United States defended the FIFA Women’s World Cup on Sunday evening, July 7, after beating Netherlands 2-0 in the final in Lyon.
The defending champions made two changes from the squad that defeated England in the semi-finals, with the pair of captain Megan Rapinoe and Samantha Mewis returning to the starting XI.
On the other hand, the European champions made just one change, with Anouk Dekker starting in defense.
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USA enjoyed more possession in the opening moments of the game with decent movement of the ball going forward.
None of the teams were able to break the deadlock going into the break as scores stood goalless.
Three minutes before the half-hour mark, Julie Ertz came close to handing USA the lead with a volley outside the box, but Sari Van Veenendaal parried the ball for a corner-kick.
USA continued to enjoy more possession as the second half progressed and were rewarded with a penalty on the hour-mark after Stefanie van der Gragt’s tackle on Morgan was adjudged to be a dangerous foul after VAR review.
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Rapinoe took responsibility of the spot-kick and calmly netted the opener for The Yanks.
With 21 minutes left on the clock, Rose Lavelle doubled USA’s advantage after dribbling her way past the Dutch midfielders in a fast counter-attack, but took her time to apply a left-footed strike into the net.
Orange Lionesses’ replaced defender Dekker with forward Shanice van de Sanden with 15 minutes to the end of the contest.
In the 90th minute, Sherida Spitse came close to reducing the deficit for the Dutch from a set piece, but her curling effort missed target, with shot-stopper Alyssa Naeher not leaving anything to chance.
At the blast of the final whistle, the Orange Lionesses’ could stage a comeback, with The Yanks defending the FIFA’s Women’s World Cup crown back-to-back.
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