FULL-TIME: USA 1-0 France
And that’s it. The US edge to victory and they now need a single point from their final game to progress. But they’re all but through anyhow. Not a vintage performance but it should be remembered that they beat the No3 team in the world tonight. The US were excellent just after half-time but they had Hope Solo to thank as sloppy defending nearly cost them the victory in the final 15 minutes.
Updated
90 min +2: Morgan wins another free-kick wasting more precious time, she is taking several for the team here.
90 min +1: Three minutes of added time. France come forward but Alex Morgan draws the foul and wins a free-kick and runs down the clock.
90 min: ANOTHER corner for France. Solo is having to stay alive with very little aerial assistance from her defenders. Press comes on for Klingenberg.
88 min: The US are hacking their way to safety here with some clearances of an agricultural nature. “Tobin Heath: Always fond of stepovers,” says Beau Dure. “The most Brazilian US player ever.”
86 min: Heath has shown a particular fondness for stepovers today - maybe it’s something in the Brazilian air. She gets a few cheers from the home crowd for that anyway, and it also relives some pressure for the US as she wastes time in the France half. The US lurch towards victory.
83 min: Lloyd off and Horan on. And another corner for France and nearly a goal. Again. The US fail to mark their woman again and it’s another free header for France that Solo has to stoop to save.
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81 min: Another chance for France. And that rhymes. Krieger is on fire! Only at the wrong end, nearly volleying a brilliant own goal home. An interesting Olympic debut.
79 min: Solo to the rescue, saving at her feet after a powerful header from the French. One of the most impressive things about her as a keeper is that she often has little to do for long stretches as her talented team-mates control games but keeps concentration when the danger does come.
76 min: A mini revival from the French as the game meanders to an end but the US are still in control. If France win it, it will be through a lapse in US concentration or a moment of French brilliance.
74 min: Heath was down injured but seems to OK to continue. Kriege has her first touch in Olympic football with a rush forward but France repel the threat. A scary moment for the US as Renard finds herself in acres of space but the Frenchwoman fails to connect with her header. Poor marking from Long.
71 min: Dunn is off and is replaced by the Olympic debutant Krieger.
70 min: The atmosphere has lifted in the stadium after the goal. They’re not even Zika-ing Hope Solo anymore although that’s mainly because she hasn’t touched the ball in a while.
68 min: Crystal Dunn is booked - the only blemish on a good half for the US.
66 min: A well-deserved goal for the US, who have been by far the better side in the second-half. Lloyd had been quiet so far this game but you can’t keep a good player down for long.
GOAL! USA 1-0 France (Lloyd 64)
The clock has stopped working so I am not guessing what time it is. Let’s say ... the 12th minute? Anyway, the US have a free-kick to the left of goal - it takes a diving header from France to clear. It doesn’t go far though and after Heath hits the post the ball ricochets across the face of goal for Lloyd to stab home.
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62 min: Lovely ball from Crystal Dunn through to Morgan but she takes it too far round the keeper and shoots into the side netting.
60 min: The France mount an epic expedition to get to so-far undiscovered country ... the mythical place know as the US half. And they get there. But then the US turf them out. France really have faded as an attacking force in the second period.
57 min: The US are starting to exploit cracks in the France defense now. Heath nicks a ball through for Brian who is free and clear just outside the area but Bouhaddi rushes out to clear.
55 min: Carli Lloyd thinks she’s got a break but she’s offside. Heath has a wander around the midfield, complete with some stepovers for our entertainment.
52 min: Canada won the earlier game today, beating Zimbabwe 3-1. They could have lent us one of the goals for this match, it’s pretty dour stuff at the moment.
49 min: If this game was winningcornersbutnotdoingmuchelseball instead of football the US would be cruising this. As it happens they continue to plough on at 0-0 after another uninspiring corner.
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46 min: And we’re back. US will be hoping to improve on a fractured first half. They were nowhere near their best. They do start with a corner early though. Heath wafts it in the general direction of nowhere however.
Half-time: USA 0-0 France
So, the half comes to the end. There have been moments of excitement but mainly from the French. The US have done well on free-kicks but Hope Solo has kept them in it with a great save as the half wound down.
44 min: Crystal Dunn wins a throw in after some trickery down the right. Lloyd collects it inside the area but she was backing into her marker. Or the ref says she was. I didn’t see what was wrong there - the ref hasn’t been great so far.
41 min: Hope Solo makes a great save. Henry - not that one - exploits another sloppy pass from the US and Solo has to be at her best to keep the ball out. Let them mock Solo, as long as they fear Solo.
38 min: Long puts in a heavy challenge in midfield, the kind of action you may see outside a particularly rough Belo Horizonte bar of a Friday night. France win the free-kick but it comes to nothing.
35 min: The US are owning the free-kick count at the moment. Heath has had around 576 in this half alone. This time it’s on the left of the area. It’s a nice ball that drifts across the face of goal but no US players choose to attack it and the French watch it drift to safety.
33 min: Cadamuro is taking plenty of long shots today, not of them threatening. The US are playing their way back into the game but it’s still been France’s match so far.
30 min: A chance for the US. They win a free-kick on the edge of the area. Heath will take ... it’s a good effort that the French keeper touches over the bar. The ref doesn’t give the corner though - the US are frustrated, Bouhaddi definitely got a touch.
