One doesn’t need to be an avid watcher of women’s soccer to know one thing. The US is pretty good at it. They always have been. Possibly always will be. However, their greatness may always be skewed by the level of competition that they regularly face off against. That’s due to the CONCACAF region being a joke on the men’s side of the game. It’s also an even bigger clown show on the women’s side of the aisle.
Last time the US faced off against truly quality competition was at the beginning of the year. They traveled to Europe to face off against France and Spain. It resulted in the three-time world champions losing 3-1 and scraping a 1-0 win respectively. These matches were friendlies and obviously mean nothing in the grand scheme of things. But those results bare some alarming question marks ahead of not only the knockout rounds of the World Cup, but for the last match of the group stage.
On the face of things, Sweden should be a walk in the park. Relying on two late goals to top Chile and only beating Thailand 5-1 in comparison to the 13-0 drubbing that the US put on them. Sweden doesn’t have the numbers that the US have in the group stages. However, the Scandanavian side are nothing to be toyed with, especially given the recent history between the two sides.
Sweden was the team that knocked the US women out of the 2016 Olympic Games after a penalty shootout. It prompted then-starting goalkeeper, Hope Solo, to call the Swedes “cowards”. While the typical Swedish style of play may not be as pleasing to the eye as Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City or Jill Ellis’ US side, their style of play, which is emulated on both the men’s and women’s side, it’s effective. They never failed to qualify for the World Cup. They’re always around in the later stages and their equals made the quarterfinals of the 2018 edition of the Men’s World Cup.
This is not saying that Sweden will come out and beat the US. Far from it. It will be refreshing to see the US women come up against a team of some real quality. That being said, it wouldn’t be surprising to see this one come out as one of those boring, top-of-the-group 0-0 draws that seem to accompany every World Cup. Regardless, the US will finally go up against a top-level team in a meaningful match.
