courtesy ussoccer.com
China PR crashed Abby Wambach’s good bye party by defeating the United States Women’s National Team 1-0 on Wednesday at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans, La.
A close range half volley from Wang Shuang gave the United States their first defeat since their road match against France on Feb. eighth. However, this was the United States first home defeat since 2004. It is safe to say that U.S. head coach Jill Ellis did not imagine the 2015 Victory Tour and Wambach’s farewell to end in a defeat.
However, the stingy and physical Chinese defense was able to shutout the United States for the first time since the 2-0 defeat against France. China’s defensive tenacity showed as they completed 18 tackles and committed 17 fouls in the process. In the end to completely kill of the American offense is an impossible task to complete. The Steel Roses main goal was to defend and counter when possible.
The Stars and Stripes attacked for the entire game. The Americans produced 19 shots and placed eight of them on target. The main reason why the United States was kept scoreless was because of China’s goalie Zhao Lina eight saves.
The Yanks dominated the match in the first half when it came to shots. However, the Steel Roses stubborn defense did not allow the USWNT offense to ever pick up rhythm. The United States created seven shots in the first 45 minutes, Wambach lead the way with three attempts on goal.
The USWNT made it clear that they wanted to take an early lead, and they wanted Wambach to score. However, the United States break never came. The U.S. attack struggled to say the least. Since every time the United States attempted to move the ball around the danger area, there were at least five to six defenders to stop the buildup.
Just like the previous meeting between these two nations on Sunday, the Steel Roses defensive effort prevented their offense creativity to blossom. The American defense was not under any serious threat in the first half. The Steel Roses only took one accurate shot. Li Ying’s lone first half shot forced Hope Solo to record her only block of the game.
However, China’s weak offensive start to the match changed at the early stages of the second half. In the opening 15 minutes China launched three shots and the United States managed to produce two.
The energy in the Superdome changed rapidly when Shuang gave the Steel Roses the shocking 1-0 lead in the 58th minute. Before the Chinese midfielder scored the winning goal, there was seven quick, short and accurate passes that split the American defense wide open.
The play started near the midfield. Three Chinese players completed a triangle by passing the ball back and forth to each other. Then China’s midfielder Wang Shanshan was released down the right hand side of the field. She burned her defender with her pace, and created some space to deliver a cross.
The ball was dropping right into the center of the box. Right before the ball hit the ground Shuang fired the bouncy shot into the bottom right hand corner of the net.
After conceding a goal the Americans responded swiftly, by taking nine shots. However, the Steel Roses defensive wall did not break this time and held on to give the USWNT the rare 1-0 home defeat.
courtesy ussoccer.com
In the 72nd minute Ellis decided to take Wambach out of the game for good. As the number one leading goal scorer in national team history began to walk off the field, the 32,950 fans erupted, paying their last respects to Wambach.
The new era after Wambach will begin on Jan. 23rd, 2016 against the Republic of Ireland at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego, Calif.