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Bruised and battered but not beaten, reigning World Cup champions the United States believe they will be better after their scare with the Netherlands.
The Dutch held the world No.1 to a 1-1 draw in a rematch of the 2019 finalists in Wellington on Thursday.
Jill Roord’s strike meant the Americans trailed at the World Cup for the first time since 2011, taking a 1-0 deficit to half-time.
Lindsey Horan provided the rescue act, scoring from a 62nd-minute header to restore US parity.
The equaliser came just after Horan copped a nasty tackle from Danielle van de Donk, her club teammate at Olympique Lyon, with the pair continuing their remonstrations during a break of play for a corner.
“That’s when you get the best football from Lindsey,” Horan said.
“I don’t think you ever want to get me mad because I don’t react in a good way … I want to win more, I want to score more, I want to do more for my team.
“I did not take it in a good way. It got a little heated and she got to hear it.”
Lindsey Horan of USA celebrates scoring her team’s goal. (Photo by Joe Prior/Visionhaus via Getty Images)
Horan said an intervention from Julie Ertz, who told her to calm down and focus on scoring the corner, did the tonic.
“That’s what happened. That was incredible,” Horan said.
The 29-year-old said the US defensive effort let them down in the first half, when they weren’t aggressive enough with their press.
Coach Vlatko Andonovski agreed, focusing his half-time team talk on the need to step it up, and crediting Emily Fox and Crystal Dunn for improved efforts.
Andonovski was most pleased with his side’s resilience, given the new-look midfield and defence, which is without big-match experience.
The US may be defending champions but half of the starting team were not at the last World Cup, making their second half-showing “huge” according to the coach.
“It’s one thing to have an experienced team and to do that but it’s a lot bigger with a younger team like this, an inexperienced team,” he said.
Andonovski defended his choice not to make second-half substitutions, making just one change for the game – Rose Lavelle for Savannah DeMelo at half-time – and leaving potential game-changers Megan Rapinoe and Lynn Williams on the sidelines.
“We controlled the game and I thought we were knocking on the door,” he said.
“I just didn’t want to disrupt the rhythm at that point.”
The US move on to their third match – against Portugal next Tuesday – when goal difference could decide who tops the group and gets an easier passage in the knockout phase.
“We want nothing more than to come out first,” Alex Morgan said.
“We’re going to do as much as we can in our game.”
Christine Sinclair’s bid to create history in next week’s World Cup clash with Australia might already be over after the Canada captain suffered a mystery injury in Wednesday’s 2-1 win over Ireland.
Canada coach Beverly Priestman pulled a selection shock when she dropped Sinclair to the bench for the crunch clash with Ireland in Perth.
Olympic champions Canada were sluggish in the first half, but they received a slice of luck just before the break when Ireland conceded an own goal to make it 1-1.
Sinclair’s introduction for the start of the second half helped spark her team into gear, with Canada dominating for most of the rest of the match to seal their first win of the tournament.
The 40-year-old star striker is bidding to become the first player – male or female – to score in six separate World Cups.
Canada take on Australia in Melbourne on Monday, but Sinclair is in doubt after struggling with injury late in the win over Ireland.
“I’m not sure (what the injury is), because I haven’t had a medical update yet,” Priestman said after the match.
“But it looks like she was limping at the end there. So I’ll have to get an understanding of that and find out what comes next.”
Australia are still sweating on the fitness of Sam Kerr, who injured her calf on the eve of the tournament and is thought to only be a slim chance to return against Canada.
The Matildas, who beat Ireland 1-0, will face off against Nigeria in Brisbane on Thursday night before taking on world No.7 Canada.
Ireland captain Katie McCabe rattled Canada in the fourth minute by scoring an ‘Olimpico’ with a mesmerising strike from her corner kick.
It sent the mostly pro-Irish crowd of 17,065 fans into raptures.
It wasn’t until the second half when Canada clicked into gear, and Priestman believes her team’s comeback will fuel their belief ahead of the blockbuster clash with Australia..
“I said to them at the end, it could be the making of us,” Priestman said.
“I felt we wobbled in the first half. Our bravery wasn’t there. I felt we played a little bit scared.
“I reminded them that we’re (Olympic) champions at half time and that we’ve got to take a step forward and be brave and get after this.
“And to be honest, it was like playing an away game. It was full of Irish fans in that stadium.
“It’s basically a rehearsal of what we’re going to go into in the Australian game.”
Canada twice beat Australia last September, but Priestman is wary about what the Matildas can produce, even if Kerr doesn’t play.
Meanwhile, stand-in captain Steph Catley insists the Matildas can stand up in an injury crisis and beat Nigeria to seal progression to the Women’s World Cup knockout stage with a game to spare.
Mary Fowler and Aivi Luik joined superstar captain Sam Kerr and veteran striker Kyah Simon on the sidelines when they were concussed in separate incidents at Tuesday’s closed training session.
It means a non-striker like Emily van Egmond, Tameka Yallop or Alex Chidiac could partner Caitlin Foord unless coach Tony Gustavsson decides on a formation change.
Australia (three points) can book their ticket to the round of 16 with victory over Nigeria (one point) at Suncorp Stadium on Thursday night.
Olympic champions Canada (four points) soared to the top of Group B with a 2-1 win over Ireland (zero points) in Perth on Wednesday night.
The Matildas face Canada in a blockbuster clash in Melbourne next Monday.
“It’s football and it happens to every single footballer on the entire planet,” Catley said about the injury crisis.
“We’re not the first team that’s had injuries in major tournaments and we won’t be the last.
“So it’s just how we gather, it’s how the rest of the squad bounces back and performs in a high-pressure situation in the biggest games and I think that’s something over the last few years we’ve really developed.
“We’ve got a squad that is capable of winning games at any given point, no matter who’s in what position.
“I back every single player that’s out there no matter what and hopefully the girls get healthy and ready to get back into the squad very quickly.”
The Matildas hope to have Fowler and Luik available for the final group match against Canada, but Kerr appears less likely given the tight turnaround.
But they will first home in on Nigeria, who played out an entertaining 0-0 draw with Canada first-up.
“They showed against the Olympic champions that they can compete with anyone,” coach Tony Gustavsson said.
“They’re one of the fastest teams in the tournament on the break and in transition. They have speed both on the left and the right side, they have a No.9 position that can both post-up and hit runs in behind.
“They have central midfielders that can turn on a dime, they’re very technical. They have an attacking outside back that doesn’t hesitate to go forward.
“I’m also impressed with a short lead-in and a short preparation time how they got the team together to play for each other; tactically solid as a unit but also with individual flair and skill set.
“We know we need to have an A-game defensively to stop their attacking threats.
“But also we know we need to move the ball really, really fast because they showed against Canada that they can play very physical if they get close into duels and they’re very, very good at that one-on-one duel game.”
© AAP
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