Football Women's World Cup 2015 / United States

This article discusses the Women's United States men's national soccer team at the FIFA World Cup of Women in 2015 in Canada . The US team took part in the World Cup finals for the seventh time and became world champions for the third time. The team qualified as winners of the 2014 CONCACAF Women's Gold Cup without conceding a goal .

qualification

The USA did not have to qualify for the CONCACAF Women's Gold Cup 2014, but were seeded like Mexico.

Group stage

rank	country	Gates	Points
1	United States	12: 0	9
2	Trinidad and Tobago	3: 2	6th
3	Haiti	1: 7	3
4th	Guatemala	1: 8	0

October 15, 2014 in Kansas City
United States	-	Trinidad and Tobago	1: 0 (0: 0)
October 17, 2014 in Bridgeview
United States	-	Guatemala	5: 0 (1: 0)
October 20, 2014 in Washington, DC
Haiti	-	United States	0: 6 (0: 2)

Semifinals

October 24, 2014 in Chester
United States	-	Mexico	3: 0 (2: 0)

With the victory in the semi-finals, the team was already qualified for the World Cup.

final

October 26, 2014 in Chester
Costa Rica	-	United States	0: 6 (0: 4)

In total, coach Jill Ellis used 19 players in the five games, but only Lauren Holiday , Meghan Klingenberg , Sydney Leroux (with 3 substitutions), Carli Lloyd and Megan Rapinoe were used in all five games. The best goalscorers were world record holder Abby Wambach with seven and Carli Lloyd with five goals. In the semi-final against Mexico, Christie Rampone made her 300th international match as the second player in the world after Kristine Lilly .

preparation

The team before the game against England on February 13, 2015

In December, the team took part in a tournament in Brasília for the first time , where they faced World Cup participants Brazil (2: 3 in the group game and 0: 0 in the final), China (1: 1) and Argentina (7: 0). In January 2015 a training camp will take place at the US Soccer's National Training Center in Carson . During the training camp, goalkeeper Hope Solo was suspended for 30 days due to an incident in training, so that she cannot participate in the following friendly matches. On February 8, the test match against World Cup participants France in Lorient was lost 2-0 and thus for the first time a game against the French women counted by the US federation. On February 13, a friendly against World Cup participants England in Milton Keynes was won 1-0, with Alex Morgan scoring her 50th international goal. In March 2015, the team again took part in the traditional Algarve Cup in Portugal and met Iceland (0-0 on March 9) as well as World Cup participants Norway (2-1 on March 4) and Switzerland (3: 0) 0 on March 6th), which took part for the first time. As the second-best group winner, the USA reached the final for the 14th time and won the title for the 10th time on March 11, 2-0 against France, which was the only team to have won all three group games.

Other test matches:

• 0April 4, 2015 against New Zealand in St. Louis 4-0
• May 10, 2015 against Ireland in San José 3-0
• May 18, 2015 against World Cup participants Mexico in Carson 5: 1
• May 30, 2015 against World Cup participants South Korea in Harrison 0-0

The team

Contingent

The squad of 23 players (including three goalkeepers) had to be communicated to the FIFA general secretariat at least ten working days before the opening match, but it was announced on April 14th, making it the first. At the age of 40 and 11 days in the final, Christie Rampone was the oldest participant. She was able to beat the previous age record of the Brazilian Meg , who was used in 1995 at the age of 39 years and 5 months. She is also the first player with more than 300 international matches to take part in a World Cup. The USA also had the oldest squad with an average age of 29.4 years and the players had played an average of 103.5 international matches before the World Cup.

