3 goals for Alex Morgan in her first 2 games of 2016. It's an Olympic year, so no shock there. She's BACK ...........
I am definitely hoping that this is the year that Morgan returns to her 2012 form. She's off to a good start. IMO, she looked better in this game than she's been in awhile for the WNT.
It is. The previous fastest goal was Abby's first against the Dominican Republic during the last Olympic qualifying tournament, which she scored in 35 seconds. The record before that was HAO's 42 second goal against New Zealand in the 2008 Olympics.
Yeah it's weird how Alex Morgan seems to be at her best during Olympic years rather than World Cup years.
And she was outstanding during an Olympic year in 2008 as well. Of course she was playing for the U-20 team then instead of the senior team, but you'll notice the year there. She comes out like gangbusters every 4 years and becomes the world's best player at her age level (youth or senior).
Attendance was 8143. Reason being a weeknight game, I guess. Or that qualifying tournaments for the WNT hold no suspense (2010 obviously being the exception to the rule).
To put things in perspective, the USWNT scored almost as fast as Usain Bolt runs the 100 meters. 12 seconds vs. 9.5 seconds or so. That's pretty crazy to score a goal almost as fast into the game as Bolt runs the 100. 100 meters = approximately 110 yards. Imagine running the length of a gridiron football field + 10 more yards on top of that, and doing that in 9.5 seconds. I certainly can't imagine being able to do that. Now, imagine traveling about 55 yards or more, with a ball having to be passed around in many different angles via ground and/or in the air, and to score a goal in a tiny space against up to 11 opponents, and to do all that in 12 seconds to start off the game? We may never see that again from this team. Not even the mighty 27ers pulled that off in the future.
Yeah, most teams wouldn't play a 3 back with Hinkle and Kling as they are slightly smaller that most players and are outside backs. However, if Ellis was to use this formation with Johnston, Sauerbrunn and Krieger against a stronger opponent it could be very more interesting to see how that would work as you can loose the overlapping run from an outside back. Edit: tbh this probably won't happen though
It doesn't really matter when you've got Morgan and Press clicking, Horan spraying accurate deliveries to our attackers, Dunn making defenders look silly, Carli Lloyd being herself, Brian being all over the place making stuff happen, and Pugh coming in and running all over the place and sending some of the most insane crosses you can imagine, in addition to being able to score herself. I haven't even mentioned Tobin Heath's moves yet. Who cares what our back line lineup is, and what they do, when the USWNT has all of that going for them.
CONCACAF already has highlights up (set to some dramatic music): http://www.concacaf.com/video/cwoq-2016-usa-vs-costa-rica-highlights Longer highlight video from US Soccer that includes the foul on Dunn that led to the PK for those like me who wanted another look at it:
And I also wanted a 2nd look at this call. Thankfully, CONCACAF does have video of that one up: Btw, what's the yellow card accumulation rule in this tournament?
jj was taken off because she had a yellow, (which she shouldn't have gotten). no need to take any chances. agree we're not likely to see 3 in the back in important games against good teams.
Some thoughts... Great start--Of course, it was great to get the early goal, but also good pressing, especially in first 30 minutes or so. It seems lately that we haven't started tournaments well, so I liked it! The foul on Dunn for the pk--clearly a foul, clearly out of the penalty area. Bad luck for Costa Rica. Defense--not too much to do but what they did, they did well. Kling and Krieger both looked great going forward, Krieger even better than she has recently. The switch to the 3 back was a little odd in that if I was choosing 3 defenders to put in a back 3, I wouldn't be including Hinkle or probably even Kling. However, when you're playing a team that's barely crossing the midstripe, its not a bad time to experiment. Brian--really impressed with her movement. She covered a lot of the field and was showing up everywhere. Horan--good vision but not always the best choices on when and where to play the ball. The Horan experiment is growing on me though. Dunn--lots of energy at the beginning of the game, but seemed to wane. Pugh, while active with good moments, was not quite as effective in the position though, imo. I think there's still lots more to see from Pugh though, and it did seem like Pugh was showing some nerves. Heath--has really grown into one of our best wide options right now. I can't believe I'm saying that about Heath. Lloyd--also covered lots of ground like Brian, but still seemed a bit in Lloyd-in-a-friendly mode. The assist to Morgan was quality though. Morgan--playing with more confidence and sharpness. Like I said before, I hope this is her year back to 2012 form. Stay healthy, Morgan! Press--That first touch was INSANE. Also I was impressed by the number of NWSL mentions. Great job by the commentators! And thanks, NBC Sports, for taking down the authentication wall; if this game had to be streamed, at least it was a good quality stream.
I saw most of the game and this was not a good CR team. We scored 3 quickly but seemed to stall. Lots of possession, not a lot of chances. I wouldn't read a lot into this result I am still a big Press fan and her goal was pure class. Maybe the best of the night. Pugh cannot be on the bench for must longer. She has it all. She gift wrapped a cross to Lloyd who screwed it up or it should have been a goal. We have a lot of goals in a short period. Ellis needs to rotate people or risk having dead legs out there later on. We have plenty of players and it shouldnt be hard to do that with the runners