Holland v USA

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Holland v USA

US Women's Juggernaut Claims Record Fourth TItle

by Jeremy Ruane

The women's footballing juggernaut which is Team USA claimed a record fourth FIFA Women's World Cup on July 7, with 57,900 fans and a worldwide TV audience of millions seeing them overcome Holland 2-0 at the Stade de Lyon to clinch back-to-back titles.

A lively opening saw the reigning world champions first threaten in the sixth minute. Abby Dahlkemper sent the ball forward for Tobin Heath to chase, the pacy winger beating the ball to the by-line and whipping in a cross which ran through to Megan Rapinoe.

The soon-to-be winner of this tournament's Golden Ball award as Player of the Tournament skipped past Desiree Van Lunteren to the by-line, from where she, too, pulled the ball back, only for Anouk Dekker - she had a terrific game - to hook the ball clear.

Urged on by their "Orange Army", whose support has been one of the highlights of an outstanding tournament, the Dutch retorted six minutes later. Danielle Van de Donk's through ball sought out the surging diagonal run of Lineth Beerensteyn, but Alyssa Naeher dashed out to foil the striker, saving at the feet of defender Becky Sauerbrunn in the process.

The USA retorted via a Rapinoe corner, which picked out the unmarked figure of Heath in the sixteenth minute. She headed the ball towards Kelley O'Hara, who was bundled over in the area by Van de Donk as the midfielder looked to avert the danger.

The ball broke to Rose Lavelle, who scooted to the by-line and whipped in a low cross intended for Alex Morgan to convert. Sari Van Veenendaal saved solidly at her near post, the first of a number of interventions the 'keeper would perform to keep the Dutch in contention.

A further ten minutes elapsed before the next threat on goal materialised, Naeher forced to dash out of her area and clear off the toes of the fast-approaching figure of Beerensteyn as she chased a through ball from Vivianne Miedema, who was playing in a deep-lying role in this match and on this occasion, pounced on a Lavelle error to engineer the opening.

Van Veenendaal's first crucial save materialised in the 27th minute. A Rapinoe corner was flicked on by Julie Ertz - the USA's best-performed player in the final - who saw the ball rebound off a defender back towards her. The midfielder swiftly swiveled and unleashed a ferocious volley which Holland's goalkeeper matched with a fine reflex save to her left.

Another lull in the attacking exchanges followed before the final ten minutes of the half saw mayhem ensue at both ends of the park. Dahlkemper got away with a blunder inside her own penalty area in the 36th minute before launching a counter-attack which resulted in Morgan going down under Dominique Bloodworth's challenge in the area.

French referee Stephanie Frappart ignored the USA's penalty claims, but the title-holders were already preparing their next threat on Holland's goal. Following a Heath corner, Rapinoe's cross found Sam Mewis flying through the crowded goalmouth, only for the midfielder to see her header ricochet off Van Veenendaal.

Rapinoe latched onto the ball again, this time crossing to the near post, where Morgan did well to get in front of her markers and direct a first-time shot towards the target. Van Veenendaal eventually saved it, but only after the ball had struck her near post.

Five minutes before half-time, Ertz fed Morgan, who engineered space on the edge of the penalty area to turn and unleash a fiercely struck drive which Van Veenendaal saved superbly, low by the foot of her left-hand post.

Soon afterwards, Lavelle was fouled just outside the penalty area, an incident referee Frappart ignored, unlike one just outside the USA's penalty area seconds later, for which Dahlkemper earned a yellow card for a foul on Beerensteyn. Sherida Spitse was unable to take advantage via the resulting free-kick.

On the stroke of half-time, following a clash of heads which left Lieke Martens and O'Hara requiring treatment - the latter didn't appear for the second half, a driving run by Miedema culminated in a cross which was partially cleared by Sauerbrunn. Spitse was first to react, but saw her shot deflected over the bar for a corner.

Spitse's set-piece deliveries have been a feature of this tournament, and this corner was no exception, causing the US defence a few moments of concern as they failed to clear the sphere. Van de Donk added to the mayhem by shrugging off a challenge on the by-line then driving in a cross which was ultimately cleared by Lavelle.

