You can read a full report from Caitlin Murray in Frisco here:
This is a fearsome team. Up front -- Megan Rapinoe, Alex Morgan and Tobin Heath are the modern-day answer to the “triple-edged sword” of the 1991 World Cup. (That was Michelle Akers, Carin Jennings and April Heinrichs.) Lindsey Horan is an outstanding playmaker. Julie Ertz stops plays dead in midfield and can get into the attack. Rose Lavelle is one of several options for the third midfield slot.
On the bench, you have the great big-game veteran in Carli Lloyd alongside the youngster Mallory Pugh and Christen Press, who simply scores in bunches.
They’ll need a couple of stern tests between now and next summer to make sure the defense is steady. But they have options to play alongside Becky Sauerbrunn.
Thanks for following along tonight.
THE USA CLINCHES A WORLD CUP BERTH
You could say it was never in doubt, even before the qualifying tournament began. But tonight, it was certainly never in doubt. This is an outstanding team and World Cup favorite that simply took care of business tonight in a 6-0 win.
90 min: Two minutes of stoppage time. Only one goal and only three substitutions instead of the usual six (the other three were made at halftime), and no one wants to prolong this despite the Brown and Brian injuries.
88 min: Morgan Brian is down after a possible clash of heads. She was backing up to get her head to the ball and didn’t really see a Jamaican player behind her. The USA has made all three subs. The ref seems content to watch the medical staff take a while with her on the field.
GOAL! USA 6-0 Jamaica (Morgan 84 pen)
Morgan converts the penalty after drawing the “foul.”
Let @beckysauerbrunn take it!!
— Mia Hamm (@MiaHamm) October 15, 2018
81 min: Through ball to Alex Morgan, who darts past Jamaican keeper Schneider. She drops to the ground rather easily, but we won’t call it a dive because we’re told there’s no diving in women’s soccer. PK awarded.
More worryingly for Jamaica, 16-year-old Jody Brown is being stretchered off after a tough shove from O’Hara.
80 min: The good news for Jamaica -- it’s 0-0 in this half. They’ve even been credited with a shot, which I don’t remember. (Maybe they’re counting the corner kick?)
The better news for the USA -- 10 minutes to France.
78 min: So are there any flaws in this U.S. team?
Maybe defensive depth? The outside backs are often busy attacking. They may rely too much on Sauerbrunn to clean up any danger.
Maybe Alex Morgan shouldn’t be fussing with the AR over a correct offside call? #arsolidarity
Maybe they need to try more goalkeepers?
In any case, there’s no question they are absolutely loaded at forward and in the midfield. We aren’t even seeing Carli Lloyd or Mallory Pugh tonight.
71 min: CHANCE for Jamaica! Jody Brown, a 16-year-old playing in the USA at Montverde Academy, is sent through, and Sonnett doesn’t cope with it well. But Becky Sauerbrunn, the best central defender in the world, gets the ball out of play. She concedes Jamaica’s first corner kick of the game, which lands atop the goal.
70 min: Long cross to the unmarked Press, whose glancing header is right as Schneider. The Jamaican keeper’s save total is going to end up looking like a busy night for an NHL goalie.
67 min: Pretty combination play springs Heath once again, but Schneider is having a marvelous second half and once again snuffs out the danger.
My wife is a stud!! @julieertz 😤😤
— Zach Ertz (@ZERTZ_86) October 15, 2018
65 min: And another shot hits the post, this time from Heath. Might have been a cross. Still hit the post.
63 min: Seems like the USA is now experimenting with semi-direct play, blasting a ball forward for Morgan. She tries to chip the onrushing keeper, but the shot goes over the goal.
That’s the second shot off target by CONCACAF’s reckoning. Another hit the woodwork. Then 15 shots on target, five of which went in.
Updated
61 min: Jamaica puts a ball in the U.S. penalty area! Pity they didn’t have a player there as well.
59 min: From one of the more technically proficient U.S. women’s players ...
Although it’s hard to tell completely because they’re so superior to any opponents they’ve faced so far this tournament, this is some of the best I’ve ever seen the #USWNT look. And it’s scary because they can still get better.
— Yael Averbuch (@Yael_Averbuch) October 15, 2018
58 min: Another U.S. substitution, a defense-for-offense substitution with Emily Sonnett replacing Rose Lavelle. But Crystal Dunn plays every position other than goalkeeper, so she’ll just move up.
Speaking of goalkeeper, we still won’t see Ashlyn Harris here.
56 min: Sauerbrunn dribbles. And dribbles. And dribbles. No one shuts her down. She has designs on her first career goal, but alas, the Jamaican defense recovers.
Reminder: Sauerbrunn is the world’s best central defender. Not my opinion. A fact.
