The United States have been eliminated from the Women's World Cup after a penalty shootout loss to Sweden this morning (August 6).
The round of 16 exit is the US' earliest ever from a World Cup, having won the previous two tournaments.
Penalty misses from Megan Rapinoe, Sophia Smith and Kelly O'Hara were enough to see Vlatko Andonovski's team bounced from the tournament in Australia. Sweden goalkeeper Zecira Musovic was the hero for the victors, making 11 saves during a match the US dominated.
“I mean, this is like a sick joke. For me personally, this is like dark comedy that I missed a penalty,” Rapinoe said after the final whistle, via The Huffington Post. “This is the balance to the beautiful side of the game. I think it can be cruel.”
US goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher believed she had saved Lina Hurtig's winning penalty kick, although goal line technology adjudged that the entire ball had indeed crossed the line.
“We just lost the World Cup by a millimeter. That’s tough,” said Naeher, who successfully dispatched her own kick. “I am proud of the fight of the team. We knew we hadn’t done our best in the group stage and we wanted a complete team performance and the team came out and played great.”
Midfielder Julie Ertz was also emotional following the team's exit, conceding that the round of 16 defeat was probably her last game for her country.
“We didn’t put anything in the back of the net. The penalties were tough. It’s just emotional because it’s probably my last game ever. It’s just tough. It’s an emotional time. It obviously sucks. Penalties are the worst.”
The States have won the World Cup four times in their history and have never finished worse than third in any tournament before this year's. After the match, Dancing Queen by Abba blared throughout the Melbourne Rectangular Stadium to celebrate the Swedes' dramatic victory.
“I am proud of the women on the field,” said US coach Vlatko Andonovski, “I know we were criticized for the way we played, and for different moments in the group stage. I think we came out today and showed the grit, the resilience, the fight. The bravery showed we did everything we could to win the game. And, unfortunately, soccer can be cruel sometimes.”
Andonovski's team had been criticized for three below-par performances during the group stages of the tournament, drawing with the Netherlands and Portugal as well as defeating Vietnam 3-0 in their opening game. The States were particularly fortunate in the goalless draw against Portugal, with the Portuguese hitting the post in injury time. Had the effort found the back of the net, it would have meant a group-stage elimination for the States.
However, there was a distinct improvement in today's display, which makes the result a lot harder to swallow for the US.
Sweden do have history of knocking the States out of major competitions, having eliminated them from the 2016 Olympics, also on penalties, at the quarter-final stage. The States also lost the 2011 final on penalties, although that time was to Japan.
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