Belgium not pressing at all. The US passes back to midfield where the backs are are annoying me some.
WTF? Lloyd starting up top, Dunn in MF and Krieger at RB? What in the hell has Ellis seen in the last 3 years to think Lloyd is good enough to make this squad, let alone start up top? I realize this is a throw-away game against a weaker opponent, but why not Press, Pugh and/or McDonald with the regular starters? If our weakest link by far is RB. With KO out, Dunn is our best outside back. Under no circumstance should she ever be playing midfield with this roster. Why not give anyone else a shot at MF? Ellis is the weakest link on this team by far and has been since her first game in 2014.
Since Belgium getting a corner basically from the kick-off, this has been all US. There is definitely room for Belgium to counter and split the defense.
But she actually hit the goal. So many free kicks get totally wasted by hitting the wall or missing the goal. If you hit the goal it might go in but if you miss the goal it never will.
14' 0-0 Lloyd dribbles left-to-right across circle top, #20 Biesmans blatantly tugs on her back shoulder. Foul. 14' 1-0 USA fk from circle top, driven to 9m center. Lloyd plants in front of #4 Jaques and outjumps her facing ball, flick-heads perfectly into right side netting. GK Evrard has no chance on a deflection that close. She lives for the big stage.@CarliLloyd with her first of 2019! pic.twitter.com/4je2sf6bGJ— U.S. Women's National Soccer Team (@USWNT) April 8, 2019 16' 1-0 Belgium hoof up left touch for #11 Cayman, Krieger wins a footrace!
19' 2-0 Sauerbrunn dribbles to 30m arc left against nil pressure, passes to Dunn at arc top box left. Dunn pauses 1-v-3, drives hard past RB #22 Deloose to 2m wide left. Cross on the run to 5m 1/4 left, Lloyd outjumps RCB #18 De Neve, another flick back-header across mouth past Evrard, into back right high. She's just built different.@CarliLloyd AGAIN! pic.twitter.com/dmv0LD183s— U.S. Women's National Soccer Team (@USWNT) April 8, 2019 22' 2-0 We're playing a high press, closing down the ball as soon as they receive a pass. Belgium can string together 3-4 passes in their half, but going forward they inevitably resort to a speculative long pass into space, and we collect all of those. 24' 2-0 On offense, Belgium are playing a non-pressing zone, giving us space in the seams. (It won't be this easy against a faster team.) Dunn flicks left outstep to Lloyd(?) at 15m right post, she runs into a defender's back and sprawls down. No pk for that when we're already up 2
Unless we fall back on the useless passing around the back style that we have become so famous for. Like the recent sequence where we made 14 useless passes and then passed the ball into touch.
25' 3-0 Press right ck, outswings to 8m left post. Horan joins the back edge of the scrum going forward, reads it better and stops, then backpedals two steps and bloops a header across mouth, well over Evrard into back right low. LOUD NOISES‼️3 goals on 3 headers. pic.twitter.com/1Dtimso2PC— U.S. Women's National Soccer Team (@USWNT) April 8, 2019 26' 3-0 Pugh cuts along box top to mid-right, shoots hard left instep to 2/5 left low, Evrard dives and smothers.