You can read the report from tonight’s game here:
That’s it for me. Hard to say who had a worse second half... me or the Colombian team. I’d say it’s a tossup given the way Colombia fell flat after the first goal. Thank you to all for the funny emails. My apologies for getting only a few of them in. Good night.
Alex Morgan on TV saying the US felt it had the momentum going in the second half...she also says the US players talked about being patient in the going in the second half.
After all the headlines Lady Andrade made this week, this is her final #FIFAWWC image. pic.twitter.com/uo3JBp6MYY
— Graham Watson (@Yahoo_Graham) June 23, 2015
A few post-match thoughts: This was an ugly battle but it was a good one for the U.S. to have as they move on in this tournament. The U.S has had good success against Colombia but this is a more experienced Colombia team and it came out swinging. For a half this was a heck of a fight. If there was something we certainly learned about this USA team, they are tough, they can play defense and those things can take them a very long way.
Match over, U.S. wins 2-0
The U.S. advances to the quarterfinals on Friday in Ottawa against China.
93 min: This will not be a pretty win for the U.S. at all. Colombia came at them hard but the U.S. threw a lot at Colombia in the first minutes after the half and everything fell apart from there.
92 min: Colombia trying to mount one last gasp, but there is no energy left.
90 +5 min: Five minutes have been added to what has become a sloppy, chippy match. A good time for the U.S. players to be careful, especially on turf which has far less give than grass.
89 min: I have to toss in this email from reader Charles Dunn on my Colombia keeper screwup...
It’s ok. Sepp Blatter definitely doesn’t know the rules, and definitely couldn’t name a single Colombian player, let alone goalkeeper. Then again, saying you’re better than Sepp Blatter is basically an insult...
86 min: Dangerous moment for Alex Morgan as she gets hit from behind in the leg. She’s fine, but the image shows how important it is for the U.S. players to stay healthy in this match. Remember, they will be down Rapinoe and Holiday in the next match who have accumulated yellows.
84 min: Colombia’s players look drained. After playing so hard in the first half, everything unraveled at the start of the second half and they could never get control back on their side.
83 min: Hope Solo with her first save in what seems like forever.
81 min: A free kick for the U.S. Johnston gets her head on the ball near the goal but it bounces wide.
Here’s an email from a reader...
Your analysis was just as bad as Columbia’s game plan for the U.S.
79 min: Ali Krieger is coming out to be replaced by Lori Chalupny
76 min: Please send your most (printable) shots at me for botching the Colombian goalkeeping situation. I will post the best ones.
71 min: OK so I’ve screwed this whole keeper thing up. Sandra Sepulveda was the Colombia keeper who was carded out of this game. Castano is the third keeper. I’ve undoubtedly confused anyone who is reading this.
So to clarify my bungling... Sepulveda was already out on yellows, Perez received a red card and Castano, the third keeper, is the one who replaced her. Oh my, I’ve botched this one. Feel free to fire away. I deserve it.
70 min: Joshua Huff writes in with a legitimate point. “How does that really penalize a team,” he asks. “Their goalie was carded off in the last game so she should have been suspended for this game, but instead she gets to come on in this game? Accrual of cards doesn’t mean a player is suspended for the next game?
“Colombia would have subbed off a player to replace their goalie, so it hardly seems like a more harsh punishment? Seems like a strange situation in which Colombia isnt really being penalized than a team who just loses their goalie?”
Updated
68 min: Wambach coming out of the game, being replaced by Brian. Good idea, this game has been chippy all night. No need to expose Wambach especially with this game seemingly in hand for the U.S.
GOAL! USA 2-0 Colombia (Lloyd 65, pen)
65 min: Carli Lloyd scores on a penalty kick, knocking an easy shot past a frazzled Castano. The penalty was given when Rapinoe was taken down in front of the goal. Colombia are coming unglued now. The penalty itself was confidently placed past the keeper - a vast improvement on Wambach’s effort.
Updated
58 min: Getting some questions about the goal switch for Colombia. Hope I’m explaining this right -- a highly doubtful possibility given my track record...
Colombia’s starting keeper Castano was carded out for this match, so Perez started in her place. But because Perez was given a red card for taking out Morgan she was sent off. Since Colombia needed to have a keeper, Castano was allowed to replace her but at the cost of another Colombian player. So the U.S. will be a player up for the rest of the match.
Email from Kyle Brown...
not sure that was the adjustment Colombia had in mind
54 min: I had been looking down typing as Morgan’s goal developed so my description was a bit off. Morgan broke free on the right side of the goal and fired a shot toward Castano’s left. It was more a powerful shot than a pretty one.
