NBC's coverage of the match was excellent, as is all of their coverage of the Olympics. NBC is heavily promoting the Olympic Games and for the past week has been airing the Olympic trials, the USWNT match is encompassed in this effort. Arlo White and Kyle Martino provided analyses and play-by-play coverage. They conducted a pre-game interview with Alex Morgan and a half-time interview with Megan Rapinoe, which is something new to the coverage of USWNT matches. They were knowledgeable and added insight for the viewers. White and Martino relayed a conversation they had with head coach Pia Sundhage, in which she said the starting line-up against Canada is the team's best line-up.
The starters of the match were: Solo; LePeilbet; Rampone (c); Buehler; O'Hara; Rapinoe; Boxx; Cheney; Heath; Morgan; Wambach
This starting line-up is interesting because of the recent changes in the midfield. Lauren Cheney has replaced Carli Lloyd, Rapinoe has replaced Heather O'Reilly, and with Cheney moving to the center, Tobin Heath has moved into that spot. White and Martino indicated that this would be the starting line-up in London. I really like Cheney in the middle, but I would like to see O'Reilly keep her starting spot.
The play between the U.S. and Canada was very physical. There were multiple times USWNT players went down in the box and nothing was called. Also, O'Hara and Boxx picked up a yellow yard within a minute of each other. O'Hara had a high challenge on a Canadian player and kicked her in the thigh. A few seconds later, Christine Sinclair had a late challenge on Christy Rampone, but was not called for the foul. Boxx, about 30 seconds after Sinclair's challenge, committed her own late slide-tackle and was given a yellow card for it. The tough plays did not ease up; in the second half two Canadian players received yellow cards.
The play was physical, but the USWNT looked in control. The connection between the defense, midfield, and forwards was the best it has been in awhile. The U.S. looked to attack right from the beginning and Canada conceded an own goal in the 15th minute of play. Rapinoe controlled the right flank throughout the match. She was taking opponents on and showing her flair to beat them. She did have trouble picking players out on her crosses, so her fancy footwork did not result in any goals. Rapinoe was on target off her free kicks and it is interesting to note that she took all of them instead of Cheney. Wambach missed wide left twice in the first half off of great free kicks from Rapinoe, which is very unlike Wambach.
Hope Solo had a spectacular save at the end of the first half. The ball took a deflection and Solo had to completely change her momentum to get a hand on it. Then she used all her strength to hold onto the ball as a Canadian player had a second attempt on it. She barely kept it off the line. Solo showed why she is the best goalie in the game on that play.
At the start of the half, Carli Lloyd came on for Boxx, Becky Sauerbrunn for Rampone, Heather Mitts for Amy LePeilbett, and O'Reilly for Heath. The second half began with a near disaster; Morgan went down in the 49th minute with a knee injury. She walked off by herself and was later shown on the bench icing her knee. Amy Rodriguez replaced Morgan at forward.She suffered a twist to her knee, so nothing serious and she calmed her fans with a tweet after the game saying she was fine.
The Canadians looked sharper in the second half and were able to maintain possession. The midfield looked flat with the pairing of Cheney and Lloyd and the defense was less organized without Rampone. This led to Canada equalizing in the 57th minute. A ball was passed behind Mitts, Melissa Tancredi rocketed a shot that hit the inside of the crossbar and bounced down into the goal.
The U.S. had a few good chances in the second half that were just off. Rapinoe sent a ball low and hard from the left side of the field that Wambach tried to slightly touch to the far post. She nearly missed it and the ball went across the face of the goal untouched. Later in the 71st minute, O'Reilly kicked a great ball from her position 30 yards out and near the right sideline. Wambach was on the back post, but the keeper did well to grab it out of the air.
The U.S. put the pressure on in the final 15 minutes of the match. Sydney Leroux came on for O'Hara, changing the formation from a 4-4-2 to a 3-4-3. The extra forward worked and the U.S. got the game-winning goal in the 85th minute. There was a scramble in front of the net, with the ball taking multiple deflections. Somehow the ball ended up in front of Rodriguez and she nailed it home. The USWNT paid homage to the last game that was played in Utah, in which the field was covered in snow. They ran to the corner and made "snow angels" on the ground.
Photo credit: John Todd/isiphoto.com from ussoccer.com
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