By now I’m sure the entire world or anyone remotely following the Women’s World Cup has heard the result of the matchup between the United States and the Netherlands was a tie.
The game was at 1 pm local time at Sky Stadium which is literally next to the ocean in Wellington. In fact it looked like the areas just outside the stadium are used as a port for exporting wood and we saw heavy equipment operators moving massive logs.
The energy of the USA fans in the stadium was palpable and it felt like there were more fans than our first game against Vietnam.
We got to the stadium right when the gates opened at 11 am and walked the full loop around the oval shaped stadium. My super recognizer skills were on point as I spotted the two younger sisters of our very own ACFC player Alyssa Thompson. Alyssa, at -18 years old is the youngest player on the USWNT and from Los Angeles. Gisele Thompson is also a USWNT player on the U-20 team and we have heard their youngest sister Zoe is on a similar path. Amy 1.5 was proudly wearing her #7 Alyssa Thompson jersey when we snapped a photo.
We also met Alyssa’s dad and he was just beaming and so happy to see fans for his daughter there to support her. It was such a cool experience.
Game Recap
I’m not a football analyst however after watching the game and reading the analysts comments our instincts about the game were pretty spot on. We think more substitutions could have been made. It was a very physical game. The officials should have called more fouls to control the physicality. The Netherlands scored relatively early in the first half and this was an opportunity for the US to show how they handle adversity. They absolutely dominated the second half. Lindsey Horan was fouled badly by Danielle van de Donk who is her teammate in France when they are not in the World Cup. Lindsey was pissed and words were exchanged between the two. Horan got even by heading in a corner and scoring the game equalizer off a Lavelle corner kick. It was a defining moment for our captain to show up and change the momentum of the game. How she reacted to that adversity after getting fouled is what will teach the younger and newer players how to be champions. It was amazing to see. And by far the most intense sporting event I have ever watched.
