Stephen Prendergast & Diane Scavuzzo
Posted: Wednesday, October 24, 2012 10:09 am

U.S. Soccer News: U.S. Women’s National Team Again Draw with Germany in Fan Tribute Tour

The U.S. Women’s National Team tied Germany for the second time in four days, playing to a 2-2 draw in front of 18,870 rain-soaked spectators at Rentschler Field in the Fan Tribute Tour, presented by Panasonic. It was the largest crowd ever to watch the U.S. Women in the state of Connecticut.

Abby Wambach moved to within 10 goals of the U.S. WNT all-time scoring record held by Mia Hamm when she notched her 148th career goal late in the first half and second-half sub Tobin Heath tallied a 67th-minute goal, but Germany was able to create an equalizer both times to hold the U.S. to back-to-back draws for the first time this year. The USA moved to 3-0-2 in the Fan Tribute Tour, a celebration of the team’s run to a fourth gold medal at the 2012 London Olympics.

The Fan Tribute Tour resumes with two matches against the Republic of Ireland at 7:00 p.m. PT on November 28 at JELD-WEN Field in Portland, Ore., and at 7:30 p.m. MT on December 1 at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Ariz. Fans can follow the matches via ussoccer.com’s MatchTracker and on Twitter @ussoccer_wnt.

With slick conditions on the field, it appeared the first half would be scoreless between the top two teams in the current FIFA Women’s World Rankings, but the U.S. was able to find the back of the net in the 44th minute. The buildup started with a combination between Carli Lloyd and Megan Rapinoe setting up Morgan on the edge of the left side of the penalty box. Morgan’s cross took a slight deflection off of Germany defender Annike Krahn and lopped to the far right post. Wambach dashed in front of Germany defender Babett Peter and headed the ball into the back of the net on the dive for a 1-0 lead just before halftime.

“It got a little deflection so there was wicked spin on the ball,” said Wambach, “which made it really difficult for the goalkeeper to read the bounce and the bounce just skipped straight to my head.”

Germany took advantage of a defensive miscue in the 48th minute when U.S. captain and center back Christie Rampone slipped while trying to send the ball up-field near the edge of the center circle. Second-half sub Dzenifer Marozsan, the MVP of the 2012 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup, took advantage almost half field one-on-one against USA goalkeeper Hope Solo and slipped the ball underneath her to tie the score at 1-1.

The USA had a golden chance to take the lead in the 58th minute after Wambach got in on a breakaway after the ball had skipped off the wet turf and past the Germany defense. With only German goalkeeper Nadine Angerer to beat, she tried a chip, but it wasn’t high enough and Angerer snagged it.

In the 64th minute, Wambach crashed through a pack of players to get her head on a corner kick from the left side, and even though she beat Angerer to the service, the ball skidded off her head and just wide right.

After Solo came up with tremendous back-to-back saves in the 65th and 67th minutes, the U.S. responded on the offensive end when Morgan dribbled all the way to the left end line before made a sliding pass back into the middle toward Lloyd. The pass was a bit behind Lloyd, but then rolled through to Heath who slotted it into the right side of the net for a 2-1 lead in the 67th minute.

Solo pulled off a fantastic double-save in the 71st minute as she first knocked down a flicked shot from Marozsan, who met a cross from the right with a perfectly timed slide, and then as the young German attacker swung at the ball from the crowd, the U.S. keeper smothered it away for a corner kick.

The USA held strong despite Germany’s bevy of shots for nearly a 20-minute stretch, but Marozsan once again had an answer as she blasted a left-footed shot from distance just inside the left post past Solo in the 85th minute to tie the score at 2-2.

“I think both teams were kind of feeling each other out,” said interim head coach Jill Ellis following the game. “I thought our first 15 minutes weren’t particularly great and then we started to find a rhythm and played a little bit higher up the field. I think both teams came after it in the second half, made some subs, some fresh legs and the tempo increased.”

“The rain makes it a different game,” said Wambach of the match. “I’m a little disappointed in the result and myself. I wasn’t making great touches. That one-on-one with the keeper, I want that back and if that goes down, we win.”

Asked about the matches with Germany, Solo responded, “That’s what we expect from Germany. We haven’t seen them for two years. It’s nice to get back against a team that knows how to play, that’s organized, that are creative on the attack. It pushes us and brings out the best in us, but at the same time it entertains the fans and that’s what it’s all about. 2-2 isn’t the outcome we want, but Germany is a great team; they’re the No. 2 team in the world.”

“I think you have to expect the physicality the Germans bring to the game,” Morgan said. “We’ve played them enough now to know if you take too many touches on the ball, they’re going to tackle you or put some pressure on you. There were times where our midfield or defense was a little tentative to take one or two more touches, but I think as the game wore on we felt a little more comfortable and got more rhythm.”

One thing that coach and players were in agreement with was the atmosphere at Rentschler Field. In spite of the weather, the crowd surpassed any other for a women’s soccer match in the state. The entire Fan Tribute Tour has played to huge crowds, an indication of the interest in the U.S. WNT, if not women’s soccer.

“I thought the crowd was really great,” said Morgan. “When we came out to warm up, I was a little nervous for the crowd because I wouldn’t want to be sitting in the rain for an hour-and-a-half, but they showed up huge and they were loud and on their feet the whole time. I really have to give them credit.”

They were loud, they were into it, and it was fantastic,” Ellis said of the crowd. “Hopefully, they enjoyed it. They seemed to have a good time and it was a great atmosphere.”

Additional Notes:

• Alex Morgan’s 17th and 18th assists move her into a tie for fourth all-time for a U.S. WNT player in a calendar year. Mia Hamm twice had 18 assists (1995 and 1996). Hamm has the record with 22 assists in 2004, followed by Carin Gabarra’s 21 assists in 1991 and Hamm’s 20 assists in 1998.
• Christie Rampone played in her 271st career match. She now sits one cap behind third-place Julie Foudy (272) on the all-time list and could potentially tie that mark when the U.S. faces the Republic of Ireland on November 28 at JELD-WEN Field in Portland, Ore.
• Forward Abby Wambach moved into sole possession of eighth place on the U.S. WNT all-time caps list with her 193rd appearance, passing Brandi Chastain (192).
• U.S. WNT interim head coach Jill Ellis made four changes to her starting lineup from the team’s 1-1 draw against Germany last Saturday in front of 19,522 spectators Toyota Park in Bridgeview, Ill. Defenders Amy LePeilbet and Becky Sauerbrunn started over Rachel Buehler and Heather Mitts and midfielders Carli Lloyd and Heather O’Reilly started instead of Lauren Cheney and Tobin Heath.
• Heath had started in the previous seven matches dating back to the USA’s 1-0 quarterfinal victory against New Zealand on Aug. 3 in the 2012 London Olympics.
• O’Reilly and Shannon Boxx both played in their 175th career game on Tuesday. They are one appearance away from matching the career total of Shannon MacMillan (176), who is 10th on the all-time list.
• Sydney Leroux, who has scored a USA record 10 goals off the bench this year, entered the match late in the second half to play right back after Heather Mitts took a hard fall in a collision with a German player.
• Germany made four starting lineup changes from Saturday’s game, with Alexandra Popp, Lena Goessling, Luisa Wensing and Verena Faisst each getting the start on Tuesday.
• The U.S. moved to 23-1-3 this year and 6-0-4 all-time in games pitting the No. 1 and No. 2 FIFA-ranked teams.
• The USA extended its unbeaten streak to 18 games.
• The USA is now 17-4-6 all-time against Germany.

-U.S. Women’s National Team Match Report-

Match: U.S. Women’s National Team vs. Germany
Date: Tuesday, October 23, 2012
Competition: International Friendly
Venue: Rentschler Field; East Hartford, Conn.
Kickoff: 7:30 p.m. ET
Attendance: 18,870
Weather: 56 degrees, rain

Scoring Summary:    1    2    F
USA                            1    1    2
GER                            0    2    2

USA – Abby Wambach (Alex Morgan)                   44th minute
GER – Dzenifer Marozsan                                     48
USA – Tobin Heath (Alex Morgan)                         67
GER – Dzenifer Marozsan (Linda Bresonik)           85

Lineups:
USA: 1-Hope Solo; 6-Amy LePeilbet (2-Heather Mitts, 57) (11-Sydney Leroux, 84), 4-Becky Sauerbrunn, 3-Christie Rampone (capt.), 5-Kelley O’Hara (16-Rachel Buehler, 57); 9-Heather O’Reilly (17-Tobin Heath, 63), 7-Shannon Boxx, 10-Carli Lloyd, 15-Megan Rapinoe (12-Lauren Cheney, 46); 13-Alex Morgan, 14-Abby Wambach
Substitutions Not Used: 18-Nicole Barnhart, 21-Jill Loyden, 8-Amy Rodriguez
Head coach: Jill Ellis

GER: 1-Nadine Angerer (capt.); 3-Saskia Bartusiak, 4-Babett Peter, 5-Annike Krahn, 15-Verena Faisst, 22-Luisa Wensing; 6-Simone Laudehr (17-Viola Odebrecht, 46), 10-Linda Bresonik, 20-Lena Goessling; 9-Alexandra Popp (14-Dzenifer Marozsan, 46), 11-Anja Mittag (24-Lena Lotzen, 78)
Substitutions Not Used: 2-Bianca Schmidt, 7-Melanie Behringer, 12-Almuth Schult, 16-Martina Muller, 18-Svenja Huth, 21-Laura Benkarth, 23-Leonie Maier
Head coach: Silvia Neid

Stats Summary: USA / GER
Shots: 14 / 25
Shots on Goal: 5 / 9
Saves: 6 / 3
Corner Kicks: 3 / 7
Fouls: 6 / 8
Offside: 5 / 2

Misconduct Summary:
GER – Lena Goessling (caution)        55th minute
USA – Heather Mitts (caution)           74

Officials:
Referee: Carol Anne Chenard (CAN)
Assistant Referee 1: Marie Charbonneau (CAN)
Assistant Referee 2: Mayte Chavez (MEX)
Fourth Official: Terry Vaughn (USA)

Budweiser Woman of the Match: Carli Lloyd

Related Articles: U.S. WNT on SoccerNation