What the USWNT needs to advance to the quarter-finals at Tokyo 2020
The United States women’s national team will face Australia in the last game of the group stage and they are anxious to book their ticket to the next round.
The United States women’s national team made a solid statement over the weekend after defeating New Zealand 6-1 on matchday 2 of Group G at the Tokyo Olympics. They faced a lot of criticism after losing 3-0 in their Olympic debut against Sweden and many were doubting if they could take the gold medal after looking so lost and confused.
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One game at the time for Team USA
After obtaining their first three points of the campaign, the USWNT player Rose Lavelle said it was a ‘blessing’ and a reality check to lose against Sweden in the opening match and lost their 44-game unbeaten streak. They learned from their mistakes and they came out stronger from the match against Sweden.
"I think that first game we knew that one of the things we pride ourselves in [mentality] was very lacking," Lavelle said on Monday during a press conference. "I think we feel like although the loss obviously sucks, it is a bit of a blessing in disguise to get the loss early on in the tournament and we know we have no room for error.”
Next up for Team USA is Australia for the last game of the group stage and a win will secure a spot in the quarter-finals of the campaign. A a tie against Australia will give also the USWNT the ticket to the next round and advance in second place. So there are two outcomes that favor the United States who are in search of the gold medal after winning the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup.