USA vs. Australia, World Cup 2015: Megan Rapinoe the USWNT hero in win

That score flatters to deceive, as U.S. wins regularly do, because the Americans were genuinely bad for vast swaths of time in this match. They were outplayed in midfield, roasted down the flanks and had no idea how to attack. They created two chances in the second half and took both of them, because that’s what they do over and over again against solid second-tier teams like Australia. They won’t be playing second-tier teams forever.

We have over a year’s worth of evidence to suggest that she either doesn’t see the problem or doesn’t know how to fix it. Here’s to hoping something has changed.

The match got off to a shaky start for the United States. Australia pushed up aggressively and continuously got untracked runs on counter-attacks against the U.S. defense thanks to the American midfielders still being too high up the pitch to help out. Australia showed none of the nerves that many expected them to display against one of the best women’s teams in the world, taking the game to them instead of sitting back and waiting to counter.

Of course, the USWNT is one of the world’s best for a reason, and one of those reasons is Rapinoe. Some fancy footwork on the ball saw Rapinoe work her way through part of the Australia defense outside the box before she found the angle she wanted to shoot, uncurling a shot that deflected off an Australian player before banking into the goal. Rapinoe created the goal out of almost nothing -- one of her specialties -- and that crucial strike helped take some of the pressure off the U.S.

Once again, the United States enters the Women’s World Cup as one of the favorites, but not the top favorite. That distinction goes to Germany, winner of as many World Cups as the U.S., and 10-0 victors on Sunday. The USWNT has to prove they’re still the class of the women’s game, and they could take a huge step with a convincing win over Australia on Monday.

While the Matildas have never defeated the USWNT, they have managed to annoy them on a few occasions. This isn’t a walkover game for the U.S., and while they’ll expect to win, Australia will come into this game thinking they’re capable of grabbing a point.