Americans’ defense finds its way, and just in time
It was easy to fear for the U.S. defense in advance of the Women’s World Cup championship game, particularly after China shredded defending champion Norway for five goals in a semifinal.
Sun Wen had been marvelous ù “Unstoppable” is how the Norwegians phrased it ù as the focal point of a speedy, multifaceted attack that had scorched foes for 19 goals, 10 of them scored or set up by the gifted striker.
And the Chinese had grown stronger, more authoritative, with each match, clearly appearing to be the best, most well-rounded team in the competition. If they had been underdogs to the Americans before the Cup kicked off, by the time the title game arrived, that no longer was the case.
Their strengths ù the speed, the skills of Sun and midfielder Liu Ailing, the dimensions provided by Zhao Lihong and Wang Liping on the wings ù seemed to play into the United States’ chief weakness, a mistake-prone defense that had been repeatedly exposed as slow and inconsistent.
That the Americans’ penalty-kick triumph in the July 10 final at the Rose Bowl was built on defense came down to a combination of factors that had eluded them through their first five WWC clashes. A brilliant defensive game plan by Tony DiCicco, designed to take the flanks from the Chinese and force a bottleneck in the middle, was played to perfection by the Americans, who received superb defensive efforts all over the field, not least from its oft-maligned back four.
Add in nearly 100-degree, energy-sapping heat, and China coach Ma Yuanan’s cautious approach, and what ensued was a game nobody expected from two of the WWC’s most vibrant attacking teams.
Instead of end-to-end action ù instead of spectacular forays from Sun, or Zhao, or Mia Hamm ù this one was a tactical battle played between the boxes, a very professional game, with neither team able to maintain possession, build any sort of viable attack, or break down or race through their opponent’s back line.
“We couldn’t attack at will,” noted U.S. assistant coach Lauren Gregg. “We talked to the defense today, said if we keep our shape, let the attack do its job, and you guys just be secure when we’re on attack.
“One thing in New York, when we lost [to China April 25 at Giants Stadium on a stoppage-time goal], we were going forward at all costs to win the game. That’s a positive statement about the U.S. and our mentality to win, but we left ourselves exposed.”
DiCicco wanted to make certain that wouldn’t happen again, so he placed his frontrunners wide, to prevent wing-backs Wang and Bai Jie from running roughshod up and down the flanks. Outside backs Brandi Chastain and, to a lesser extent, Joy Fawcett were instructed to stay home, and the Americans sought to direct the Chinese into the center of the field, where there was little space to create.
“We had to make sure their outside backs didn’t become attacking personalities,” DiCicco explained. “We had our wingers stay wide and not pinch in, and we basically said, ‘OK, they have two center backs [Fan Yunjie and Wen Lirong], let them play with the ball, let them try to find central options, let’s not let their outside backs into the game.’
“For most of the game, that worked beautifully.”
China’s problem …
Ma played into the tactics by taking a conservative tact. “We tried to defend first,” he said, “and then counterattack.”
China’s problem was there was no place to counter. Michelle Akers dominated midfield, winning nearly every (if not every) 50-50 ball she went after. The forwards, especially Mia Hamm ù whose defensive performance all Cup was dazzling ù prevented the Chinese from building out of the back.
And the back line was stalwart, with captain Carla Overbeck ù in what Gregg called a “career performance” ù and Kate Sobrero and Akers taking turns keeping Sun, the Golden Ball winner as the WWC’s MVP, from making any impression at all.
Likewise, the Americans couldn’t penetrate the Chinese defense. After 120 minutes, the teams had combined for 23 shots, just eight of them on target, and only one of those ù Fan’s header from Liu Ying’s corner kick in the 100th minute, headed off the goal line by Kristine Lilly ù the least bit dangerous.
U.S. goalkeeper Briana Scurry had to make just one challenging save ù stopping Liu Ying during the shootout ù all afternoon.
“My defense was unbelievable today,” Scurry said. “I think that one penalty-kick save was my only save I had to make the entire game. It’s tough to bottle up a team like China ù they’ve been having an incredible tournament, but we were all over them today.”
Said DiCicco: “This team rises to the occasion. … It’s to their credit how they keep raising their game, improving their game. We said all along we’d have to keep improving, and we improved today.”
No mistakes this time
They had to. Defensive problems had marred their victories over Denmark and Nigeria in the first round and nearly cost them in the quarterfinal win over Germany. Chastain had given the Germans an early lead on an own goal, and ill-advised headers to goalkeeper Briana Scurry from Sobrero and Joy Fawcett nearly provided them two more.
Then Scurry’s heroics were required to nail down a 2-0 victory in the semifinals as Brazil, primarily the speedy Pretinha, kept finding seams into the U.S. box.
The Americans couldn’t help but take notice of the growing criticism.
“Of course, we read the papers,” said Chastain, who had struggled with the ball and been susceptible to wing attacks before a superb performance in the final. “It’s important to us to know what people think about our team, what’s the perception of what’s happening with us. Because perception is reality ù I mean, that’s the truth.
“The four of us in the back got together with Bri and said we’re not giving up anything today, we’re going to show what kind of defense we have today, show what we’re made of.”
That they did.
“I don’t really discredit my defense,” Scurry said when it was over. “I’ve got to give credit to other teams ù they were really going after it. We made a few mistakes here and there and other teams maybe didn’t make any, but we had a tough road here.
“Our group was tougher than we thought it would be, and then we have Germany in the first [knockout] game ù my God! ù and then a Brazil team that was on fire, and then China in the final. We held up well, only gave up three goals.”
When it mattered most, they gave up none.
by Soccer America Senior Editor Scott French