Back From the Edge, U.S. Tries to Focus on What Comes Next

From the place she stood, the ball seemed to be headed straight into the objective, and Megan Rapinoe cursed loudly in her head.

“My whole international career is over,” she stated she thought as a shot by Portugal whistled towards the United States’ web within the last minutes on Tuesday, threatening to finish Rapinoe’s last Women’s World Cup.

Neither staff had scored but. The tie that loomed would imply the United States would advance to the following spherical. A loss would ship the Americans packing their baggage in what would have been the most important upset in Women’s World Cup historical past.

And so Rapinoe swore because the shot delivered by Portugal ahead Ana Capeta headed towards the objective, watching wide-eyed with gamers on either side because it veered only a smidgen too far to the correct. The ball hit the correct publish after which, to the reduction of Rapinoe and her staff, caromed off it and away from the objective.

“Girl,” Rapinoe stated with a nervous chuckle, “that was stressful.”

A couple of minutes later the sport ended, nonetheless caught in a 0-0 tie that meant the United States had completed second to the Netherlands in Group E. Now it’s off to the spherical of 16 in Melbourne, Australia, the place on Sunday the U.S. staff almost definitely will play Sweden. It is making an attempt to neglect simply how shut it got here to the exit. It is able to transfer on.

Forget this lengthy, irritating evening, Rapinoe and her teammates stated. Forget that the United States has had hassle scoring at this event, they stated, and that it simply can not work out methods to convert its passes and its possession into targets.

That was the message delivered by Kelley O’Hara, a defender at her fourth World Cup, to the staff because it huddled collectively close to midfield after Tuesday’s nice escape. O’Hara leaned in and appeared round on the faces of her teammates — some unhappy, some clean, some decided. It doesn’t matter what occurred right here, she advised them.

“I just told them, ‘Listen, guys, we did what we had to do,’” O’Hara stated. “‘This game’s done.’”

Defender Crystal Dunn received the message. “We know we can be better,” she stated. “It’s not like everyone’s sitting there like, ‘Wow, that was the most amazing performance we put together.’ But that’s where you have to dig deep.

“That’s what it takes to win a World Cup. It’s not easy to do this. Right now we are very fortunate to have another opportunity to put on a great performance.”

Later, the staff’s coach, Vlatko Andonovski, took time to replicate on the outcome in opposition to Portugal, a staff that was anticipated to be a problem, however maybe not fairly that a lot of 1.

He stated that he has seen vibrant spots in the best way the U.S. staff has performed over its three group stage video games, though Tuesday was a low level.

“It’s not like we played well, by any means,” he stated. “We all know it’s not good enough.”

The United States, he is aware of, has work to do. But none of that’s something to panic about, striker Alex Morgan stated. She had completed second within the group at previous World Cups. Now the staff has all of the items it wants “to make it all the way” to the ultimate. It simply must put them collectively.

It’s Andonovski’s job to do this. Against Portugal, he lastly made some modifications to his lineup. Now he might want to make a number of extra.

On Tuesday, Rose Lavelle, the star midfielder restored to the beginning lineup, used her creativity and vitality to drive her teammates ahead, to create possibilities for them to attain. But after pulling down a Portuguese participant, she obtained her second yellow card in two video games, that means she might be suspended from the spherical of 16 recreation.

O’Hara stated it was disappointing that Lavelle wouldn’t have the ability to play on Sunday, particularly after she got here again from an damage and was constructing again her minutes. She had been restored to the lineup to maximise her “energy, her fight and her aggressiveness and just her flair,” O’Hara stated, although she had no particulars about how the staff would regain its confidence now that Lavelle might be out. She frowned when requested how the staff will regroup mentally.

“We’re just going to do a couple of Kumbayas, and we’ll be good,” she stated earlier than rapidly turning and strolling off.

Rapinoe was undecided, both, of how, precisely, the staff would rebuild its confidence. But, she stated, it might simply be finished. Earlier this week, she recalled a second within the quarterfinal recreation versus Brazil on the 2011 World Cup, when the U.S. staff was in additional time and was simply seconds from elimination earlier than she fired in a cross to Abby Wambach that was headed in for a tying objective.

“I thought about that in the moment,” she stated, a sensation she repeated on Tuesday. Facing an early exit again then, she added, left her speaking to herself. “Actually, I’m like: ‘We’re going to be the worst team ever in the history of the national team. It’s going to be terrible.’

“And then, obviously, you know, that play happens.”

With one sensible move, Rapinoe had altered her staff’s destiny.

Those sorts of small miracles, she is aware of, can occur once more.