Amy Rodriguez scored one of the three goals for the U.S. today
Photo: US Soccer
US women triumph 3-0 over Swiss
By Debby von Winckelmann
It was a combination of old and new that got it done for the U.S. women’s national team today, as they shut-out Switzerland 3-0 in Algarve Cup group play at Municipal Stadium in Portugal.
Alex Morgan started the scoring in the second half and veterans Amy Rodriguez and Abby Wambach both came off the bench to add to the tally.
U.S. head coach Jill Ellis said that using all six of their allowed substitutions proved to be advantageous for the Americans.
“It’s huge,” Ellis said. “It’s part of our depth and its part of our build up to the World Cup. We need to know who can come in and make a difference. The players that came in were impactful and obviously we got to rest some legs which was huge at this point in the tournament.”
After a scoreless first half, Morgan’s goal came in the 54th minute when Lauren Holiday sent a beautifully-placed free kick into the box and Morgan simply tapped it into the goal.
Rodriguez subbed in at halftime for Megan Rapinoe and immediately took a shot that sailed over the crossbar. She had another opportunity in the 63rd minute, but headed the ball wide. On her third attempt in the 72nd minute, Rodriguez was successful after Christen Press sent a hard ball into the box that Switzerland goalkeeper Stenia Michel knocked down. Rodriguez pulled the ball back from Michel, turned and with a couple of quick touches, turned again and lifted the ball to the upper, left corner.
Wambach scored just over a minute after coming off the bench in the 79th minute with fellow veteran, Shannon Boxx. After not having played in international competition in two years, Boxx played aggressively, winning the ball with a tackle that sent it up to Wambach, who was making a run on the left. Wambach beat Switzerland’s Caroline Abbe to the ball and sent it far post, over Michel’s head to push the lead to 3-0.
“I kind of just ran as fast as I could, however slow that may have looked, got to the end of it, saw the goalkeeper was retreating to the back of her line and did my best to get a little bit of air under the ball, and luckily it went into the net,” said Wambach.
Goalkeeper Hope Solo made three saves between the posts, with a spectacular save in the 60th minute when Switzerland’s Lara Dickenmann sent a hard shot up high. Solo earned her 79th clean sheet.
Ellis continues to experiment with the line-up, this time starting Meghan Klingenberg at left back and Megan Rapinoe at left midfield. Additionally, Press played up top with Morgan, instead of in the midfield.
Kelley O’Hara, Heather O’Reilly, and Tobin Heath also came off the bench, replacing Ali Krieger, Morgan Brian, and Press, respectively.
Wambach said that the ability of the U.S. to pull from the bench will make a big difference in preparing for, and getting through the World Cup.
“This is a World Cup environment in terms of the structure of the tournament, so having multiple players not only come on and play but make a difference, that’s what it’s going to take to win a World Cup,” Wambach said. “… It’s not just about the best eleven playing seven straight, 90-minute games…Tonight it showed that we not only can play those starting eleven but the players that come off the bench can make an immediate impact.”
The U.S. will play their final game of group play on Monday, March 9 against Iceland at 10:30 PT.
