Two days after a stunning 3-0 defeat to Sweden, the Americans regroup with a 6-1 thrashing at the Tokyo Games
U.S. midfielder Lindsey Horan could not wait to face New Zealand on Saturday in the second game of the Summer Olympics women’s soccer tournament in Saitama, Japan. No surprise after the vaunted Americans had been trampled by No.5 Sweden to start the Tokyo Games in stunning fashion. “We hated every single bit about the last game,” Horan said after making her 100th appearance on the national team. “The coolest thing about this team is we sat down and we’re like the mentality was crap, and that can’t ever happen again.” It didn’t occur against New Zealand as the top-ranked women got the victory they needed with a convincing 6-1 triumph to remain very much alive in the Tokyo Games soccer tournament. The Americans (1-1-0,3 points) rebounded nicely behind four goals and two own goals by New Zealand’s beleaguered defense. The victory came two days after a stunning 3-0 defeat to Sweden — one of the United States’ worst defeats in history. As expected, the Americans came roaring back against New Zealand, considered the weakest team in the Group G pairing, with First Lady Dr. Jill Biden in attendance in an empty 66,000-seat stadium. “We came out wanting to score goals and make a statement and obviously we weren’t satisfied last game, so we had to have a fresh start and we were able to do that,” midfielder Julie Ertz said. U.S. coach Vlako Andononvski made five changes to the starting lineup to keep fresh legs on the field with the group games coming every two days.