54 min: That Rutles quote: “We came to the conclusion that civilization is nothing more than an effective sewage system. And so by the use of plumbing we hope to demonstrate this to the world.”
The USA possesses the ball for about five minutes and then suddenly springs Horan, who rather unnecessarily slides into Schneider. No one’s hurt, but the U.S. supporters stop their drumming.
52 min: The rain does indeed seem kind of heavy. For some reason, it reminds me of the shower scene in The Rutles.
49 min: We’re once again hearing the virtues of pressing and playing hard in a rout, just as we heard in Canada’s demolition of Panama. (In this case, it was Tobin Heath sliding to get to a ball and the pressing the Jamaican defender who wound up with it.)
Is this a difference in men’s and women’s soccer? A men’s team would be ridiculed for wasting energy and risking injury in such a situation. Sure, no one will remember the “CONCACAF Championship” Canada and the USA will contest in three days, but still ...
The USA has had a couple of corner kicks as the rain falls.
We have substitutions. And shouldn’t we have more than three in a game like this? Where do we send the petition to allow teams to clear the bench when the outcome isn’t in doubt? Jamaica can rest players for the third-place game (which they appear to be doing by bringing in Chantelle Swaby for Khadija “Bunny” Shaw), and the USA can bring in Casey Short, Samantha Mewis, Hailie Mace, goalkeeper Ashlyn Harris, a couple of kids from the stands ...
Anyway, the USA brings in Morgan Brian and Christen Press for Julie Ertz, who was a little banged up at the end of the first half, and Megan Rapinoe.
Meanwhile ...
Here comes the rain. #USAvJAM
— Chelsey Bush 🎃 (@ChelseyWrites) October 15, 2018
Maybe that’ll finally wash the American football lines off this field.
RIP the mentions of Dan Lauletta, the omnipresent WoSo journalist ...
This is correct on both counts. At some point over the last year the #USWNT morphed back into the best team on the planet.
— Dan Lauletta (@TheDanLauletta) October 15, 2018
And I'll go ahead and say it -- Jill Ellis has not gotten enough credit for this development https://t.co/bpeZZt5I27
Not that I’m complaining, but when was the last time I live-blogged a women’s sports event whose outcome was in doubt? I did two of Serena Williams’ U.S. Open matches (not the final) and the women’s basketball World Cup final. Guess who won THAT one. (But again ... what’s up with the netball team?)
Ah, here we go -- USA 1-0 England in March.
HALFTIME: USA 5-0 Jamaica
This game is in Texas, and the TV adaption of Friday Night Lights (a compelling drama with high school football as the backdrop) did feature some implausible comebacks. Barring that, the U.S. women are 45 minutes away from clinching an appearance in the 2019 World Cup. Haven’t missed one yet, and it’s not going to happen this time.
So ... thank you, Carlos Cordeiro?
42 min: Becky Sauerbrunn, the best central defender in the world no matter what FIFA’s various voters may say, steps forward into the attacking third.
Sauerbrunn has played 145 games for the USA. She has yet to score.
39 min: Across America, hundreds of soccer journalists are drafting emails asking editors to send them to France next year. I went in 2011. It’s not that great.
(OK, maybe it is. Covering an event in a country with actual mass transit is pretty nice.)
Meanwhile, the sheer force of an Ertz shot nearly forces Schneider into the goal. The Jamaican keeper has eight saves already.
36 min: The ball crosses midfield! But only because a Jamaican defender finally got sick of things and blasted the ball 60 yards the other direction.
GOAL! USA 5-0 Jamaica (Morgan 33)
A free kick deep in Jamaican territory sneaks through two U.S. attackers, but Morgan pokes it through.
Perhaps I should do the second half of commentary in French. Je m’appelle Beau. Je suis americain ...
31 min: CROSSBAR! Alex Morgan, hero of the 2011 World Cup qualifying campaign, hits the bar.
CONCACAF’s site informs me that the U.S. women have 55 “correct” passes against five “incorrect.” Hey, just because they’re complete doesn’t mean they’re correct.
The shot count is currently 13-0. Excuse me ... another goal ...
GOAL! USA 4-0 Jamaica (Heath 29)
Maybe don’t let Tobin Heath sneak past you?
28 min: Actually just checked to see that Alex Morgan is indeed playing in this game. With the wing players and midfielders all crashing the net ... excuse me ... we have another goal.
26 min: While Heath, Lavelle, Ertz and company take turns tormenting the Jamaican defense, here’s Goal No. 3:
Julie Ertz makes it 3️⃣!
— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) October 15, 2018
Only 21 minutes in and it looks like the USWNT will take care of business tonight. pic.twitter.com/7jAtyG7Gvx
24 min: Rose Lavelle shoots high from a corner kick. Lavelle plays for the Washington Spirit, which endured a miserable season but was not relegated because that doesn’t exist in U.S. pro leagues. Maybe when they can find more than nine owners?
