The United States and Sweden played to a 0-0 draw in front of a packed house at Winnipeg Stadium on Friday night in each team's second Group D match at the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup. The game was scoreless throughout but it had some action of note. The United States are the 2nd ranked team in the world, while the Swedes are the 5th ranked team in the world. More than a really tight matchup, this game had significance off the field, as former United States coach Pia Sundhage, who led them to a 2nd place finish in the 2011 World Cup and 2 gold medals (2008, 2012), is now the Swedish head coach. In an interview with the New York Times in April that came out earlier this week, Sundhage was quoted as saying that Carli Lloyd was hard to deal with and that Hope Solo, who is oft in trouble, was very hard to deal with, “especially when it comes to trouble.” In the pre game she addressed this interview, calling Hope Solo, “A piece of work” but at the same time calling her “The best goalie in the world.”
The Swedes almost had a penalty kick when a ball went off Sydney Leroux’s elbow just after the 20 minute mark. Towards the end of the game in about the 70th minute an American shot in the box went off a Swedish player’s shoulder/chest area. Far and away the best shooting opportunity of the match came when Swedish striker Sofia Jakobsson shot from the edge of the box into in what would’ve been a wide open goal if Meghan Klingenberg was not there. Still on the near post from defending the corner, Klingenberg headed the ball off the bar and out of danger, keeping the game scoreless.
The story for both teams in this game was not lack of opportunity; it was lack of cashing in on those opportunities, which is pretty obvious in a 0-0 game. The United States need to come out with a better effort in their next game. Abby Wambach, Alex Morgan and Amy Rodriguez all came on as subs and couldn’t find a goal to give the United States a Group D win and be super subs. Swedish Goalie Hedvig Lindhal stood on her head all night long and was one of the key reasons players for the US like Wambach did not turn out to be the deciding factors in the US’ favor. In particular, she kept out a Wambach header superbly in the 72nd minute. After Megan Rapinoe had time and space on the left wing, she whipped a ball into the box that Wambach got on the end of and headed down into the ground. The ball rose up and looked destined for the top corner only for Lindahl to tip the ball over the bar.
As a result, Lindhal was named the woman of the match. Many of the United States chances later in the match sailed far above, or to either side of the net. The United States stay atop Group D with 4 points. Sweden moves to 3rd place with 2 draws, and 2 points. The United States finish group play against Nigeria in Vancouver at 8 pm ET on Fox on Tuesday, June 16th. The same day and time the Swedes go up against the Aussies to finish their Group D play in Edmonton on Fox Sports 1.