Allez, allez, Alex! Vous êtes parfait
Looks like the IOC have shut down any official highlights and we can only rely on shaky handcams and cell phones to follow the progress of the US women’s team. The long and short of it. The USA faced an uphill climb after a very good French side took a 2-0 lead within the first 15 minutes. France’s high octane attack delivered when Gaetane Thiney’s 20 yard sizzler beat Hope Solo and minutes later, Marie Laure- Delie took advantage of some sloppy defending to send the ball crashing past Solo again. A double against an unhappy Solo.
This is the US women’s team which means you can never count them out. And right on cue, they clawed their way back as Abby Wambach scored from what else, a header. She’s an absolute beast in the air, isn’t she? Then it was poster girl, Alex Morgan taking advantage of a slow reacting defense to chase down Solo’s long ball and loft it over the head of Sarah Bouhaddi. In the second half, Carli Lloyd lined up and smacked the ball with plenty of pace and movement as the USA finally took the lead. Morgan added insurance with a simple tap into a wide open goal after Tobin Heath’s cross found Bouhaddi flat on her back.
Next up, Colombia and then North Korea who were victims of a gross faux pas by the organizing committee when they mistakenly put up the South Korean flag. It led to a walkout and a reappraisal of the South’s sunshine policy.
Here is NBC’s report which includes highlights >>