23 min: Your clip of Goal No. 2 ...
What a goal!
— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) October 15, 2018
Megan Rapinoe doubles the USWNT's lead after a wonderful cross-field pass from Abby Dahlkemper. pic.twitter.com/MhK83vGWeY
GOAL! USA 3-0 Jamaica (Ertz 21)
Ertz plays wide to the ever-overlapping Crystal Dunn on the left, then fights off as many of her teammates as she does Jamaican defenders to get her head to the ball. Lindsey Horan may feel slightly slighted there. She surely would’ve scored as well.
Meanwhile, we have an update from Philadelphia.
For the record, the homophobic NFL fan decided to leave the bar. In part at the bartender’s behest.
— Jonathan Tannenwald (@thegoalkeeper) October 15, 2018
20 min: Heath drifts offside, giving the AR something to do besides jog back into place after seeing a U.S. goal. AR solidarity! (Yes, parent at today’s game, the player who scored the tying goal against your team was on.)
The ball goes back to Heath, who sees a defender fall down and decides to shoot.
GOAL! USA 2-0 Jamaica (Rapinoe 15)
It’s not fair. Megan Rapinoe is just playing the best soccer of her career, and Abby Dahlkemper put one right on her chest from about 50 yards away. Rapinoe calmly collects and drills it in the roof.
Let’s see the Chiefs and Patriots QBs do that. (What? They’re good? Well ... still. They’re not Rapinoe.)
13 min: Schneider is getting more practice catching the ball. Rapinoe lofts in a shot/cross that the UNC Wilmington keeper collects cleanly. She can’t have had an easy season so far -- Hurricane Florence obviously had a bit of an impact on Seahawk sports.
10 min: We’re a soccer nation, right?
I’ve gone down the street for a snack and to watch a bit of the U.S. game. The guy on the stool next to me is howling mad that the TV changed from the NFL to soccer. Calls it a South American sport, gay, and various other things. I’m almost impressed.
— Jonathan Tannenwald (@thegoalkeeper) October 15, 2018
Are any of those things insults?
Tonight’s NFL game is at least a big one -- the perennial agitators New England Patriots hosting the surprisingly unbeaten Kansas City Chiefs. But I’m guessing this place has more than one TV. If not, the NFL fan chose unwisely.
9 min: Another shot from Horan, and this one has a menacing curl and dip, but Schneider holds it.
Here’s the previous goal ...
So, that didn't take long.
— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) October 15, 2018
Tobin Heath gives the USWNT an early lead! pic.twitter.com/IYqKqfEjhH
8 min: Jamaica has crossed midfield.
5 min: Hall of Famer JP Dellacamera, who is showing off his meticulous prep work by dropping in the college or club affiliation of every Jamaican player as they come up, informs us that Jamaica’s strength is counterattacking. This one doesn’t reach the center stripe.
GOAL! USA 1-0 Jamaica (Heath 2)
Well, that was quick.
Rapinoe strolls down the left and crosses. Doesn’t find anyone in the center, but Heath collects on the opposite wing and cycles it around. Back into the mix it goes, and Horan shoots. Schneider parries, and Heath is quickest to the ball from there.
Rewinding now to see if she was offside.
(UPDATE: She was not. Just a lot of inattention by the Jamaican defense all around.)
Updated
1 min: One, one shot on goal. Not a particularly strong one from Morgan. Maybe not even a shot. Just a friendly tap toward Schneider.
Kickoff. After we see a lot of spitting from Jamaica’s goalkeeper Sydney Schneider. Ill-timed camera shot.
And we wait, because everyone got out there early.
OK ...
NOW, we kick off. Yeesh. And no, the USA has not yet scored.
And in case you missed it, we already have one recent example of a seafaring nation getting a historic win ...
A second half penalty from Joseph Chipolina secured @GibraltarFA a 1-0 win away to #Armenia, their first ever competitive victory – here’s what @Adam7Roberts learnt from the game. https://t.co/erOPD4hLBt#NationsLeague pic.twitter.com/pN5E5Esi7c
— Football Gibraltar ⚽️ (@FootballGib) October 14, 2018
OK, the anthems have been played. Jamaica is wearing yellow, which is always frustrating to us referees because we have to dig around for a different shirt. The refs have opted for red, same color as the USA’s warmups. The ref, one AR and the fourth official are from Mexico. The other AR is from Canada.
In other women’s sports and Guardian live coverage today ...
The USA have not played enough games to be ranked in netball. Can we really take this country seriously as a women’s sports power?
OK, we’ve had the long pregame on Fox, and now we’re ready to ...
... wait another 10 minutes.
U.S. broadcasting is strange.
