USA survive Portugal in 0-0 draw, advance to round of 16

The U.S. women slogged and eked their way to a dangerous, scoreless draw Tuesday against Portugal, while losing a soft path to the quarterfinal round. The World Cup favorites advanced by a matter of inches, literally, to the knockout stage. But the team can’t seem to find its way into the attacking box, where Alex Morgan has failed to score a goal and the Americans just look completely out of whack.

Portugal very nearly eliminated the desperate Americans in added time, when substitute Ana Capeta struck an open right-foot shot that fortunately went off the right post. A nation of spoiled-rotten American women’s soccer fans held its breath, as the ball caromed safely away.

While disaster was averted, this was hardly a banner day for the Americans. They are not accustomed to killing the clock to assure a tie, but that’s exactly what happened in the final, hectic minutes. When the final whistle sounded, veteran Kelly O’Hara gave the team a harsh pep talk, even before coach Vlatko Andonovski began to speak. “It’s all about looking forward,” O’Hara said, later.

Former star Carli Lloyd became infuriated watching the U.S. players celebrating the draw with fans. She blamed the U.S. Soccer Federation and the attitude of today’s generation of U.S. players.

“To be dancing, to be smiling?” Lloyd said on Fox. “The player of that match was the post.”

For only the second time in tournament history, the U.S. failed to win its group. Now, if the Americans are to threepeat, they will almost certainly have to go through Sweden this weekend in the Round of 16 at Melbourne. Netherlands, which won Group E with a 7-0 rout of Vietnam, likely will next face beatable Italy, or South Africa.

To make matters even scarier, the U.S. will be without its most creative midfielder, Rose Lavelle, who must sit out with two yellow cards in the next match.

“It’s tough to be second,” Morgan said. “This team gave everything. We just couldn’t put the ball into the back of the net. We have so many corners, so many opportunities, got the crosses in. Just unlucky a little bit, making the right decisions in front of goal.”

The group tussle for first place was actually decided very early Tuesday, as Netherlands soared to a five-goal lead in the first half against Vietnam. It then became only a question of whether the U.S. would advance at all, or be eliminated at this stage for the first time ever.

The Americans paid a stiff price for disappointing results in their first two matches. They were unable to convert enough of their 28 shots at goal against Vietnam, and then had a disappointing first-half performance last week against Netherlands. They managed only a draw that day, so goal differential became decisive.

Andonovski made two changes to the lineup, though neither succeeded. He replaced Trinity Rodman with Lynn Williams up top, and finally started Lavelle ahead of Savannah DeMelo.

Nothing seemed to help, as the Americans mucked through yet another slow-motion affair. Lavelle said the team lacked “a little bit of ruthlessness” in front of the net. It was more than that, though. The U.S. has always been considered fitter and faster than its opponents, but the team has yet to demonstrate such dominance in New Zealand. The U.S. is not connecting on through passes or overlapping runs. Forwards are receiving passes at steep angles to the net. There is still time to turn this around, but the links from midfield just aren’t working.

Portugal was no tomato can, even though the Americans had won all 10 previous head-to-head meetings with score lines totaling 39-0. The Portuguese lost by only 1-0 in their most recent match with the U.S., played to a scoreless draw with England in a World Cup tune-up, and fell by only one goal to Netherlands in a first-round match. So this never figured to be a rout, but it also wasn’t supposed to be a battle of survival.

That’s how it evolved, however. By the final minutes of the game, the Americans went to a defensive, five-back formation, just holding on for dear life. The Portuguese managed several dangerous counters, even if they never quite finished properly.

Sweden will be less generous. It is a team the Americans must truly respect; maybe, even fear. The Swedes drubbed the U.S., 3-0, just two years ago at the Tokyo Olympics, and have been in good form at this World Cup.

Of course, Sweden can’t be thrilled with this likely knockout-round matchup, either. One of these days, just maybe, the U.S. will start playing like the U.S. is supposed to play.