No.	Player	birth date	society	Country games	Country goals	World Cup games	Last use	World Cup 2015
								Sp.	Gates
goal
18th	Ashlyn Harris	October 19, 1985	Washington Spirit	006th	000	00	02/13/2015	0	0	0	0	0
21st	Alyssa Naeher	04/20/1988	Boston Breakers	001	000	00	December 18, 2014	0	0	0	0	0
1	Hope Solo	07/30/1981	Seattle Reign FC	177	000	10 (2007 and 2011)	07/05/2015	7th	0	0	0	0
Defense
16	Lori Chalupny	01/29/1984	Chicago Red Stars	103	010	06 (2007)	05/30/2015	1	0	0	0	0
6th	Whitney Engen	11/28/1987	Western New York Flash	026th	003	00	05/18/2015	0	0	0	0	0
19th	Julie Johnston	04/06/1992	Chicago Red Stars	019th	003	00	07/05/2015	7th	0	1	0	0
22nd	Meghan Klingenberg	08/02/1988	Houston Dash	041	002	00	07/05/2015	7th	0	0	0	0
11	Alexandra Krieger	07/28/1984	Washington Spirit	073	001	06 (2011)	07/05/2015	7th	0	0	0	0
5	Kelley O'Hara	08/04/1988	Sky Blue FC	063	001	01 (2011)	07/05/2015	3	1	0	0	0
3	Christie Rampone	06/24/1975	Sky Blue FC	308	004th	17 (1999, 2003, 2007 and 2011)	07/05/2015	2	0	0	0	0
4th	Becky Sauerbrunn	06/06/1985	Kansas City FC	088	000	01 (2011)	07/05/2015	7th	0	1	0	0
midfield
7th	Shannon Boxx	06/29/1977	Chicago Red Stars	191	027	15 (2003, 2007 and 2011)	06/16/2015	1	0	0	0	0
14th	Morgan Brian	02/26/1993	Houston Dash	035	004th	00	07/05/2015	6th	0	0	0	0
17th	Tobin Heath	05/29/1988	Portland Thorns FC	098	012	04 (2011)	07/05/2015	6th	1	0	0	0
12	Lauren Holiday	09/30/1987	Kansas City FC	130	024	06 (2011)	07/05/2015	6th	1	2	0	0
10	Carli Lloyd	07/16/1982	Houston Dash	202	069	11 (2007 and 2011)	07/05/2015	7th	6th	0	0	0
9	Heather O'Reilly	01/02/1985	Kansas City FC	220	041	11 (2007 and 2011)	06/26/2015	1	0	0	0	0
15th	Megan Rapinoe	07/05/1985	Seattle Reign FC	108	031	06 (2011)	07/05/2015	6th	2	2	0	0
attack
2	Sydney Leroux	05/07/1990	Western New York Flash	075	035	00	06/30/2015	4th	0	0	0	0
13	Alex Morgan	07/02/1989	Portland Thorns FC	091	052	05 (2011)	07/05/2015	7th	1	0	0	0
23	Christians Press	December 29, 1988	Chicago Red Stars	049	021st	00	06/26/2015	4th	1	0	0	0
8th	Amy Rodriguez	02/17/1987	Kansas City FC	125	029	05 (2011)	06/26/2015	2	0	0	0	0
20th	Abby Wambach	06/02/1980	Seattle Reign FC	249	183	18 (2003, 2007 and 2011)	07/05/2015	7th	0	0	0	0
Coaching staff
Head coach	Jill Ellis	09.09.1966	United States Soccer Federation	0	0	0		7th		0	0	0

1. ↑ Numbers, appearances and goals according to the FIFA squad list (published on May 28, 2015)
2. ↑ As of April 28, 2015
3. ↑ ^{a b} Status: July 5th, 2015 after the last game against Japan
4. ↑ Status before the World Cup
5. ↑ Since Rampone was not in the starting line-up in any game, the team was led onto the field by either Abby Wambach (3 ×) or Carli Lloyd (4 ×).

Games at the World Cup

Vancouver (VR / F) Winnipeg Edmonton (AF) Ottawa (VF) Montreal (HF)

Venues

When the groups were drawn, the USA were seeded and were designated as the group head of group D.

Lost the course were Australia , Sweden and African champions Nigeria . There were previously 24 games against Australia, 22 of which were won and two ended in a draw. There were 35 games against Sweden up to the World Cup, 20 of which were won, 9 ended in a draw (with a loss on penalties ) and six were lost. There were four previous games against Nigeria and they were all won. This was Sweden's fifth opponent in the preliminary round of the World Cup, there were no more pairings and there have also been three preliminary round games against Nigeria.

The group was considered the strongest of the World Cup; it is the only one with four teams who have reached at least the semi-finals in their last continental title bouts. In the FIFA world rankings before the World Cup, the USA is in 2nd place, Sweden in 5th place, Australia in 10th place and Nigeria in 33rd place; Group cut = 12.5.

The two preliminary round venues are located near the border between the USA and Canada, so that many US citizens came to the games and the three preliminary round games in the USA were the most popular games alongside the host's games.

The USA started with luck in the first group match against brisk Australians, because in the 12th minute a shot by Megan Rapinoe was deflected so badly for the Australian goalkeeper that she had no chance to prevent the goal. However, this gate did not bring the hoped-for security. Australia equalized 15 minutes later and then continued to put pressure on the US girls, who were able to thank Hope Solo for not falling behind. In the second half the Australians got weaker and the US girls used their routine to win the game. In the second game against the Swedes trained by their ex-trainer Pia Sundhage , it became apparent that the two teams knew each other well and so they largely neutralized each other. In the end there was a goalless draw. Abby Wambach , the world's best goalscorer, secured a 1-0 victory against Nigeria with her 183rd international goal. Noteworthy was the substitution of Christie Rampone , the first player to appear at a World Cup with over 300 international matches and who set a new age record 8 days before her 40th birthday.

