The United States Women's Soccer Team Loses in Final Game
On March 7, in Washington, D.C., at RFK Stadium, the U.S. Women's National Soccer team faced off against France for the last game of the She Believes Cup. With the American's tournament record going into the game being 1-1 compared to France's 1-0-1, with the heartbreaking and surprising loss to England, many were nervous about how the women would perform.
The U.S. started in an offensive 3-5-2 formation, while the French ladies played a very attacking 4-3-3; because of France's attacking formation and the American's lack of defense, the French were able to score twice on the U.S. within the first ten minutes and again later at the 63-minute mark.
This huge loss to France has raised many doubts and concerns from the U.S. fans. One doubt raised was about the current formation, with only three defenders on the field, hindering defense against teams that attack quickly, which was experienced while playing France.
Another major doubt involved the head coach Jill Ellis. While Ellis coached the U.S. to a 22-0-3 record in 2016 as well as a World Cup win in 2015, there have been some controversies relating to her decisions on the formations and starting lineups of the team. For example, in the game against France, Ellis had the team play in a 3-5-2 formation and had one of the defenders that is normally a starter play while the rest of the line were not starters. To make the situation worse, Allie Long, the team's midfielder, was put in center back even though she has never played that position. Failed plays like this make the future uncertain for the current head coach.
The team will now prepare for upcoming games in April and will attempt to qualify for the next Women's World Cup in the summer of 2019, which is being hosted by France.
