The Olympic sendoff friendlies seemed to clue at an early theory: park the bus, play defense-first soccer and frustrate the United States until you find a chance to try an attack.
Although having Coffey back from suspension helped toward that end, the United States was still thin in central areas.
Berger and Naeher were both instrumental in keeping the score 0-0 throughout regulation, Berger moreso given the United States’ stronger attacking presence.
Tournament Naeher is a different beast from any other level of her play.
The United States heads to its first Olympic women’s gold medal match since the 2012 London Games.
Persons:
Sophia Smith, Smith, Trinity Rodman, Mallory Swanson, ” Smith, “, Mal, Emma Hayes, Tierna Davidson, Sam Coffey, Davidson, Emily Sonnett, Rose Lavelle, Lynn Williams, Alyssa Naeher’s, ” Jeff Rueter, Steph Yang, Ann, Katrin Berger’s stolid, Berger, Swanson, Rodman, Williams, you’d, Naomi Girma, Becky Sauerbrunn, Naomi Girma’s, Girma, shouldn’t, —, Jeff Rueter, Hayes, we’ve, Hayes ’ USWNT, Costa Rica wasn’t, Lindsey Horan, Coffey, hasn’t, they’ll, Naeher, Laura Freigang’s, it’s, she’s, Alyssa Naeher, Gv5tkEhLP0 — CJ, John Todd, Getty
Organizations:
U.S, women’s, Olympic, NBC, ”, Japan, Germany, United
Locations:
Germany, U.S, Swanson, Lyon, United States, Hayes ’, Mexico, Costa Rica, Spain, Brazil, States