Final, 3-1 United States: It’s all over at Winnipeg Stadium. Team USA downs Australia in its World Cup opener.
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Team USA moves to the top of Group D courtesy of a hard-fought win over Australia. Double goal-scorer Rapinoe was the star of the show, and Solo’s saves bailed out Team USA when it needed her most. Press scored the game-winning goal during a shaky outing in the midfield. Australia emerges with loads of credit after surprising the favored Americans with a spirited performance, but Team USA prevailed due its superior individual quality and depth.
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90th minute +2, 3-1 United States: Team USA is winding down the game calmly, as Australia seems to have run out of both spirit and steam after Rapinoe’s second goal.
87th minute, 3-1 United States: Solo saves Kerr’s shot.
86th minute, 3-1 United States: Rapinoe departs to a thunderous ovation, as Brian replaces her for the final few minutes.
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83rd minute, 3-1 United States: Sykes replaces Alleway, as Australia makes its final substitution.
80th minute, 3-1 United States: Kennedy replaces Gorry in Australia’s second substitution.
79th minute, 3-1 United States: Morgan replaces Leroux, as Team USA makes its second substitution.
78th mminute, 3-1 United States: Rapinoe doubles her fun, and Team USA’s lead, with a fine solo goal.
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Rapinoe now has scored 30 goals in 103 games for Team USA.
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72nd minute, 2-1 United States: Gorry tees up a shot from the top of Team USA’s penalty area but misses high.
70th minute, 2-1 United States: Solo saves a long-range shot by Van Egmon.
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69th minute, 2-1 United States: Australia makes its first substitution. Simon enters. Heyman exits.
68th minute, 2-1 United States: Heath replaces Press, as Team USA makes its first substitution.
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67th minute, 2-1 United States: Wambach heads a free kick wide. The veteran forward is angry with herself after failing to hit the target.
64th minute, 2-1 United States: Rapinoe is cautioned for a foul on De Vanna.
63rd minute, 2-1 United States: Press scores, and Team USA is back in front.
Press scored after Leroux surged down the left and cut a pass back toward the penalty spot. Press made a forward run from the midfield and slotted a first-time shot past Barbieri.
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It’s Press’ 21st goal in 46 games for Team USA.
56th minute, 1-1: The referee cautions Holiday for a heavy tackle on the ever-dangerous De Vanna.
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56th minute, 1-1: Team USA is enjoying the majority of possession in the second half but is unable to break down Australia’s deep-lying defense.
Australia continues to show menace on the counter-attack by quickly playing the ball forward to Kerr and De Vanna.
50th minute, 1-1: Kerr breaks forward and tries to shoot on goal, but Sauerbrunn tracks her down and blocks it out for a corner kick.
49th minute, 1-1: Holiday flights a free kick to the near post. Johnston leaps and heads on goal, but it goes straight to the waiting Barbieri.
46th minute, 1-1: The second half is underway. Neither team made a substitution during the break.
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Halftime, 1-1: The first half is over, and the game is tied.
It’s clear from the first half nothing will come easy for Team USA. Australia outplayed the highly-rated Americans for most of the opening period, using the ball better and creating more scoring chances than Team USA. Rapinoe scored off a fortunate deflection, and Solo’s saves temporarily kept Australia at bay. But De Vanna’s goal gave Australia the reward its play merited.
History suggests Team USA can recover and prevail but it must improve in every aspect of the game. Midfield play has been a problem so far, as Press and Holiday struggle to break up Australia’s fast-moving attacks and fail to show enough composure with the ball to allow Team USA to dictate the game’s tempo.
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45th minute +1, 1-1: The ball bounces kindly to Leroux, who’s just 15 yards from goal, but she skies her shot into the stands.
45th minute, 1-1: Uzunlar’s free kick reaches Solo, as Australia threatens again from a set piece.
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40th minute, 1-1: Press snaps a header on goal, but Barbieri saves it easily.
