If it was already a revolutionized World Cup with great powers like Germany and Brazil eliminated in the group stage, Australia and New Zealand experienced another of the tournament’s great surprises with the elimination of USA in eighth before Sweden. And in the penalty shootout, and with Rapinoe’s mistake.
The double world champion (2015 and 2019) leaves empty much earlier than expected. Although there were symptoms that this United States was not the one that dominated the soccer planet until a couple of years ago.
They lost to a Sweden that was firm and superior at times, and that knew how to stop the rival’s greatest physical push in the last minutes. He even had the ball on two plays that shook the sports superpower. Already in penalties, which is never a lottery, the greatest baggage of these players was expected, like Rapinoe, who is driven by pride and the scars of lost titles. But even the great American star could not score from eleven meters. She couldn’t even imagine what would come in the subsequent releases.
Because, after two pitches without a miss, it was Hurtig’s turn. His shot was saved by Naeher, and still with the ball in the air, he brushed it away from the goal line with his left hand. But Stéphanie Frappart, the referee, asked for assistance to see if she had crossed the line. Technology ruled: yes, it had done so, with a tiny margin, but it was Sweden that would celebrate the move to the quarterfinals, and the United States, the one that would mourn the farewell. Never before so early in a World Cup.
The United States leaves empty when it arrived in Australia and New Zealand full of ambition, in search of that magical treble to stay above good and evil in this football. But she also arrived with disagreements in the locker room and a relay between the veterans and the young women that she had not quite hooked.
2023-08-06 12:09:26
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