France v USA

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France v USA

Holders End Hosts' Hopes Of World Cup Glory

by Jeremy Ruane

Team USA's remarkable record of reaching the final four in every single FIFA Women's World Cup Finals tournament continued unabated on June 28, as they saw off host nation France 2-1 in an enthralling quarter-final watched by 45,595 fans at Paris' Parc des Princes to close to within two matches of successive triumphs in the competition.

The USA got off to a flying start, Megan Rapinoe leading the charge, with Julie Ertz firing the first shot in anger just 55 seconds into the contest. Sarah Bouhaddi saved this effort to her right, but was beaten four minutes later as the reigning world champions opened the scoring.

Griedge Mbock Bathy fouled Alex Morgan on the left-hand side of the penalty area, from where Rapinoe rifled in a free-kick towards a crowded near post area. The ball careered through the legs of Amandine Henry and flashed past Bouhaddi into the far corner of the net - 1-0, the perfect start from Team USA's perspective.

France, understandably, were rocked by this early blow, but soon got into their stride, with Marion Torrent and Kadidiatou Diani teaming up down the right in the thirteenth minute.

Diani got to the byline before delivering a cross which was headed away by Becky Sauerbrunn, but only as far as Gaetane Thiney. She fed the overlapping Amel Majri, whose cross picked out the head of Eugenie Le Sommer.

Alyssa Naeher was little troubled by her header, and launched a counter-attack which saw Rapinoe team up with Morgan, whose shot was smothered by Bouhaddi, who dashed out of her penalty area to thwart Rapinoe two minutes later, this after Sauerbrunn had thwarted Valerie Gauvin's attempt to execute a shot on the turn, following good work by Thiney and Majri on the left.

Thiney and Amandine Henry both attempted shots from distance in the eighteenth minute - neither troubled Naeher, who was afforded an armchair ride by a rock-solid USA defensive effort in which Crystal Dunn was outstanding - her duel with Diani was easily the individual match-up of the contest.

The fullback wasn't alone, with Ertz right behind her team-mate in breaking up promising French raids, while the US offside trap went like clockwork, foiling many a French attack, thus frustrating the host nation, who were struggling to penetrate their opponents and get equalising efforts on target.

It took over half-an-hour for France to earn a corner, with Henry heading the second of them - delivered by Thiney - past the upright in the 32nd minute. Later in the half, Diani headed wide on receipt of a Majri cross, but not before Dunn had stung the gloves of Bouhaddi on a rare US counter-attack in the 43rd minute.

Right on half-time, a Rose Lavelle interception and surge infield presented Sam Mewis with a shooting chance. Bouhaddi grabbed her twenty-five yarder, and parried away her next attempt, struck just ten seconds into the second half, before recovering to foil Tobin Heath's bid to turn home the rebound by the base of the upright.

The USA continued their pursuit of an early second half goal to match that scored in the first spell. The corner resulting from Bouhaddi's double save saw Heath pick out Morgan with her delivery, only for Henry to block the shot. Then Rapinoe delivered a corner right into the danger zone which saw Dunn denied a shot on the turn by Torrent's timely tackle, allowing France to scramble the ball to safety.

France soon regained the ascendancy, and this time offered more of a cutting edge to their play. Henry saw two long-range efforts blocked within seconds of each other in the 52nd minute, the second of which resulted in a Thiney corner which Le Sommer headed past the post.

Diani and Dunn continued their duel unabated, with the French player foiled by another super tackle from the fullback in the 58th minute. The ball rolled into the stride of Torrent, whose cross to the far post found Gauvin rising to meet the delivery, in company with Naeher.

Both were beaten by the flight of the ball, forcing Kelley O'Hara to head it away, but only as far as Le Sommer, who slammed a shot into the side-netting. Seconds later, Thiney's delicious defence-splitting pass presented Diani with an opportunity to exploit, but once more Dunn intervened - she was having a whale of a game.

After Naeher had grabbed a Gauvin header from Le Sommer's cross, Team USA hit France on the counter-attack with a 65th minute goal which stunned the natives. Heath and Morgan worked a one-two on the right which culminated in the talented winger rolling a tantalising cross in behind Mewis' near post run, but straight into the stride of Rapinoe, who swept the ball past Bouhaddi to double the holders' advantage.

It was a blow from which "Les Bleus" took a fair while to recover, and by the time they did, they could have been three goals down - only the offside flag prevented Heath from adding her name to the scoresheet after Dunn, who supplied the cross, had strayed marginally beyond the last defender when released down the left by Morgan.

That prompted the French to mount a full-on assault upon the American goal, with Naeher denying Henry's twenty yard snapshot before the goalkeeper tipped a looping Le Sommer effort over the bar after Thiney and substitute Delphine Cascarino had combined on the right in the 79th minute.

The resulting corner was cleared, at the expense of a free-kick. Thiney whipped in a sumptuous delivery which Wendie Renard rose to meet six yards out from goal, a range from which she is nigh on unstoppable where heading goals is concerned - 2-1.

That set up a grandstand finish, but sadly for France, they had just one more chance to draw level. Majri worked an opening on the left before drilling a cross against the arm of O'Hara, an incident which Ukrainian referee Kateryna Monzul emphatically deemed unworthy of the penalty claims being made.

After this, Team USA managed the balance of the contest splendidly, with Morgan and Heath in possession following a free-kick near the French left-hand corner flag when the final whistle sounded to end French hopes of both Women's World Cup glory and qualifying for the 2020 Olympic Women's Football Tournament.

For France, it also means another event at which their potential has been unfulfilled, fourth placings at both Germany 2011 and the 2012 Olympics their best efforts in a decade which has also seen them reach the quarter-finals of three UEFA Women's Championships (2009, 2013, 2017), the 2016 Olympics and Canada 2015, as well as this tournament.

In contrast to the "nearly but not quite" team of the women's game, the reigning world champions will go again on July 2, England the last obstacle standing between Team USA and a third successive FIFA Women's World Cup Final, a feat no nation has achieved before.

Team USA: Naeher; O'Hara, Dahlkemper, Sauerbrunn, Dunn; Lavelle (Horan, 63), Ertz, Mewis (Lloyd, 82); Heath, Morgan, Rapinoe (Press, 87)

France: Bouhaddi; Torrent, Mbock Bathy (booked, 4), Renard, Majri; Thiney, Henry, Bussaglia (booked, 90); Diani, Gauvin (Cascarino, 76), Le Sommer (Asseyi, 82)

Referee: Kateryna Monzul (Ukraine)

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