Sunday’s Women’s World Cup Group F match between the U.S. Women’s National Team and Chile had all the early looks of the opening blowout win against Thailand.
The USWNT was controlling possession and seemingly played the entire game in the attacking third. The USWNT went into halftime with a 3-0 lead — the exact halftime score it held against Thailand before a 10-goal drubbing in the second half.
And honestly, Sunday’s 3-0 win against Chile could have turned into a similar score line if not for the heroic efforts from Chile goalkeeper Christiane Endler. The Chilean keeper, who was already regarded as among the world’s best, lived up to that billing — especially in the second half.
Just look at this kick stop she made on Lindsey Horan’s clear look at goal.
Just 10 minutes later, she was at it again to rob Christen Press of a goal.
Her incredible performance may have even played a role in Carli Lloyd over-hitting her penalty try and sending the ball wide of goal.
It was an all-world performance (reminiscent of Tim Howard against Belgium) to keep an overmatched Chile team in position to stay competitive. This save, for example, came in the first half. She was everywhere.
Without Endler, the USWNT could have realistically finished with a 7 or 8-0 victory. The soccer world paid plenty of respect to her effort. She finished with six saves.
With the win, the USWNT cliched a spot in the knockout stage. Their final Group F match will be Thursday against fellow World Cup contender Sweden.
