Tag: Alyssa Naeher

Naeher on winning Sweden penalty: ‘I will go to my grave claiming that I saved it’

The USWNT was knocked out of the World Cup by a penalty that crossed the line by millimeters

U.S. national team goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher said she’ll go to her grave claiming she saved Sweden’s penalty that knocked the USWNT out of the World Cup.

With a round-of-16 penalty shootout into sudden death, Sweden’s Lina Hurtig stepped up to the spot knowing that a converted penalty would send her side into the quarterfinal.

Naeher dove and stopped Hurtig’s shot, which popped up into the air and was then clawed out a second time by the USWNT goalkeeper. It appeared that the shootout would go on but after a review, the penalty was shown to have crossed the line by the absolute slimmest of margins.

Naeher was in disbelief on the pitch and nearly a month later, the goalkeeper still wasn’t sure Hurtig’s shot had ever actually crossed the line.

“It felt like it was in slow motion,” Naeher said on the Snacks podcast. “As I was diving, I was like, ‘Oh, this is behind me.’ So I just tried to get anything on it.”

“I will go to my grave claiming that I saved it, you cannot convince me otherwise,” she added. “I have the picture saved on my phone. I have looked at it an unhealthy amount of times since the game has ended. I genuinely thought that I saved it.”

After Hurtig’s penalty, Naeher faced an agonizing wait as the referee consulted goal-line technology to determine if the ball crossed the line. Finally the referee signaled goal, ending the USWNT’s World Cup in heartbreaking fashion.

“When [the referee] blew the whistle and I watched them run, I don’t think I can describe the sinking feeling that was,” Naeher said. “It was the most bizarre way to end the game.”

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USWNT player ratings: Defensive spine shines in gut-punch penalty kick defeat

The USWNT finally played like themselves, but soccer can be cruel

Soccer has always been a cruel sport, and today it came calling for the U.S. women’s national team.

After three underwhelming performances in the group stage, the USWNT finally looked like themselves against Sweden, bossing one of the best teams in this World Cup.

Unfortunately, they found goalkeeper Zećira Mušović having one of the games of her life, and when she wasn’t making a big save, the errant finishing that has plagued this team appeared again, and the result was a penalty kick elimination after a scoreless 120 minutes.

It was a heartbreaker for the U.S., who missed a shot in the shootout that would have seen them advance, and then had to watch Sweden’s winning kick require a VAR check to reveal that the ball had crossed the line by a nearly imperceptible margin.

Still, when it comes to ratings, this was by some margin the best performance from the USWNT at this World Cup as a team, and for many players as individuals.

As a reminder, here’s the Pro Soccer Wire player rating scale:

Our scale:

  • 1: Abysmal. Literally any member of our staff would have been been able to play at this level.
  • 6: Adequate. This is our base score.
  • 10: Transcendent, era-defining performance. This is Carli Lloyd vs. Japan in the 2015 final.

USWNT player ratings: Lack of ideas as U.S. barely survives Portugal

Lots of not-great, and some quite bad!

The U.S. women’s national team, by a margin of about three inches, survived a feisty Portugal side to get through to the knockout round of the World Cup.

That’s about all the good news there is to discuss. The USWNT were totally unable to solve the Portuguese midfield diamond throughout a troubling 0-0 draw, struggling for possession and also lacking chances to break out in transition.

The stats may show the USWNT holding a 17-6 shot advantage, and this is another game in which a U.S. opponent were held without a shot on goal. However, anyone that watched the match would be able to tell you that the Portuguese troubled the U.S. from start to finish, seeing the game’s best chance end with Ana Capeta hitting the post deep in stoppage time.

It was a dispiriting and disappointing showing in which no player really looked like they’d been given a platform to be their best. If the USWNT is to go on and make history as the first team to win three consecutive World Cups, this has to be by far their worst performance of the tournament.

Here’s a breakdown from a game in which no one looked particularly good.

As a reminder, here’s the Pro Soccer Wire player rating scale:

Our scale:

  • 1: Abysmal. Literally any member of our staff would have been been able to play at this level.
  • 6: Adequate. This is our base score.
  • 10: Transcendent, era-defining performance. This is Carli Lloyd vs. Japan in the 2015 final.

USWNT player ratings: Disappointing showing vs. Netherlands ends in draw

A good start and finish sandwiched some worrying stuff for the USWNT

The U.S. women’s national team was far from its best against the Netherlands, struggling for a long spell in the middle of the match before recovering for a 1-1 draw.

