FIFA Women’s WC 2023: United States advance to knockouts with draw against Portugal, coach Vlatko Andonovski under fire

In the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023, United States played a draw against Portugal in their final group stage match on Tuesday. Thus, defending Champions United States qualified for the knockout stages.

United States dominated the match with 17 shots of which six were on target as against Portugal not having a single shot on target. In terms of possession of the ball and pass accuracy, Portugal fared better with 56% and 69% respectively.

However, USWNT haven’t looked very menacing in the tournament thus far. Against Portugal, it could have been a close call if Ana Capeta’s shot in second-half stoppage time, had sneaked in as goal instead of ricocheting off the post.

Meanwhile, the United States head coach Vlatko Andonovski is under fire for the team’s underwhelming performance in the tournament. She made two changes to the starting lineup- bringing in forward Lynn Williams for her first action of the tournament and inserting midfielder Rose Lavelle. But the changes didn’t work well for the team in terms of its performance.

Two-time World Cup winner Carli Lloyd came down hard on the USWNT in an interaction on FOX Sports postgame show.

“Today was uninspiring. Disappointing. They don’t look fit. They’re playing as individuals and the tactics are too predictable,” said Lloyd.

“It started to shift post 2020. You never want to take anything for granted. You put that jersey on for everyone who came before you and everyone who came after, and give it everything you have. I’m just not seeing the passion. It was lackluster, it was uninspiring,” explained Lloyd.

ALSO READ| Kylian Mbappe puts out cryptic post as Real Madrid transfer saga continues to rage on

Notably, United States have played two consecutive draws in the tournament till now. In their first match of the tournament, the United States had defeated Vietnam 3-0. With one win and two draws, the defending champs finished in the second position in the points table for Group E.

Their second position finish means that the United States are likely to square off against Sweden in the round of 16. USWNT’s path in the tournament is likely to be quite hard and the team would need an inspiring effort to defend their crown.