39th minute, 1-1: Wambach misses a golden chance to restore Team USA’s lead.
Rapinoe floated a free kick into Australia’s penalty area. Wambach arrived first at the back post but headed wide of the goal. Team USA expects better from international women’s soccer’s all-time leading goal scorer.
33rd minute, 1-1: The game remains fast and fiercely competitive after a half hour. Australia continues to cause problems for the Americans, both offensively and defensively, and have the goal their efforts deserve.
27th minute, 1-1: Australia punishes Team USA’s failure to clear a free kick, and the game is tied. De Vanna does the honors with a well-struck finish past Solo. Heyman assists the goal.
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21st minute, 1-0 United States: De Vanna misses the top corner of Solo’s goal with a shot from a tight angle.
20th minute, 1-0 United States: Rapinoe’s goal and Solo’s saves have given Team USA a measure of comfort, as the first half continues at a high tempo.
13th minute, 1-0 United States: Solo makes another fine save. This time, she denies Kerr’s volleyed shot from close range.
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12th minute, 1-0 United States: Rapinoe puts Team USA in front with a fortunate goal.
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Rapinoe turned skillfully and shot from around 20 yards out. The ball deflected off an Australia defender and wrong-footed the helpless goalkeeper.
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Ninth minute, 0-0: After an indifferent start, Team USA is starting to settle into the game.
Rapinoe is showing her importance, by tucking inside and serving a useful outlet for her teammates in the midfield and sparking attacks with dribbles or well-placed passes.
Fifth minute, 0-0: Solo saves Van Egmond’s shot from 15 yards off the crossbar.
Australia worked the ball down the left flank through Kerr, who cut back a pass to the penalty spot. Van Egmond arrived first with a well-timed run but couldn’t beat Solo with her effort.
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Third minute, 0-0: Australia is trying to seize the impetus early on by pressing the United States high up the field, winning the ball and playing it forward quickly.
Kickoff: USA-Australia is underway at Winnipeg Stadium.
Pregame: [tweet https://twitter.com/ussoccer_wnt/status/608053059663609856 align=’center’]
USA-Australia takes on added significant following Nigeria’s surprise 3-3 draw with Sweden earlier Monday. The USA-Australia winner will have the inside track on the top spot in the so-called “Group of Death.”
Wambach and Leroux are expected to shoulder Team USA’s goal-scoring burden against Australia. Morgan starts on the bench, as she works her way back to full fitness after suffering from a knee injury during the lead-up to the tournament.
Johnston, 23, starts in central defense, proving Ellis is willing to trust her in a pressure-packed situation, despite her youth.
7 p.m.: The weather conditions might make USA-Australia slower than expected.
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6:30 p.m.: Here are the lineups:
United States:
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Australia:
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6Â p.m. ET: The road to glory for the United States women’s national soccer team begins Monday in Winnipeg when it faces Australia in its opening game of the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup.
As one of the favorites to win the tournament, Team USA hopes to overpower Australia and take three points from its Group D opener.
Much of the talk around Team USA centers around new allegations about a 2014 domestic violence incident involving goalkeeper Hope Solo. The news created a fresh storm of controversy Sunday, but Team USA head coach Jill Ellis and her team are blocking out the potential distraction in order to focus on the immediate task at hand.
Australia is quietly confident heading into its World Cup opener, following an encouraging run of form in early 2015. But the “Matildas” must take on the Americans without their captain and star center back Clare Polkinghorne, who has battled injury during the lead-up to the tournament. However, co-captain and forward Lisa De Vanna will pose an attacking threat to Team USA’s back line.
The training, hype and other build-up is firmly in the past. What happens on the field matters most now.
USA-Australia kicks off at 7:30 p.m. Join us right here for all the action from Winnipeg Stadium.
Team USA will have no excuse not to win World Cup >>
Thumbnail photo via Michael Chow/USA TODAY Sports Images