While we wait, here’s a picture showing just how seriously the USA is taking the competition.
Should national teams have a set XI months before the World Cup?
To men’s soccer watchers, this might seem like an odd question. Any player who has a dip in form in the Premier League or La Liga might lose his roster spot, let alone his starting spot.
But the Fox commentary team insist the time for “experimentation” is over. Time to pick a lineup and roll with it.
Is the women’s game different? Is the men’s game too unforgiving? Or are we all behind the times and not recognizing that women’s soccer actually has a club game that should matter?
(Email me, tweet @duresport, rant about this secretly on your message board or Reddit, etc.)
From the “Isn’t it 2018?” department, we have this from Guardian contributor Caitlin Murray at the scene ...
The stadium is blasting "Blurred Lines." I thought I wouldn't have to be subjected to this song anymore by 2018, but alas...
— Caitlin Murray (@caitlinmurr) October 14, 2018
Would’ve thought most people would’ve blurred that bit of pop-culture insensitivity out of their heads by now.
Jamaica doesn’t appear to have a snazzy Twitter picture, but we’re seeing several U.S. clubs and colleges show their pride in being represented in a crucial international, including this typo the UK folks will find amusing.
Well done Sydney Schneider! #matchgitfamily Elite Clubs National League (ECNL) https://t.co/yms4TNs2Bk
— MatchFitGirlsAcademy (@MFAGirlsAcademy) October 13, 2018
Yes, Schneider plays for UNC Wilmington, about a quarter-mile from the apartment that housed your correspondent from 1991 to 1994. (Yeah, I’m kind of old.)
And the New Jersey/Wilmington/Jamaica keeper has been brilliant.
https://twitter.com/TallawahTv/status/1049455674546110464
The full lineup: Sydney Schneider, Lauren Silver, Allyson Swaby, Dominique Bond-Flasza, Jadyn Matthews, Konya Plummer, Chinyelu Asher, Marlo Sweatman, Khadija Shaw, Deneisha Blackwood, Jody Brown
Your unsurprising USA starting XI, as visualized on Twitter because Twitter people like visuals ...
Our XI. We are #OneNationOneTeam.
— U.S. Soccer WNT (@ussoccer_wnt) October 14, 2018
Lineup notes » https://t.co/JqVtxhSEBE pic.twitter.com/uk5GdNY8Xc
Elsewhere in CONCACAF, Canada has qualified for the 2019 World Cup with a nail-biting win over Panama. And when we say “nail-biting,” we mean we’re glad no one got hurt in the last 15 minutes, when both teams forgot the score was 7-0 and kept barging into legal but scary challenges. Panama is seeking to qualify for the World Cup for the first time and will want to be healthy for the all-important third-place game in three days.
Panama already has one concern ...
Can confirm Panama’s GK Bailey has a “little bit of injury” (via a translator). #CANvPAN
— Chelsey Bush 🎃 (@ChelseyWrites) October 14, 2018
That would be Yenith Bailey, the 17-year-old keeper who was impressive against the USA’s onslaught and the outright hero of Jamaica’s shock win against Mexico, which fully expected to be packing for France by now.
Jamaica also has never qualified for the World Cup, so a likely Panama-Jamaica game on Wednesday would be an exciting opportunity for each team.
And two teams that expected to be going to France next year and have been to Cups past will not be there. Along with Mexico, that’s Costa Rica, which made the trip in 2015, fell 1-0 to Jamaica.
Preamble
Nov. 5, 2010. The U.S. women took the field for the second World Cup qualifying semifinal, fully expecting to follow Canada into the comforts of automatic qualification.
The final score: USA 1, Mexico 2.
The U.S. women would have to regroup and beat Costa Rica in the third-place match just to reach a home-and-home playoff with Italy, which the USA won with moderate difficulty.
So the USA won’t take this game lightly, even with several second chances in case the unthinkable happens tonight against Jamaica. With the World Cup field expanding, CONCACAF now has three automatic berths and one team going to a playoff.
But no matter how certain those paths may seem, the U.S. women won’t want to take them. With all due respect to Robert Frost, the USA wants to take the road more commonly taken.
Beau will be here shortly, in the meantime here’s how they’re preparing for the run-in to next year’s World Cup:
For observers who last watched the US women’s national team win the Women’s World Cup in 2015, the ongoing Concacaf qualification tournament for next year’s event in France probably feels similar. The Americans finished the group stage on Wednesday having outscored their opponents 18-0 and, although they haven’t clinched a spot in the 2019 Women’s World Cup yet, they sit very close.
The reigning World Cup champions are just picking up where they left off, right? Not quite. Since winning the World Cup, it’s hardly been a smooth road for the Americans and, in many ways, they’ve come out the other side looking like a much different and more potent team than before.
You can read the full article below:
