USA vs. China, 2015 World Cup: USWNT into the semifinal, will face Germany

Maybe it was nerves, maybe the ball took a bounce off the turf she didn’t expect or maybe it was just an honest mistake. The result was that Rodriguez made arguably the worst miss of the World Cup so far, robbing the U.S. of what looked like a sure goal early in the match against one of the best defensive sides left in the World Cup. It wasn’t the start the USWNT wanted at all, and they had to quickly find a way to put that miss behind them.

The United States dominated possession in a big way, and when China did get the ball and attacked they were stonewalled by the excellent USWNT defense, spurred by Kelley O’Hara’s work on the right wing to help shut down the previously dominant Han Peng. But despite practically living in China’s half of the pitch, the U.S. struggled to unleash truly dangerous shots. Their best chance came off a series of set pieces just before the half-hour mark, but when Wang Fei was pulled off her line and out of position, the resulting shot from Rodriguez was cleared off the line by a Chinese defender.

The United States came close to a couple of goals during the first half of its World Cup match against China. They didn’t score, however, and Abby Wambach wants to change that.

Her teammates listened, too: Carli Lloyd scored in the 52nd minute to give the U.S. a 1-0 lead.

The United States are favorites to beat China in their World Cup quarterfinal, but they’re facing a pretty difficult challenge. China have put in four straight good performances, and they’re very good defensively. Between the USWNT’s struggles so far and the suspensions of Lauren Holiday and Megan Rapinoe, they’ll like their chances to pull off an upset.

If you want to know how well things are going for the U.S., here’s what you should be watching for as the game goes on.

We’re required to remind you that these strong takes are SATIRE. Sorry, not sorry. All spelling errors are intentional, we think. -Ed.

NOTE: If your a Andy/Chris Benoit type who dosent care about womens sports then you must of never seen what happened the last time the USA played China in a World Cup when Brandi Chastain turned the WWC into the LFL. Even if its fake football, any time my nation takes on the Pinko Commie Reds I’m going to be drunk, I’m going to be loud, and I’m going to be drunk. Theres the door if your not rooting for the Red White and Blue today.

Head coach Jill Ellis has a couple of candidates to replace her in the lineup, and they have teammates lobbying for them publicly.

This is pretty atypical, especially during a big tournament. Players don’t come out and state their starting lineup preferences very often. And in light of reports that morale is down and Ellis has lost the confidence of a good chunk of the roster, it’s a bit worrying that veteran players would be so outspoken about lineup choices.