With the U.S. Women’s Soccer team coming off a hugely disappointing performance at the Tokyo Olympics, Thursday night in Kansas City was supposed to be an opportunity for the team to get back on the winning track.
It didn’t go as planned.
The U.S. women’s team snapped a 22-match winning streak on home soil in a scoreless 0-0 draw against South Korea. The 22-game home winning streak was the second-longest in team history.
The Americans ran into an extremely hot goaltender in Yoon Young-Geul, who saved eight shots on the night. It was the first time that the American team has been held scoreless at home since a 1-0 loss to Australia in 2017.
“I actually thought we did a very good job in adapting to everything that was thrown at us in this game,” head coach Vlatko Andonovski said. “Obviously, we could’ve done things a little bit better in the final third, created few good opportunities and just hope we score on some of those. . . .”
“The teams that we face are going to be organized, defend and bring numbers in front of their box. It’s going to take the best out of us in order to break them down. So, overall, very happy with the performance and very happy with the game as a whole. I feel like this is something we needed.”
Carli Lloyd — one of the most decorated women’s soccer players in American history — entered in the 63rd minute of play in what will be her second to last match at the national team level. Lloyd will be retiring from competition at the end of the 2021 season.
The women’s team was expected to compete for a gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics, but got off to a rough start in their opener against Sweden, losing 3-0.
They had a chance to play for the gold medal, but lost to Canada in the semifinal match, forcing them to settle for a bronze medal with a win over Australia.
It was the first time the U.S. women’s team had lost to team Canada since 2001.
Before the bronze medal match, Lloyd was the only member of the team to not kneel on the pitch.
As reported by The Daily Wire, “The U.S. women’s soccer team took a knee ostensibly in solidarity with the radical Black Lives Matter movement before the team’s game for bronze on Thursday — save for one player, Carli Lloyd.”
Photos from the field show Lloyd stayed on her feet while all other 10 players on the field took a knee to protest alleged systemic racism in the U.S. against black people.”
The USWNT plays South Korea once again on Tuesday, October 26.
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Joe Morgan is the Sports Reporter for The Daily Wire. Most recently, Morgan covered the Clippers, Lakers, and the NBA for Sporting News. Send your sports questions to [email protected].