The United States women’s national team narrowly qualified to the round of 16 after a disappointing 0-0 draw with Portugal inspired a second place finish in group E.
The American side kicked off the tournament with a dominant 3-0 triumph over Vietnam before struggling to reach a 1-1 draw with the Netherlands and culminating the group stage with a lackluster 0-0 vs. Portugal. Though players celebrated the ticket to the knockout rounds, the reality of the situation quickly hit.
“The emotion, at the very end, I think we're happy, we're happy we're going through. That was our goal to make it out of the group. And obviously we want to win our group every time, but it's a tournament, we survive and advance,” said defender Naomi Girma.
“But it's definitely a reminder that, you know, every game needs to be our best game and even in the group stage and now going to knockouts, it's win or go home and we're still in it. We are capable of raising our levels so much and playing a lot better and creating more chances, putting our chances away being clear in the back. There is a higher level for this team. And I think going to the next round, we're going to need to tap into that.”
"This game is done, group stage is done. We advance. it's World Cup soccer. That's the name of the game. Get out of your group and then go from there and for us, this is the rear view and the only thing that we're looking at and focused on is round of 16, one game at a time. It's knock out soccer like it's time to go," said Kelley O'Hara.
Veteran Megan Rapinoe echoed her teammates' declarations, adding the team cannot “dwell” on the past results when looking for motivation in the upcoming games.
“If you have to get up for a quarter final match or a knockout round match in a World Cup I don't think anybody needs any more motivation than that. We got out of the group, what we wanted to get out of the group. The goal was to get to the next round. Obviously, we want to win the games. Obviously, we want to play great and score a bunch of goals and we didn't do that,” said Rapinoe.
“So we know that that can be better and that has to be better moving forward. But ultimately, we're on to the next round. There's things that we can do better for sure. I think there were things that we could do better from the last couple of games, but I'm not going to dwell on it. It is what it is.”
The USWNT last qualified to the knockouts in second place during the 2011 edition of the World Cup, earning two victories and a loss to fall behind Sweden. The mediocre performance during the group stage didn’t impede the American side from reaching the final, but this time around the reigning champions hold themselves to a “higher standard.”
“Honestly, we expect so much of ourselves. We hold a high standard and we wanted to go through first in the group. Every World Cup is crazy. But this one especially so knowing that we're going through the round of 16, we're ready for it,” she said.
“Confidence that it will get better because I know this team and I know what we're capable of and I just because it hasn't clicked every moment on the field and we're not putting the goals in the back of the net doesn't mean that these are the right players for the job.”
The USWNT will now face Sweden in Melbourne on August 6 in an attempt to reach the quarter final.
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This article was originally published on 90min as USWNT players react to 0-0 draw with Portugal .