In the round of 16, the USA met Colombia as group winners on June 22, 2015 in Edmonton . There were only two games against the Colombians before - in the preliminary round of the last World Cup and in the preliminary round of the last Olympic Games - and both were won 3-0. The US girls started briskly and put the South American goal under pressure early on, but were unsuccessful at first and then the game flattened out. In the second half, however, after an emergency brake from the Colombian substitute goalkeeper - the regular goalkeeper was banned because of the second yellow card - they received a penalty and the goalkeeper the red card . Abby Wambach then missed against the substitute third goalkeeper . Alex Morgan , who found her form again after a long injury break, and Carli Lloyd on the second penalty did better . With a robust defensive performance, the 2-0 was then defended, although it was accepted that Megan Rapinoe and Lauren Holiday are banned for the quarter-finals after second yellow cards.

Starting grid in the final

There the opponent in Ottawa was China . China and the USA have met 53 times before, most often as teams from two continents. With 32 wins, 13 draws - including one won in the 1999 World Cup final on penalties - and eight defeats, the record spoke for the USA. The USA won just 1-0, making them one of the four best teams in the world as in all previous World Cup tournaments and meeting Germany for the third time in the semi-finals in Montreal . There were no semi-final pairings more often. Both had previously won once, and the USA had won the quarter-finals against Germany in 1999. The USA is the only team to have a positive record against Germany: in 31 games they had 20 wins, seven draws and four defeats. The USA also prevailed in the 32nd meeting. In a competitive game, the USA were the determining team, especially in the first half, but missed a number of chances or failed because of Nadine Angerer . In the second half the game became more balanced and in the urgent phase of the Germans the USA were lucky twice: First, the otherwise safe shooter Célia Šašić set a penalty next to the goal and then the referee Teodora Albon gave the USA a penalty for a foul on the edge of the penalty area the Carli Lloyd turned safely. When the Germans pressed for the equalizer, Kelley O'Hara managed the 2-0 final score with her first international goal. This is the fourth time that the USA are in the final as the first team and meet defending champions Japan, which leads to the 2011 final. After the 2011 final, there had been four games between the two, with two wins for the US, including a 2-1 win in the 2012 Olympics final , a draw and a win for Japan. Both had scored nine goals on the way to the final - only Sweden reached the final in 2003 with only nine goals.

The final was almost decided after a quarter of an hour, because the USA scored the fastest four goals in a World Cup final. The Japanese made it 1: 4 before the break and 2: 4 after the break with an own goal by the US girls, but two minutes later the final score was 5: 2. Towards the end, Jill Ellis also switched on Abby Wambach and Christie Rampone , who was the first player to play with over 40 years of age. The USA became world champions for the third time thanks to the successful final victory and provided with Carli Lloyd, who scored three goals in the final, the best player and second best goalscorer and with Hope Solo the best goalkeeper of the tournament.

Group games

Pl.	country	Sp.	S.	U	N	Gates	Diff.	Points
1.	United States	3	2	1	0	004: 100	+3	07th
2.	Australia	3	1	1	1	004: 400	± 0	04th
3.	Sweden	3	0	3	0	004: 400	± 0	03
4th	Nigeria	3	0	1	2	003: 600	−3	01

Mon., June 8, 2015, in Winnipeg
United States	-	Australia	3: 1 (1: 1)
Fri June 12, 2015 in Winnipeg
United States	-	Sweden	0-0
Tue., June 16, 2015, in Vancouver
Nigeria	-	United States	0: 1 (0: 1)

Knockout round

Round of 16 Mon. June 22, 2015 in Edmonton
United States	-	Colombia	2: 0 (0: 0)
Quarterfinals on Friday, June 26, 2015 in Ottawa
China	-	United States	0: 1 (0: 0)
Semi-finals, June 30, 2015 in Montreal
United States	-	Germany	2: 0 (0: 0)
Finale, Sun. July 5, 2015 in Vancouver
United States	-	Japan	5: 2 (4: 1)

Awards

• Golden Ball: Carli Lloyd
• Silver shoe: Carli Lloyd
• Golden glove: Hope Solo
• Julie Johnston , Meghan Klingenberg , Carli Lloyd, Megan Rapinoe and Hope Solo have been nominated for the All-Star Team .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ussoccer.com: "Hope Solo Suspended from the US WNT for 30 Days"
2. ↑ ussoccer.com: "WNT Caps Off European Trip with 1-0 Victory against England"
3. ↑ ussoccer.com: Matches
4. ↑ fifa.com: "Regulations FIFA Women's World Cup Canada 2015 ™"
5. ↑ ussoccer.com: "Ellis Names US Roster for 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup Team"
6. ↑ framba.de: "Women's World Cup 2015: group draw degenerates into a farce" ( Memento of the original from December 9, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 

Web links

• CONCACAF Women's Gold Cup 2014