4-Aline, 13-Erika; 14-Fabiana, 8-Formiga (5-Renata Costa, 113), 7-Ester, 2-Maurine; 11-Cristiane, 6-Rosana (15-Francielle, 85), 10-Marta 
Subs not used: 9-Beatriz, 12-Barbara, , 16-Elaine, 17-Daniele, 18-Thais Guedes, 19-Grazielle, 20-Roseane, 21-Thais 
Head coach: Kleiton Lima

Statistical Summary: USA / BRA
Shots: 14 / 16 
Shots on Goal: 5 / 6 
Saves: 4 / 3 
Corner Kicks: 11 / 6 
Fouls: 17 / 19
Offside: 4 / 2

Misconduct Summary: 
USA – Carli Lloyd (caution)                29^th minute
BRA – Aline (caution)                        44
BRA – Marta (caution)                       45
USA – Rachel Buehler (sent off)         65
USA – Hope Solo (caution)                 67
USA – Megan Rapinoe (caution)         90+1
BRA – Maurine (caution)                    112
USA – Shannon Boxx (caution)          113
BRA – Erika (caution)                         117

Officials
Referee: Jacqui Melksham (AUS)  
Assistant Referee 1: Allyson Flynn (AUS) 
Assistant Referee 2: Sarah Ho (AUS) 
Fourth Official: Etsuko Fukano (JPN)

Bud Light Woman of the Match: Hope Solo

This editorial was under written by the San Diego Sealions, for soccernation.com.

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USA Defeats France, Advances To Play Japan For The World Cup

USA is GOING TO THE FINAL: USA was winning 1-0 at Half Time. France scored in the 55th minute and we had a whole new game. In the 80th minute,  Abby Wambach scores for the USA and the crowd went wild! In the 82nd minute the USA scores again with a goal from Alex Morgan and we fans are thrilled. Final Score USA 3-1 France.

USA continues to try to score a fourth goal as the minutes close of the match.  We never give up. France gets a Yellow Card in the 89th minute. 

The fans were on the edge of their seats after France came back and equalized. The U.S. looked a bit frantic and could not maintain possession. All we needed was one chance to get back on top. It only takes one moment, and Abby gave that to us. The header was brilliant and gave the U.S. confidence again. Alex Morgan who had not scored for a while was able to feed off that momentum and knock in the third and final goal for the United States. 

The USA was always ranked #1 for Women's soccer.  In 1999 the USA won the World Cup. Last time, we did not perform that well and Germany won.  The USA team always does well under pressure.  Watch the USA compete in the final play for the Championship!  Now the question is who will the USA play?  Japan or Sweden?

RECAP Comment: "Like I said before, for this team, it takes only one chance to put them back on top and in the game. Rapinoe coming in makes a difference and she has made a difference every time she comes off the bench. Finally, people are aware that the Women's World Cup is going on.  Now we have fans all across the U.S. cheering and knowing we are a contender. After Sunday's game you could feel the vibe.  We are going to get it done.  USA is going to win the Women's World Cup...it is destiny," says Jen Lalor-Nielsen.

"Just by seeing the USA Women's Team succeed, this is dramatic, people are talking about women's soccer and it is going to be advantageous for women's soccer. Finally, people are talking about women's soccer.  Fans are jumping on board women's soccer and it is great."

HALF TIME REPORT: USA’s stunning first goal was scored within the first 11 minutes of the Women's World Cup Semifinal and the crowd cheered.  I am at O'Brien's - San Diego's official US Soccer Pub - surrounded by enthusiastic soccer fans.

U.S. Forward Lauren Cheney (who also plays for the Boston Breakers) scored the goal off of an assist from Heather O'Reilly, giving our country the advantage with one ball already finding the net in the match against France.

Watching the match at the next table is Jen Lalor-Nielsen who played for the U.S. Women’s National team in the 1995 Women’s World Cup and has played professionally in Japan, Denmark and Sweden. Now Lalor-Nielsen is the Head Coach for the San Diego SeaLions and Director of Coaching for Girls at the San Diego Football Academy (SDFA).  When Lalor-Nielsen was interviewed at O'Brien's on KUSI earlier this morning, Brad Perry asked her, as a former player in a World Cup, how are the players feeling?  The answer was clear and covered a wide range of emotions. "Nervous, confident and excited," said Lalor-Nielsen.

