The headline on the U.S. Soccer website said the “U.S. Women’s National Team Ties Germany in 3-3 Thriller.”
Technically correct, but the headline doesn’t tell the entire story.
Actually, it was the Germans who gained the tie.
The U.S. WNT, playing in Offenbach, Germny four days after April Fools Day, had a good thing going when they took a 3-1 lead in an international friendly between the top two women’s soccer teams in the world. The game was a celebration of the 100th Anniversary of the U.S. Soccer Federation.
After a scoreless first half, the U.S. got on the scoreboard two minutes into the second half on Abby Wambach’s 155th career goal, off a Megan Rapinoe assist. Eight minutes later the duo reversed the order with Rapinoe getting the goal for a 2-0 advantage.
The game marked Wambach’s 204th national team cap, and the goal left her three goals shy of Mia Hamm’s all-time goal record of 158.
Kim Kulig pulled one back for Germany in the 63rd minute.
Not to be left out of the offensive party, Alex Morgan made it 3-1 in the 71st minute, assisted by Lauren Cheney. The U.S. was rolling.
Closing in on five minutes left in regulation, the wheels started to come off for the U.S. Captain Christie Rampone and Germany’s Celia Okoyino da Mbabi collided in the penalty area and Germany was awarded a penalty kick, and Rampone was awarded a yellow card.
The German forward stepped up and took the kick, converted and pulled Germany within a goal. Just a minute later the U.S. lead vanished as Anja Mittag cleaned up a loose ball in the middle of the penalty area after goalkeeper Nicole Barnhart only got a hand on the cross from the left wing. Easy goal.
The U.S. almost found a game-winner in the fourth minute of extra time, but Sydney Leroux’s header was cleared off the goal line by a German defender.
Six goals in 45 minutes and a yo-yo of emotions for the U.S. team that saw a victory slide away.
“Overall it was a fair result and a competitive, exciting game that showed the quality of the two best teams in the world,” said U.S. head coach Tom Sermanni. “It’s always a disappoint when you’re winning the game with 10 minutes to go and you end up drawing.
“But on the positive side for us is we created some very good chances. We knew it was always going to be very difficult to come here and get a result.”
A Win Over The Dutch
The U.S. traveled to the Netherlands for the second friendly on their European trip and came away with a 3-1 victory over Holland.
Tobin Heath opened the scoring with her first goal in 2013, and Christen Press upped her goal total for the year to six in seven games with a pair of goals.
The game attracted an announced crowd of 8,000 in The Hague, and the win extended the USA’s unbeaten streak to 31 games. The last loss coming against Japan on March 5 in the 2012 Algrave Cup.
Sermanni used UNC grad Ashlyn Harris in goal, and got playing time for former Tar Heel Meghan Klingenberg. Yael Averbuch, yet another former Tar Heel, got the start up front along with Heather O’Reilly and Heath,
Julie Johnston, 21, the youngest player on the roster, played the full 90, getting her first start and second international cap.
Sermanni spoke about the depth of the U.S. team after the game in Holland.
“From my perspective, it’s fantastic,” said Sermanni, who is now 6-0-2 in 2013 as the U.S. coach after taking over earlier this year. “We put a brand new team out tonight and there was no drop-off in the quality, no drop-off in the standard. It just shows how strong a squad we’ve got and how difficult it is to actually choose a starting eleven.
“The other great thing about our team is that we create chances, we score goals and we have a lot of potent players. These first three months have been really valuable for me and games like tonight are invaluable to continue to assess players.”