A lot of what happened in the Round of 16 match between the United States and Colombia was old news. The U.S. didn’t play good soccer and their midfield looked totally broken. They depended on Megan Rapinoe to create everything. Their defense and Hope Solo were basically flawless and kept the game scoreless until Alex Morgan changed the match with some individual brilliance. Despite not playing well, the Americans won 2-0.
This is about what happened in the Nigeria match, with a slight twist. On that occasion, it was a set piece goal by Abby Wambach that fired a team totally lacking in creativity and chemistry to a win. Against Sweden, that goal never came, but the defense and Solo were good enough to keep Lotta Schelin and Caroline Seger — two truly world class attackers — completely quiet.
Theoretically, this shouldn’t be good enough against France or Germany, so fans are concerned about the way the USWNT are playing. And yes, it would be very nice to have an Amandine Henry breaking up play in the center or a Dzsenifer Marozsan dictating tempo while creating chances. But what if what the Americans have, while a bit ugly, is just good enough?
Because Colombia, who scored twice against France, created nothing against this back line. Sweden created nothing. Nigeria created very little. Australia scored on one of the best goals of the tournament, but got run over in the second half. The U.S. might not have played anyone of Germany or France’s caliber yet, but they are looking totally comfortable, if utterly boring and unwatchable.
The United States aren’t fixing their midfield overnight. There aren’t any actual central midfielders in this team; Jill Ellis made her bed and has to lie in it. But what the USWNT does have — a brilliant defensive spine and strikers who can score from nothing — might be good enough to win them the women’s World Cup.
There’s no question that the U.S. has the best central defense and goalkeeper trio in this tournament. There might be individual defenders who have a claim to being in better form and better all-around players than Becky Sauerbrunn and Julie Johnston, but as a unit, the Americans’ supremacy is indisputable. They also have a couple of very different strikers who can create chances from nowhere in Morgan and Wambach. While Morgan hasn’t hit her best form yet and Wambach probably won’t be finding hers, they’ve still showed off what they can do at their best. Morgan drew a red card with a pacey run only she can make against Colombia, and Wambach won the Nigeria match with a goal off a corner that no one in the world can beat her to.
Even if the United States is outright bad at half the positions on the pitch and inconsistent at a couple of the ones that aren’t embarrassing, their good qualities aren’t just silver linings. They’re good enough to beat teams that are way more technically and tactically advanced than the Americans. Germany or France can pass circles around the USWNT for 90 minutes, thoroughly embarrassing them, but if the Americans snag a garbage goal and their defensive spine is flawless, who cares?
The United States aren’t a better team than France or Germany by any stretch of the imagination, but if they beat them to get to the World Cup final, it won’t be lucky. Even if they do play awful soccer.