SN: Let's Recap the First Half:

"Getting an early goal in the game has given the U.S. Women's Team confidence.  I feel the key for the game is the flank play (the outside mids) because they are dynamic on the ball and make things happen offensively," says Lalor-Nielsen.  "France had been dictating the play for the last 25 minutes of the first half which is why the early goal was so important."

"In order to counter France's strategy of possession, we need to have more numbers in the midfield so that we can deny space to the attack."

SN: How do we win?  

"Personally, I would add another player to the mid field. Everything is going forward and we are losing possession too quickly and we need to get back to playing a bit more possession and control the ball." 

"Americans are winners.  This team's mentality is all about winning.  They will find a way to win this match against France and advance to play in the final," says Lalor-Nielsen.

"The U.S. has had several chances to score again.  We need to make something out of nothing and score again and put the game away.  Abby Wambach is so dangerous on any set piece.  All we need is one more chance, one more goal and the game is done.  Wambach's header tying the game for us against Brazil in the last seconds of regulation shows how dangerous she is, and she is the best in the air in the world.  She creates something out of 50 - 50 balls. Wambach puts herself out there and is able to challenge for the ball and score."

LIVE UPDATE ON USA vs FRANCE: France scored in the 55th minute and we have a whole new game.  In the 80th minute,  USA scores and the crowd goes wild!  And now, in the 82nd minute the USA scores again and we fans are thrilled.

Tom Nickel, owner of O'Brien's Pub says "The best thing for me is the crowd. The support everyone is showing the U.S. Women's team is terrific. This is the type of crowd I would normally expect to see for the Men's World Cup games.  This is the biggest crowd yet and it is amazing.  The USA vs France match is important, we need to start dominating again.  You can tell they just need a calming approach to gain possession again.  Bringing on Alex Morgan is a great idea and I am hoping at some point in the next 30 minutes the team can make a difference.  We want the USA in the final." 

This is an important game for the U.S. and we are looking for a win and to advance to the final.  The victory over Brazil in a penalty kick shootout during Sunday’s quarterfinal match has pumped up our hopes for the trophy as our team plays in the Women’s World Cup semifinals for the sixth consecutive time.  

We are the only country to advance to the semifinals - also known as the final four - in every FIFA Women’s World Cup.

World Cup teams often have players who are used to being along side of each other facing off to defend their countries.  For example, France's Midfielder Camille Abily plays usually with U.S. defender Rachel Buehler and midfielder Shannon Boxx but today this former WPS championship player on the roster with FC Gold Pride in 2010 is taking on her former teammates.  Abily is on the field for France playing against Boxx while Buelhler is forced to watch from the sidelines because of her RED CARD in the last match against Brazil. (Rachel Buelher was critical to our win against Brazil and will not be eligible to play against France because of her red card.)

Did you know that the USA’s win was the first time in FIFA Women’s World Cup history that a team came back to win after falling behind in overtime?

Last game, the world had to wait for the US victory with the 120+2 minute goal from Abby Wambach... that goal in the quarterfinals was the latest goal ever in Women’s World Cup history. Everyone wants the win against France to be easier, quicker and less tense.

While the back and forth soccer action continues, the feel at O'Brien's is one of cautious excitement as the USA leads 1-0 to France.

U.S. ROSTER BY POSITION

GOALKEEPERS (3): Nicole Barnhart (Philadelphia Independence), Jill Loyden (magicJack), Hope Solo (magicJack)

DEFENDERS (8): Rachel Buehler (Boston Breakers), Stephanie Cox (Boston Breakers), Ali Krieger (out of contract), Amy LePeilbet (Boston Breakers), Heather Mitts (Atlanta Beat), Christie Rampone (magicJack), Becky Sauerbrunn (magicJack) 

MIDFIELDERS (7): Shannon Boxx (magicJack), Tobin Heath (Sky Blue FC), Lori Lindsey (Philadelphia Independence), Carli Lloyd (Atlanta Beat), Kelley O’Hara (Boston Breakers), Heather O’Reilly (Sky Blue FC), Megan Rapinoe (Philadelphia Independence)

FORWARDS (4): Lauren Cheney (Boston Breakers), Alex Morgan (Western New York Flash), Amy Rodriguez (Philadelphia Independence), Abby Wambach (magicJack)

This editorial was under written by the San Diego Sealions, for soccernation.com.

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