GOAL! USA 1-0 Colombia (Morgan 52)
52 min: Alex Morgan gets a good shot off in front of the goal. Castano reaches left to stop it but the ball glances off her arm and into the back of the net. USA finally breaks through.
Updated
50 min: Crazy start to the half for Colombia. Perez gets the red card but because Castano was already carded out from the last game, another Colombian player had to leave while Perez was sent to the locker room. So Colombia get their starting keeper but have only 10 players.
Updated
WAMBACH MISSES THE PENALTY FOR THE US!
49 min: Wow! Wambach takes the penalty kick against Castano, who walked in cold, replacing Perez. It should have been a easy make but she hooked it wide to the left. Huge, huge miss for the U.S.
Updated
RED CARD! AND PENALTY TO THE US!
45 min: Well a huge, huge event. Perez the Colombian keeper has been given a red card for taking out Alex Morgan who raced alone to the goal. Perez tried to challenge Morgan but Morgan hesitated just a bit which forced Perez to drop at Morgan’s feet. The biggest problem for Colombia is Perez was their second keeper because
Second half underway
It will be interesting to see how both sides adapt.
This from one of my favorite NFL players, Fred Jackson...
These calls tho??? C'Mon Man!! #USAvCOL
— Fred Jackson (@Fred22Jackson) June 23, 2015
From our “correspondent” Jon Pollak embedded with the Japanese team, watching in a conference room in the Vancouver Fairmont Hotel...
I now see why the Japanese team want the USA to win. They seem to cringe overtime the Colombian’s are on the ball as if...’ANYTHING can happen now’
Updated
Email from Paul Morgan. He is right, Rapinoe has been the U.S.’s most aggressive player. I missed her yellow while looking down while typing. This is big. The US will be down two starters next match. If there is a next match.
How is it possible that you haven’t mentioned Rapinoe since the 2nd minute? She has been by far the most impactful player, AND she just got carded out of the next match for the U.S.!
Fred Jackson feels your pain too, Paul:
These calls tho??? C'Mon Man!! #USAvCOL
— Fred Jackson (@Fred22Jackson) June 23, 2015
Updated
I sense a HAO sub in this 2nd half. Pace on outside. And Amy Rodriguez for Abby at 70. #COL will gain confidence w that 1st half. #USAvCOL
— Julie Foudy (@JulieFoudy) June 23, 2015
Halftime 0-0
This is not the match many expected, but Colombia clearly has the USA rattled. The U.S. probably could have seized control in the second minute after Perez’s huge save when Wambach kicked the loose ball into the goal. But after the score was waved off the U.S. never really came close again. Colombia has made this a fight. A fight the U.S. players didn’t seem to expect.
45 + 1: Just one minute added in injury time before half. Colombia withstand one last U.S. surge
Updated
42 min: Closest scoring chance for Colombia, free kick rolls off a leaping U.S. player’s foot and skitters near goal before rolling out-of-bounds.
39 min: Two corners for Colombia go nowhere. Lady Andrade (Gosh, I love that name) tries to dance around Klingenberg with some fancy footwork near the goal line but she’s unable to get anywhere and the ball is knocked out of bounds.
37 min: Silly foul by Krieger allowing Colombia a free kick that winds up knocked out behind the goal. The U.S. is definitely frustrated in this match.
35 min: I don’t know if the Colombian pre-match talk has made the U.S. players defensive but it’s as if they are tight, almost playing afraid. It’s nothing like the way they came out attacking against Nigeria last week.
32 min: A decent cross for the U.S. gets knocked away.
30 min: The US is unable to gain control of this match. The game is being played at a sluggish pace that favors Colombia.
27 min: Perez with another nice save, knocking the ball over the goal.
25 min: To mix sports metaphors...this match has the feel of an early-round NCAA tournament basketball game to it. Giant, empty stadium with one highly-favored team playing sluggishly against a less-talented opponent, allowing that opponent to hang in and gain confidence. Strange feel for such an important game.
22 min: Vidal is down at midfield for Colombia. Looks like she caught a shoulder in the mouth. She’s back up now.
19 min. Velasquez tees up a big shot on goal from about 25 yards out. Way over the goal. Would have been worth three points if they had the football goalposts up.
18 min: Johnston unable to get a good shot of in front of the Colombia goal. Ball knocked out for a corner that is hit wide of the goal.
Updated
16 min: Holiday has been given a yellow card for a hefty push. This is significant for the US because it means she will miss the next match ... if there is one.
Updated
15 min: Klingenberg fires wide from the top left.
Updated
12 min: US corner kick goes wide. So far the best scoring chance in the match was the goal Wambach had that was waved off.
