The USWNT will play against Australia for bronze

The United States wanted to be the first team in history to win gold at the Olympics following their 2019 Women’s World Cup victory, but they fell short after losing to Canada 1-0 in the semi-final. Now the USWNT will have to settle for the bronze medal, but in order to do that they need to defeat Australia on Thursday.

Difficult tournament for the USWNT

Since Vlatko Andonovski took over the USWNT managerial job the team has been on a downwards trajectory. He didn't freshen up the roster and called up 17 veteran players for the Olympic Games that won the 2019 World Cup and only called one rookie in the 18-women roster. Adonovski’s new system never quite worked.

During their warm-up games prior to the start of the Olympics, the US women struggled to keep that 44-game unbeaten streak going and that eventually came to an end in the opening competitive match against Sweden. During the group stage they looked confused and had one win in three round-robin games in Group G.

“I don't know,” Carli Lloyd said. “I don't know at this moment. I don't know.” An answer that reflects the team’s results in this tournament as they only managed to win one out of five games in regulation time.

This will be the second time the United States has faced Australia at the 2020 Olympic campaign after a scoreless draw in the last game of the group stage back on 27 July. The Matildas lost to Sweden 1-0 on Thursday in their own semi-final and they are also eager to win the bronze medal to end the tournament.