The United States Women’s National Team entered its second game of group play in the 2023 Women’s World Cup on a 13-game winning streak. The Americans entered the tournament seeking their third straight title. The USNWT has rarely been pushed to the brink during their recent run of success, but a matchup with Netherlands, the 2019 runner-up, suddenly put the team on upset alert.
Lindsey Horan got revenge for tackle with vicious header to earn USWNT draw vs. Netherlands
Lindsey Horan scored the ultimate ‘ball don’t lie’ goal for USWNT to draw Netherlands
Photo by Robin Alam/USSF/Getty Images
Ricky O'Donnell has covered basketball at all levels for more than a decade at SB Nation. He’s currently the Associate Director of Programming.
Netherlands took a 1-0 lead in the 17th minute when Jill Roord buried a shot in the back of the net. The Americans went into halftime trailing, as Netherlands dominated the possession battle and took advantage of their best chance.
The pressure on USNWT was palpable coming out of the locker room, and the intensity got ratcheted up another level when midfielder Lindsey Horan went taken down on a dangerous tackle from Daniëlle van de Donk, her teammate on Lyon. Somehow, van de Donk didn’t get a card for the play, but it still benefitted the Americans: from then on, Horan went hulk mode.
Minutes later, Horan hammered home Rose Lavelle’s corner kick for the equalizer. Netherlands made Horan angry, and that was their biggest mistake.
Netherlands had one more quality scoring chance, the U.S. defense slid in for the save before it reached the net. The game settled in a draw. The 13-game winning streak for the program is over, but it could have been so much worse.
Here’s another look at the slide by van de Donk that took down Horan just before the goal. This was truly a “ball don’t lie” moment — it probably should be a card on Netherlands, but the U.S. responded with a goal anyway.
When the two got into it again in the box before the corner kick, the refs tried to make them forgive each other on the pitch. You can see Horan having none of it.
The two club teammates would eventually embrace after the game. That’s what competition is all about.
The U.S. can thank Horan, a Colorado native, for saving them from a rare loss. They can also thank Netherlands for giving her some extra motivation to right an officiating wrong.
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