Updated
9 min: Colombia with a decent attack again. Still not with a great shot on goal but it is clear Colombia is more aggressive than anyone would have expected. The U.S. looks a little perplexed by the attack.
Updated
9 min: Another free kick for Colombia from the far left
Updated
7 min: Colombia with a nice attack but couldn’t muster a strong shot on goal.
Updated
6 min: Free kick for Colombia but the ball is pushed away
Updated
4 min: Perez was down for a second after the save and then waved-off goal. She looked a bit rattled but is back up and we are live again.
Updated
3 min: Perez makes a fantastic diving save with one hand but the ball trickles free. Wambach knocks the ball into the goal but the score is waved off.
Updated
2 min: US free kick after Rapinoe knocked of f the ball. But her kick is deflected out of bounds
Updated
Here’s a good shot of the crowd tonight. Hope they had a half-off TKTS booth outside...
Passionate fans, but not a huge amount of fans here in Edmonton for USWNT vs. Colombia. pic.twitter.com/44NW4xCqFj
— Eric Adelson (@eric_adelson) June 22, 2015
The teams are coming out. Nothing says big match quite like two empty upper decks of green and yellow seats.
Colombia’s prematch words have fired up Alexi Lalas who just stated on the pregame show that a Colombia victory would be:
The single biggest World Cup upset.
Email from Daniel Strauss...
This USA side has underwhelmed thus far, to be kind to them. Syd and Press have gone AWOL, and the midfield has looked, I don’t know...tired? I think Ellis has gotten it wrong. Which is really easy for me to type from my couch, I know.
Nothing like a great storyline going into the knockout round of a World Cup and Colombia has provided with some fantastic material. Starting forward Lady Andrade did not hold back with the attack in pre match press conferences when she said: “We’re going to beat them because they like to talk so much.”
She openly-admitted to hitting US star Abby Wambach in the 2012 Olympics but said she did so because Wambach hit her first.
While most athletes would never dare give an opponent so much more bulletin board material there’s really nothing for Andrade or Colombia to lose here. They are heavy underdogs here, with an inexperienced keeper, why not try to get under the American’s skin?
Email from Jon Pollak:
I’m sitting in the Fairmont hotel in Vancouver and the Japanese team is gathering in the meeting room with a 50’ HD TV to watch the USA v Colombia match..They look like their spirits are up and want the USA to win.
The biggest news in Colombia’s lineup is that 20-year-old Catalina Perez (who plays at the University of Miami) will have to start this match. A huge moment for a player who has appeared sparingly for her country. How she handles the pressure of this night could go a long way to deciding this match, especially early. If she holds up it could be one of the great stories of this World Cup.
Here’s a link to the US lineup. A note: Heath and Rapinoe have switched sides from the lineup that faced Nigeria.
#USWNT starting lineup vs. Colombia! #NowItGetsReal pic.twitter.com/DBm7kVCiwO
— U.S. Soccer WNT (@ussoccer_wnt) June 22, 2015
The crowd appears sparse in Edmonton, but it’s hard to tell if it is just a late-arriving crowd. The match is still close to an hour away. Unlike Vancouver, where the US played Nigeria before a massive crowd, this match is being played much farther north. It’s probably hard to draw too many casual fans from either the U.S. or Colombia. Something else to look for...the sun is much lower in the sky this far north and will stay out longer. Not sure if that will have an impact on the match but it is a bit of an adjustment for both sides.
Good evening everybody. After surviving my first Guardian liveblog during the USA-Nigeria match I am excited to be back for another big match. Please feel free to send questions, comments, criticisms and clever one-liners to les.carpenter@theguardian.co.uk and I will do my best to get them into this blog (or at least read and promise not to ignore).
Les will be here shortly, in the meantime here are Caitlin Murray’s thoughts on tonight’s game:
As USA head into the Women’s World Cup knockout round, the team appear to be going through a minor identity crisis.
The Americans have a well-earned reputation as a team that score a lot of goals. The term “an embarrassment of riches” has been tossed around to describe the US forward line. To wit, the team has so much attacking depth that superstars Abby Wambach and Alex Morgan have both served in substitute roles at points through the group stage.
But for all that reputation, the Americans don’t have much to show for it in the World Cup so far. With the exception of a strong 3-1 win over Australia to start the group, a match where none of USA’s goals were scored by forwards, goals have looked hard to come by for the Americans.
In their last two games going into the knockout round of the tournament, the Americans converted just one of 26 chances, an alarming conversion rate of less than 4%. Through the entire group stage, USA’s conversation rate is nearly 11%, which was where the Americans were heading into the World Cup. It’s better but still not quite a gangbusters number.
