The Washington Spirit hosted the Orlando Pride last Saturday, July 8th in their second match this season, with both teams looking for a victory and more points.
Within ten minutes Camila Pereira tried a dribble inside the box resulting in a penalty. Marta took it and sent in a bomb to the upper right corner, giving the Pride the energy they needed to create more chances and dominate the game.
Both Marta and Alex Morgan’s experience showed, which gave the spectators a great soccer show. They controlled most of the first half of the game, but controlling does not always mean dominating the game. Just 14 minutes after Marta’s penalty kick, Pugh scored a goal of her on, after a one-two with Spirit forward Francisca Ordega, leveling the score and bringing the 5.200 supporters to delirium.
The 19-year-old, from Colorado, Mallory Pugh started her first season as a Pro last May with this being only her 7th professonial game.
The second half brought the teams back out, both wanting to seal the deal and take the victory home. In the 56th minute, Marta gave the lead to the Pride again and scored her 8th goal this season, just one behind the top scorer Megan Rapinoe who plays for the Seattle Reign.
In soccer, 2-1 is not enough to win a game; the other team can quickly score another goal and take the victory away.
That is what happened. The Spirit closed its defense and fought until the final minute, earning a PK in the 90th after Kristie Mewis drew the foul. Pugh stepped up to take the penalty kick and although Orlando’s goalkeeper, Bledsoe, chose the right side, it was not enough to stop the ball from going in.
Another draw for both teams. Not bad, but not great either.
Women’s soccer in Brazil.
Seeing 5.200 fan or a full house is sometimes a big deal for the Brazilians when you are talking about women’s soccer. The country that is crazy about soccer, is not always big when the girls are playing.
“In Brazil, we don’t have a public as big as we have here, we have a big public almost every game and to be able to talk to the fans after the game that is great.” said Camila Pereira, Orlando Pride’s defender.
“In the organization and public, [women’s] soccer here is bigger than in Brazil, but it’s growing [in Brazil]”, said Monica, another Orlando Pride’s defender.
The big victories in competitions and friendly matches are bringing attention to the sport, the National team ended a seven game winning streak last week after losing against Germany, in a friendly match.
There is one team that is getting well deserved attention. Iranduba, the team from a small city (with a population of 45 thousand) brought 25 thousand people to the Arena da Amazonia (the same stadium where USMNT played Portugal, during the 2016 FIFA World Cup). It was more than half of the stadium capacity and the biggest public in women’s competition all year. There are more people watching women’s team than the men’s team in the Amazon.