Jill Roord’s goal on the first shot conceded all tournament by the USWNT deflated the group, and until Dutch star Daniëlle van de Donk clattered into club teammate Lindsey Horan, it was starting to get hard to see a way back in for the favored Americans.

However, Horan — after a fairly heated argument with van de Donk in the seconds that followed — powered home a header, and the U.S. took the game over for the final half-hour.

The good news? Those final minutes were the “real” USWNT. The bad news? They arrived for a reason the team can’t control, and since a winner didn’t arrive (nor did any substitutions after Rose Lavelle’s entry at halftime), the flaws on the day aren’t going to be papered over by three points.

With all that in mind, let’s dig into who delivered, and who didn’t.

As a reminder, here’s the Pro Soccer Wire player rating scale:

Our scale:

  • 1: Abysmal. Literally any member of our staff would have been been able to play at this level.
  • 6: Adequate. This is our base score.
  • 10: Transcendent, era-defining performance. This is Carli Lloyd vs. Japan in the 2015 final.

USWNT player ratings: Smith stands out as U.S. eases past Vietnam in World Cup opener

Smith was at the center of most of the USWNT’s best in their win

It may not have been the blowout some expected, but the U.S. women’s national team started the World Cup off with a 3-0 win over Vietnam.

A first-half brace from Sophia Smith — one goal was clinical, the other needed a fairly hefty slice of luck — set the USWNT on their way. After some missed chances, including an Alex Morgan penalty kick that was saved by Vietnam’s Tran Thi Kim Thanh, Lindsey Horan added the third on an assist from Smith.

In the context of Vietnam’s recent results, including only falling to Germany 2-1, it’s a decent result. It’s also not the rout that fans may have thought was coming, though on another day the goals may have been flowing with just a touch more sharpness from the attacking players.

As a reminder, here’s the Pro Soccer Wire player rating scale:

Our scale:

  • 1: Abysmal. Literally any member of our staff would have been been able to play at this level.
  • 6: Adequate. This is our base score.
  • 10: Transcendent, era-defining performance. This is Carli Lloyd vs. Japan in the 2015 final.

EA Sports reveals 10 highest-rated NWSL players in FIFA 23

The NWSL is set to be part of the hugely popular video game for the first time

EA Sports has revealed the 10 highest rated NWSL players in FIFA 23, as the league’s teams are available in the game for the first time ever.

San Diego Wave star Alex Morgan leads the list with a rating of 90, while Debinha — who signed with the Kansas City Current in a huge free agent deal this offseason — is next up, rated 88 overall.

U.S. women’s national team starters Sophia Smith (Portland Thorns), Mallory Swanson (Chicago Red Stars), and Rose Lavelle (OL Reign) are next on the list, all given an 87 rating.

EA Sports has announced all of the player ratings across the NWSL, which can be found along with their ratings for women’s players in the Women’s Super League, Division 1 Féminine, and prominent national teams like Spain and Germany. The full list of women’s player ratings can be found here.

Following a landmark partnership between the league, the NWSL Players’ Association, and EA Sports, FIFA 23 will include NWSL players starting on March 15 in the following modes:

  • Kick Off
  • Tournament Mode
  • Head to Head season
  • Co-op Seasons
  • Online Friendlies

FIFA 23 will also include four NWSL stadiums, authentic kit renderings, and celebrations.

Here are the top 10 — or really 11, due to a three-way tie for ninth place — NWSL players in FIFA 23.

San Diego Wave outlast Chicago Red Stars in NWSL playoff marathon

San Diego set another NWSL record, and got a playoff win over a gritty Red Stars side

For all the glamour and attacking talent the San Diego Wave have, the story of their debut season may just be their toughness and determination.

San Diego wore down a stubborn Chicago Red Stars side to take a 2-1 extra time win, sending a 26,215 crowd — breaking an NWSL record the Houston Dash had set just hours earlier — at Snapdragon Stadium home happy. Alex Morgan bagged a 110th minute winner after Yuki Nagasato and Emily van Egmond had scored for each side in regulation.

A stunning mistake gave Chicago an unexpected lead. Kailen Sheridan, who is contending for NWSL Goalkeeper of the Year, is known for being sure-footed in possession. However, collecting the ball just outside the San Diego box in the 10th minute, she seemed to be caught between two choices in distribution, eventually badly under-hitting a pass attempt that rolled right towards Yuki Nagasato.

Accepting the gift, the veteran did what veterans do, calmly scooping the ball over Sheridan and into an empty net from 24 yards.

It’s bad to fall behind early in a playoff game, but it’s even worse to fall behind against this Red Stars team. In the 2022 regular season, Chicago had never lost a match in which they took a lead.

A major reason they managed that record was that Chicago is a team full of veteran technicians that know how to control a game. The Red Stars showed plenty of guile in possession, patiently making San Diego chase for long spells in what was one of their best halves of the entire year.

Adjustments were needed, and late in the half San Diego finally started connecting in their attempts to go direct and figuring out how to set up shop to complicate things for the visitors. Wave coach Casey Stoney could be seen using stoppages in play to talk her side through those alterations, and they started to take hold.

“We were getting outnumbered in certain areas,” Stoney told reporters post-game. “I think once we went to a 4-4-2, we looked a little more structured. We could get pressure higher up, and that really helped us.”

Chicago agreed that the shift from San Diego had a huge impact. “I think they changed formations a little bit, or at least tactics a little bit, and put four on the front line,” said Red Stars goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher. “They looked to use (Taylor) Kornieck, and then their speed up front to overload and create some different chances.”

The changes from San Diego expanded to include Sofia Jakobsson, who entered at halftime, and she played a major role in the Wave’s equalizer. Engineering some isolation on the flank against Zoe Morse, Jakobsson played a dangerous cross that Chicago couldn’t fully clear, with Emily van Egmond volleying home amid the resulting chaos.

The Red Stars were hardly parking the bus, but the intensity required to play San Diego began to clearly take its toll. The Wave were seizing more control as full time approached, with Chicago simply not having enough in the tank to push back with consistency.

Extra time was more of a curse than a blessing for Chicago as a result, and while they did have a couple of chances, it felt like there could only be one winner.

The path there — an angled low shot designed to create a rebound that bounced just barely below Alyssa Naeher’s dive, slipping into the bottom corner — wasn’t expected, but Alex Morgan being the goalscorer? In 2022, that’s absolutely in the script.

San Diego’s reward for chipping away at Chicago’s resolve until they finally found their way through? A daunting trip to Portland, where they’ll face the Thorns next Sunday, October 23, at 5:00pm Eastern.

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Young USWNT readies for Costa Rica challenge at CONCACAF W Championship

Vlatko Andonovski and Andi Sullivan say the USWNT is ready for Costa Rica

The U.S. women’s national team, having won their CONCACAF W Championship group without conceding a goal, is completing their preparations to face Costa Rica on Thursday (7:00pm Eastern, CBS Sports Network and Paramount +) in a match that has major Olympic qualifying implications.

With the W Championship’s structure, winning your semifinal means a shot at an automatic berth in the 2024 Olympics in Paris, while the defeated team will play in Monday’s third-place game needing to win just to maintain hope of qualifying via a playoff over a year from now.

The USWNT has not conceded a goal in the tournament, and has historically bossed matches against Costa Rica, but speaking to media today in a pre-match press conference, head coach Vlatko Andonovski and midfielder Andi Sullivan had nothing but respect for Amelia Valverde’s side.

On the top of their list? A focus on reducing the impact of Portland Thorns midfielder Raquel Rodríguez.

Sullivan said she’s “looking forward to that matchup,” one that will be pretty common throughout given Rodríguez’s status as Costa Rica’s creative hub and Sullivan being the USWNT’s starting defensive midfielder in 2022. “I play against Rocky in the league a lot, and she’s a fantastic player.”

Andonovski also highlighted Rodríguez, but had a long list of players he’s concerned about. Bordeaux winger Melissa Herrera, veteran midfielder Shirley Cruz, and young striker María Paula Salas were all emphasized.

“They do have some weapons that they can hurt teams, and this is something that we’re very well aware of, and we’re very familiar with,” said Andonovski. “Now, it’s up to us to make sure that that doesn’t happen.”

While he was willing to discuss the difficulties of playing one of CONCACAF’s top teams, Andonovski was less ready to tip his hand as far as the USWNT’s goalkeeping situation. Alyssa Naeher, the longtime No. 1, only played in the 5-0 win over Jamaica, while Casey Murphy started the USWNT’s first match of the tournament. After saying the coaching staff would discuss the situation going into the Mexico game, Murphy somewhat surprisingly got the nod.

Still, Andonovski indicated that the position is not a settled issue.

“It is a little bit up in the air,” said Andonovski. “As a staff, we’ve talked a lot about it and who’s going to be in the goal in the next game, and also how we want to approach hopefully the following game. But I’m not at liberty to discuss that right now.”

Youth movement

His choice in goal may remain a secret for another day, but Andonovski was up for talking about how this much younger version of the USWNT is handling the responsibility that comes with being on a team where the standard is to win every game.

