US Women’s Soccer Advance After Drawing With Australia

US Women's Soccer
US Women's Soccer

It was quite surprising to see the US Women’s Soccer team going on a defense- considering they are the highest-scoring team in history. Now, what really grates the nerves is the scoreless draw that the team had against Australia in the Tokyo Olympics. A goalless tie is something that none would associate with the national team.

And yet, a draw was all that is needed for the team to rise on top. For Coach Vlatko Andonovski, the coach for the national team, a draw was all it took for his managerial career to reach the knockout stages of the Olympics

The US Women’s Soccer Team Had Quite A Lackluster Performance

There was no need for the US Women’s Soccer team to go all out in a match- and then end up conceding. He asked his team to not be greedy- as they would get their chance in the quarterfinals on Friday against the Netherlands.

There is a possibility that this high-profile match would definitely be a rematch of the finals of the last Women’s World Cup. Now, while Andonovksi’s plan worked, it doesn’t mean it was absolutely successful. The US Team is known for its attacking football- a defensive mindset made them quite uncomfortable. 

Why was it uncomfortable? One of the reasons could be that the US Women’s Soccer team had a record of averaging almost 3.5 goals per game. But in the current Olympics, the team from North America has been shut down twice in three games.

Tuesday saw the team blanked by another team that had won just once over seven games in the current year while giving more than 2 goals almost every time. This performance was definitely out of character for the champion team. 

The performance of the US Women’s Soccer team was so lackluster that even the coach of the Australian team, Tony Gustavsson, mentioned that the opposition was quite passive in their pressing. And this was a far cry from the team that was quite aggressive usually.