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Group performance
The US topped the Group of Death with seven points and booked their place in the Round of 16 relatively easily albeit showing some vulnerabilities along the way. The second ranked nation in the world never looked in serious danger of missing out on progressing to the knockout stages but at times - particularly when their matches didn’t go to the game plan - did look beatable.
The Matildas gave them far more than they bargained for in the first half of their opening match and they looked frustrated that the Aussies were giving them so much grief. Despite Australia having more shots on goal and more shots on target in the opening period scores were level at 1-1 when they broke out the oranges. The Americans found their feet in the second half playing composed and controlled football and went on to win the match 3-1.
The Americans came up against another one of the pre-tournament favourites, Sweden, in their second match-up and the Americans lifted their performance accordingly. The scoreline ended 0-0 in a somewhat drab match as a result of two evenly matched and quality teams trying to control play. Superstar Abby Wambach clinched progression in the final match-up as the Americans brushed past Nigeria 1-0, eliminating the Super Falcons in the process.
They’ll beat Colombia because…
There is far too much quality in the squad for the Columbians to handle. Columbia limped out of the group stage as a third place qualifiers in what is already an impressive effort for the team ranked 28th in the world. While the Colombians have shown a lot guts so far at the tournament claiming a remarkable upset victory over France, Team USA presents an even tougher task.
The Americans have a wide array of attacking threats with Megan Rapinoe and Sydney Leroux equally as dangerous as Wambach. They’re physical, talented and despite not showing their full potential yet should prove too much for Colombia to deal with, there’s a reason they’re ranked second in the world.
They’ll be knocked-out by Columbia because…
Because the South Americans have already shown they don’t give a damn about reputations as shown by their incredible 2-0 victory over France, which has to be considered one of the biggest upsets in the history of the World Cup.
There is also a lot of pressure on the Americans to win the tournament and if they can’t break Columbia early they may well get frustrated, just like like int he first half against Australia. If the Columbians can stay in the match there is always a chance that they can steal it.
Can they win the World Cup?
Yes. Anything less will be considered a failure for Jill Ellis who knows her objective is to break their World Cup drought. They need to start scoring goals if they want to win though as they struggled to put away the Super Falcons. Despite the better competition they weren’t able to breach Sweden either which is concerning as they’ll have to beat better teams to claim the crown. With the likes of Wambach and Rapinoe firing at the right time the Americans definitely have a shot of winning big. Fate is in their hands.
Best moment of the tournament so far
Their second half against Australia was an encouraging performance as they were able to prove that even if a match isn’t going their way, they can fight themselves back into a game. But realistically they’ve just been going through the motions so far and their tournament highlight is yet to take place.
Key Player
Megan Rapinoe is vital for the Americans. To date she’s been the best player and responsible for most of the build-up and offence for Team USA. The Olympic gold medalist and 100 game veteran is the linchpin in the middle third and her effective distribution and skill means she can not only construct the play but also be part of it. Her partner in the middle Lauren Holiday is also a key part of the red, white and blue puzzle and also will need to be marked closely if she's to be stemmed.
Injuries/suspensions
Striker Alex Morgan is all-but back to full fitness and will be able play for a full 90-minutes if Ellis would prefer to use Wambach as a super-sub. The Americans have no other injuries or suspensions that will affect the starting line-up.