The USA women’s national team fell 3-0 to Sweden in their opening group game match at the Tokyo Olympics.
The Americans saw that their 44-match unbeaten record remained humble when the Swedes maintained a dominant stance for 90 minutes.
USA was poor in its opener / Logan Beerman / ISI Photos / Getty Images
Although the result was not taken lightly by the world champions, star Megan Rapinoe admits that there is no time to linger in the past.
“We got kicked our asses, right?” In Rapinoe. “I thought we were a little tight, a little nervous, just doing stupid things. There is no time to stop and think about whether Sweden lives in our heads or not. We have a new game in three days.”
The Swedish player Stina Blackstenius scored two goals before teammate Lina Hurtig added a third for the country. The United States’ women’s team tried to retaliate with a drive by Christen Press in the 71st minute, but in the end offered almost nothing in the attack.
Sweden, ranked number 5 in the world, continuously challenges the United States at every major tournament. In 2016, the Swedes were responsible for knocking out the United States from the Rio de Janeiro Games in the quarterfinals, the earliest American Olympic outcome to date.
“Did we expect the result tonight? No,” Rapinoe added. “It’s frustrating and it’s frustrating that it’s Sweden. They found a lot of space on us. I do not even know how many goals we have given up all year. I do not remember when we last gave up a goal. So to give up three is not good. “
USWNT player Christen Press joined the conversation after the match to say that this should not come as a shock to anyone, despite FIFA rankings and crowd favorites.
“I think in the end as an athlete you go through ups and downs, and this is a difficult result, but it’s the nature of a tough tournament,” Press said. “It would not be easy. We would not play through six games no matter what. This is how we are.”