Coming off of an Olympic tournament that saw the team lean heavily towards one more go for the generation that won the 2019 World Cup only to come home with a bronze medal, there has been a pronounced shift. Murphy is the youngest goalkeeper in camp, while the team’s two best performers in the group stage were arguably 21-year-old forward Sophia Smith and NWSL rookie Naomi Girma.

There’s a generational shift elsewhere, with Sullivan and Mallory Pugh more firmly ensconced in the squad than ever, and Emily Fox (whose status after being placed in Covid-19 protocols remains unclear) the only natural left back on the roster.

“We trust these young players a lot, and we’re very happy with where they’re at in the development stage of their career,” said Andonovski. “It was good for them to also learn some things on their own. I mean, the game against Mexico was tremendous… It was a little bit stressful. It was a little hostile. The team that we faced was a good team, very well-coached. And they were motivated. They were intense, all together. It was a great opportunity.”

The change in tournament phases has come with a roster adjustment, and the USWNT continued their youth movement. Ashley Hatch’s injury against Jamaica required a replacement being added to the team, but rather than bring another striker in, or call up a veteran, Andonovski went with yet another younger player in uncapped defensive midfielder Sam Coffey.

“We did go a little bit unbalanced in this tournament in terms of how many forwards and how many midfielders we had, but we did that with a plan in mind,” said Andonovski. “When Ashley got injured, we felt like it was a good moment to balance the team back again, and bring Sam in,” before adding that he didn’t want to go outside of the group called in for pre-tournament preparation matches in order to preserve the environment and camaraderie built over the last three weeks.

Sullivan said that on a team where the hunger to win every game is heightened no matter the competition, there’s no real adjustment to make going from the group stage’s World Cup qualification aspect over to the knockout rounds and the built-in pressure of Olympic places being up for grabs.

“We take every game so seriously,” explained Sullivan. “I don’t think it’s that much of (an) adjustment to focus now more specifically on winning the tournament and qualifying for the Olympics.”

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USWNT’s Alyssa Naeher dreamed of playing hoops under Geno Auriemma

“I wanted to go to UConn.”

Alyssa Naeher may be a star soccer player now, but the USWNT keeper’s first love was basketball.

Naeher tells host and USWNT teammate Kelley O’Hara in the season premiere of the Just Women’s Sports Podcast that she split time between soccer and basketball growing up, with the latter often winning out.

“That’s what I thought I would do with my life. I prayed every morning when I was a kid, my parents can attest to it, of wanting to make the WNBA. I wanted to be a professional basketball player. I wanted to go to UConn,” says Naeher, a Connecticut native.

A proud member of the UConn Huskies Club as a kid, Naeher says it was her dream to “play basketball for Geno (Auriemma).”

Deep into her burgeoning soccer career, Naeher continued to play basketball in high school and even joined an intramural team in college.  Ali Krieger, a fellow USWNT legend, happened to be on the same Penn State intramural team, which — no surprise — won the league.

Naeher’s passion for basketball still ended up impacting her soccer career, pushing her to move from a field player to goalie.

“Because I always liked basketball, I always liked being in goal, because I could play with my hands and I liked diving around in the mud and getting dirty.”

A soccer camp at age 13 solidified Naeher’s passion for goalkeeping, with an enthusiastic coach sealing the deal.

“It was just the way that he was talking about it,” says Naeher, adding, “Then we had that first session and I was like, ‘That was awesome. That was fun. I want to do this.’ And I was like, “You can take me out [of the field player drills],’ and I started training more specifically in goal.”

The rest, as they say, is history.

Listen to Kelley O’Hara’s full conversation with USWNT teammate Alyssa Naeher on the Just Women’s Sports Podcast.

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2020 Olympics: Alyssa Naeher out for US women’s soccer team’s bronze medal game

Penn State’s Alyssa Naeher will be out for the United States women’s soccer team’s bronze medal game at the Olympics

It has been a challenging Olympic tournament for the United States women’s soccer team. After being defeated by Canada in a semifinal matchup, the Americans will hope to finish strongly in the bronze medal game. Unfortunately for Penn State’s own Alyssa Naeher, she will not be able to play in the final game of the Olympics for the US women’s team.

The US women’s soccer team announced Naeher will not be available for the bronze medal match due to a hyperextension of her right knee and a bone contusion suffered in the semifinal match.

Naeher left the game against Canada in midway through the first half after initially trying to stay in the game following a collision.

Naeher will instead be forced to cheer for her teammates in the bronze medal game against Australia. The United States will face Australia on Thursday at 4:00 am ET as they attempt to go home on a winning note.

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