The fact the USA had failed to score in the first half was something of a triumph for the Dutch, as in their six previous matches at this tournament, the title-holders had netted inside the opening twelve minutes.

It wasn't to be on this occasion, but they wasted little time in outlining their attacking intent in the second spell, with Ertz heading a Rapinoe corner past the post inside the opening sixty seconds of the half.

The USA were livid with referee Frappart seven minutes later after the official ignored a clash of heads between Van de Donk and Sauerbrunn which left the defender bleeding from a cut above the eye and in need of treatment plus a rather eye-catching head bandage.

Frappart again came under fire in the 58th minute, awarding a corner when it was clear to all and sundry that Stefanie Van der Gragt had fouled Morgan in the penalty area via a high boot.

The Video Assistant Referee swiftly intervened to point out to the official the reality of the situation, and a penalty was soon awarded, along with a yellow card for the offender. Up stepped Rapinoe, who made no mistake from twelve yards to give the USA a 61st minute lead.

Holland pressed for an equaliser, Dekker releasing Miedema on a swashbuckling run which saw her take on and beat three defenders before Ertz proved to be one challenge too many for the Dutch striker to overcome.

The game was up for the Dutch in the 69th minute. Van de Donk was thwarted by a crunching tackle from Crystal Dunn - another fine performance from the fullback - with the ball breaking kindly for Lavelle.

She set sail downfield from the edge of the centre circle and didn't stop running until she'd side-stepped Van de Gragt's challenge and lashed the ball home beyond Van Veenendaal into the bottom far corner from the edge of the area - 2-0.

The Dutch were still reeling from this blow when Rapinoe threaded a pass through for Heath, who later squandered two glorious opportunities to bolster the USA's lead through over-indulgent play.

On this occasion, Spitse blocked her shot, seconds before Van Veenendaal produced a fine save at the feet of the charging figure of Morgan, who needed to score to prevent Rapinoe from finishing ahead of her on the Golden Boot charts on a countback - the player who turned 34 two days ago had joined Morgan and England's Ellen White on six goals with her successful penalty in the final.

A fine blocking save by Van Veenendaal foiled Dunn fifteen minutes from time, after the fullback released Rapinoe on the left and raced forward in search of a return pass, which duly materialised.

That sparked a Dutch response, with Beerensteyn bursting through a couple of challenges before drilling a shot at Naeher, who looked on as Spitse's thirty yard free-kick swerved narrowly past her right-hand post ten minutes from time.

After Morgan had shot straight at Van Veenendaal, and Dutch substitute Jill Roord had lashed one past the near post as her team sought a late goal, the in-full-flight figure of Christen Press was foiled by a fine tackle from Bloodworth as the game entered stoppage time.

During the remaining minutes, Morgan thundered a shot past the far post after Van de Gragt had blocked a shot from Carli Lloyd, whose last act on the FIFA Women's World Cup Finals stage was to lift aloft women's football's most coveted trophy once again.

Rapinoe took out the individual honours, claiming both the Golden Ball - as Player of the Tournament - and Golden Boot awards, while Van Veenendaal's efforts were rightly recognised by the Golden Glove award.

Germany's Giulia Gwinn was named Young Player of the Tournament, while host nation France took home the Fair Play award at the end of an event which attracted 1,131,342 fans through the turnstiles at the nine venues, where many memorable moments were witnessed across the 52 matches which took place at this quadrennial celebration of the women's game - France 2019 has been a resounding success!

Team USA: Naeher; O'Hara (Krieger, 46), Dahlkemper (booked, 41), Sauerbrunn, Dunn; Mewis, Ertz, Lavelle; Heath (Lloyd, 87), Morgan, Rapinoe (Press, 79)

Holland: Van Veenendaal; Van Lunteren, Dekker (Van de Sanden, 73), Van de Gragt (booked, 60), Bloodworth; Groenen, Van de Donk, Spitse (booked, 10); Beerensteyn, Miedema, Martens (Roord, 70)

Referee: Stephanie Frappart (France)

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