27 min: Delie in space AGAIN. And it’s on the right of the US defense again. The Americans have fallen for the same, rather obvious, trap in the space of a few minutes. They’re lucky Delie’s shot is as venomous as a butterfly (unless butterflies are venomous, I’ve never eaten one. I know you can get venomous caterpillars so ...)
24 min: Délie finds herself with half of Brazil to run into - and Brazil is a pretty big place - but she pauses too long and the US get back to snuff out the danger. The US are looking as stretched as a bad facelift at the moment though.
22 min: Lloyd has been sloppy today. She gives the ball away in her own half and has to rely on her defense to help her out. A long-shot from Cadamuro flies wide.
20 min: Jill Ellis, who I always want to call Jill Scott for some reason, tries to gee her players up on the sideline.
17 min: Renard steals in like a fox to send a thumping header at the US goal. Solo tips the ball on to the bar and out for a corner. The keeper than flaps a bit on the resulting set-piece but US clear - it’s a messy start from the defending champions.
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14 min: Carli Lloyd, the world player of the year, falls over as she floats to the edge of the area. Even the best of us have off days.
12 min: Some nice work from Diani at the corner flag and it takes some stout defending from Sauerbrunn to kill the danger. The Zika chants are getting louder for Solo. Surely this will become one of the sounds of the 2016 Olympics, expect an autotune remix to be released in time for Christmas.
9 min: Free-kick to the US. Heath will take around 45 yards out. It zips past everyone and into the arms of Bouhaddi in the French goal.
6 min: France have had the early possession so far, the US are happy to sit back for now. They’re sometimes slow starters in tournaments anyway and it wasn’t until late in the 2015 World Cup that they blossomed.
3 min: Hope Solo has her first goal-kick and, yep, she gets the “Zika!” chant. And she’s then booed the next time she gets the ball. This is tiresome or amusing depending on your point of view: but who said football fans were blessed with innovative comedic techniques? For her part, Solo has laughed off the chants - and they’re good natured enough. She’s been around enough that I doubt it will affect her.
1 min: And we’re off. The US are in white, the French in blue. There’s a decent crowd in the stadium even if it’s far from a packed house.
The last time these teams met at the Olympics in 2012 it got a little spicy. France leapt out to a 2-0 lead before the US fought back for a 4-2 victory. Again, a warning that this is a tough fixture for the Americans
France will be no pushovers for the US. They are currently ranked No3 in the world, a position they’ve held since 2014. They finished fourth at the 2011 World Cup and reached the quarter-finals in 2015, and only lost on penalties to the strong German team. They also finished fourth at the 2012 Olympics.
They’ve started this campaign pretty well too - they beat Colombia 4-0 in their opener. As for their record against the US, the teams played each other back in March, with the Americans winning 1-0 but it took a very late goal to secure the victory. In 2015 the teams met twice with the teams winning one each.
Our venue tonight is Belo Horizonte, which is 210 miles north of Rio so don’t expect any rowdy dressage fans to turn up and start heckling anyone. Pesky dressage fans! It’s also the venue of Brazil’s infamous defeat to Germany in the 2014 men’s World Cup semi-final, where the hosts were thrashed 7-1 by the eventual world champions.
And it’s a big day for Hope Solo as she looks forward to being mocked by the crowd her 200th cap for the US team. She’s also the first women’s goalkeeper - make that ANY goalkeeper - to make 200 international appearances.
Congrats to @hopesolo on becoming the first GK in international soccer history to reach 200 caps! #OneNationOneTeam pic.twitter.com/bwQ9VsIWas
— U.S. Soccer WNT (@ussoccer_wnt) August 6, 2016
Your teams
There are two changes for the US, Whitney Engen is in for Julie Johnston, while Crystal Dunn comes in for Mallory Pugh. Both the players who have been replaced have minor injuries and are fit enough to take their places on the bench.
Your #USWNT starting XI: Solo; O’Hara, Engen, Sauerbrunn, Klingenberg; Long, Brian, Lloyd (c); Dunn, Morgan, Heath. pic.twitter.com/xCh3A10JKK
— U.S. Soccer WNT (@ussoccer_wnt) August 6, 2016
STARTIN XI #FRA : Bouhaddi, Houara, Renard, Mbock, Majri, Henry, Bussaglia, Diani, Abily, Cadamuro, Délie #USAvFRA
— Women's Soccer FR (@WomensSoccerFr) August 6, 2016
Updated
Tom will be here shortly, in the meantime here’s how the US got on in their opening game:
Carli Lloyd began this Olympic tournament as she ended the last one: scoring in an American victory.
The match-winner in the final at Wembley four years ago needed only nine minutes to find the net as the US eased to victory over New Zealand in their opening group game. Always composed and in control, the performance was efficient rather than thrilling, as routine as could be for the favourites.
The modest crowd in Belo Horizonte seemed to find its greatest enjoyment in taunting Hope Solo, the US goalkeeper, with boos and apparent chants of “Zika!”when she had the ball. That was a reference to Solo’s social media posts in the run-up to the Games in which she posed with various anti-mosquito products.
Solo seemed to take the chants with good humor. “It’s the Brazilians, they love soccer, they love football, it’s part of the culture so I expect it, but they’re having fun. I mean, at least it’s loud in the stadium – I’d rather have that than hear a needle drop,” she told NBC Sports after the game.
