US women march on with 1-0 defeat of France

That kept the game scoreless as the teams went into the half.

It’s worth keeping in mind that France largely outplayed the USA without the services of Eugenie Le Sommer, who sat out with a minor hamstring injury. Julie Johnston, the USWNT’s star centerback, was held out of the lineup due to groin soreness. Megan Rapinoe said before this match that the USWNT respect the French, but they’ve yet to be given sufficient reason to fear them – nor will they doubt their ability to overcome anyone else who stands in their way in this tournament.

Delie was close to opening the score with five minutes left to play in the half, using her strength to create a chance after a nice ball over the top. Her goals against Zimbabwe came in the seventh and 35th minutes. Tobin Heath blistered a shot to the near post and the keeper touched it off the woodwork, the ball skipped right to Lloyd’s feet and the US were up 1-0 in the 63 minute. France repeatedly sought to exploit this by lofting corners and free kicks to the 6-foot-2 Wendie Renard. She almost scored on that early free kick and continually shut down the USWNT’s attacks.

Only Solo’s heroics prevented France from scoring in the first half. She was commanding in the box, tracking incoming attacks, plucking crosses out of the air and shouting commands to keep her back line organized.

The US were far better after the break, though, and grabbed the victor after 63 minutes thanks to some derelict defending from the French. It’s a fantastic result for the US in what was certainly there most hard matchup in the group stages.

Hosts Brazil are also looking to seal their place in the quarter-finals later on Saturday after a fine 3-0 win over China in their opener when they face Sweden at the Olympic stadium in Rio. But there, they might meet France again, or Germany or Canada, and they may not be able to overpower teams or run by them anymore.

Heath didn’t experience the same type of success she saw against New Zealand in the team’s opening win, but she still served as the team’s biggest threat.

Tobin Heath earned the assist, her second of the tournament, by hitting the post.

Shortly after that score, US coach Jill Ellis moved to preserve the lead, inserting defender Ali Krieger into the game in place of Crystal Dunn – who had just been given a yellow card for a sliding tackle.

Hope Solo was unaffected by the Brazilian boos as she made her 200th global appearance. It was a good move from Jill Ellis; Dunn didn’t have her best day on the field and was often isolated when she wasn’t being shut down by Amel Majri.

France worked well as the game neared the half-hour mark, winning a series of corners that eventually concluded with Solo collecting a floated cross and the USWNT building out of the back. Eventually, if the USA faces off against Canada or Brazil later in the tournament, they will have to be more aggressive.