VICTORIA, B.C. (August 19, 2002) - Forward Kelly Wilson scored two goals
for the second match in a row and Leslie Osborne and Heather O'Reilly added
their second goals of the tournament as the U.S. Under-19 Women's National
Team emerged with a 4-0 victory over Australia in a marvelously combative
Group C match at the 2002 FIFA Under-19 Women's World Championship.
"It was an incredible game," said U.S. head coach Tracey Leone. "They
were one of the toughest, most physical teams we've ever played and I was
really pleased how we responded. The game had everything. The technical
level was extremely high and our tactical ability had to be high to sort out
their defense because they were really squeezing the game. To solve that and
do it under such great emotion, to do things in a thoughtful and refined way,
was a real challenge. To me, the fans got everything tonight. It was
spectacular. Australia was fantastic."
With the win, the U.S. team qualified for the quarterfinals and faces
Chinese Taipei on Wednesday in their final Group C match. A victory or a
draw against Taipei would clinch first place in the group for the USA and
ensure that the Americans would stay in Victoria for their quarterfinal on
Sunday, August 25, against a third-place team from Group A or B.
The story of this match was a U.S. team that would not stop pounding away
at the Australians, and a young Matilda team that would not give an inch to
the more fancied Americans in a match played before a decidedly
pro-Australian crowd, who cheered loudly for their team the entire game. But
in the end, it was the USA's fitness, determination and experience that
produced three goals in a seven-minute span at the end of the match to put
the Aussies away.
In a contest filled with intensity, hard tackles, epic aerial battles and
skillful play worthy of a world championship, the night chill in the air and
dew on the grass helped the game run at a frenetic pace for 90 minutes.
"Whenever you are tested to your maximum, it's a great game for the
present and the future," added Leone. "It was wonderful to watch."
The USA needed an early goal against the highly committed Aussies, and
got one in the 14th minute on a header from Wilson. The assist came from
Lori Chalupny, who struck left-footed cross into the middle from the right
side. Australian goalkeeper Luisa Marzotto, who had waived at a corner kick
moments earlier, came rushing off her line and made one of her few mistakes
on the day, as Wilson easily beat her to the ball, heading it into the empty
net from the penalty spot past the stranded goalkeeper.
After the goal, the USA attacked relentlessly and earned corner kick
after corner kick, totaling 17 for the match, but the Australians refused to
break, scrapping and sliding for every ball.
The U.S., which scored three goals in eight minutes at the end of the
first half against England on Saturday, finally broke through in the 74th
minute, duplicating the feat as the wheels came off the cart for the
Matildas.
The first of the three lightning-quick strikes came from Osborne, who
wore the captain's band after Lindsay Tarpley was substituted in the 62nd
minute. The goal started when Wilson dug a ball out of left corner and
played it back to O'Reilly, who launched a spinning cross to the far post.
Osborne got a step on her defender and took the ball down with her chest as
the beat the goalkeeper to the inside. With Marzotto sprawled on the ground,
Osborne touched the ball into the net from three yards out.
"There's a lot of great teams and anyone is going to give anyone a good
game in a world championship," said Osborne, who had scored two goals in her
U-19 international career before this tournament but now has two in two
games.
"That's kind of scary, but it's the best part of soccer. You
never know what could happen. A team could play the best game of their lives
against us, but that's what we love and that's why we're here. We trained
very hard for this and we're just ready for everything. It's games like
these that make us better. We'll look back and be glad we had a game like
this tonight."
Just five minutes after Osborne made it 2-0, Kendall Fletcher made a
brave stab with her head at a bouncing ball at the top of the Aussie penalty
area and paid for it dearly as Matilda hard-woman Stacey Stocco flattened her
with a kick to the neck. Fletcher stayed down for minute, but walked off
under her own power. As she was standing at midfield waiting to come back
on, Wilson curved the ensuing free kick over the wall and into the lower left
corner from 20 yards out past the diving Marzotto. It was Wilson's fourth
goal of the tournament, which leads all scorers so far. Wilson had almost
scored on a free kick in the 58th minute, but Marzotto made a brilliant
flying save to push the ball over the goal.
Forward Angie Woznuk made her first appearance of the tournament in the
match, coming on for Tarpley, and she set up the final goal in the 81st
minute, lifting the ball over the Aussie defense to the streaking O'Reilly.
The U.S. forward burned down left flank past a defender and then cut hard to
goal before slotting ball under Marzotto from six yards out to complete the
50-yard solo run.
"We knew we had to take the game a moment on a time" said Australian head
coach Mike Mulvey. "I think we did that, but then all of a sudden, bang,
bang, bang. But that's what they are like. They've got quality, speed and
athleticism. And I'll tell you what, we thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity
to play against them tonight."
The Australians suffered a major setback heading into their huge match
against England on Wednesday, with the winner earning the second of the two
guaranteed Group C berths into the quarterfinals, as captain Kate McShea was
ejected in the 83rd minute after dragging down O'Reilly and earning her
second yellow card of the match.
The game was a battle for 90 minutes, but the Americans kept their
composure under a steady steam of hard hits from Australia and delivered a
few of their own. The U.S. back line of Jill Oakes, Jessica Ballweg and
Rachel Buehler were brilliant into the tackle all match and quickly defused
the handful of Aussie ventures into the U.S. penalty area.
"You definitely need tough games," said O'Reilly, who now has two goals
and four assists in the tournament. "At halftime, we said that this is what
it's all about. This is what is going to make us good and help us be
champions. We needed to come out on top and just focused on doing our thing
in the second half."
Leone made just one change in the lineup from the England match,
inserting Fletcher for Amy Steadman who was ruled out of the tournament after
tearing her ACL in the first game. Fletcher, and the rest of the U.S.
midfield and backs were warriors, holding Australia to just three shots.
U.S. goalkeeper Ashlyn Harris came up big when she needed to, coming off
her line to snuff an Amber Neilson breakaway in the 50th minute, and was
solid on her distribution. Australia's best chance of the first half was a
blast from 30 yards out by Emma Davidson that flew just over the crossbar.
The USA piled up 20-3 shot margin and had quality chances early on as the
Australians chose to play the USA's three forwards straight up with three
backs, who did get help from the wide midfielders that dropped according to
which side the U.S. attacked. It seemed to be an unwise tactic early on as
the USA repeatedly got behind the Matilda defense on the flanks, but the U.S.
forwards had trouble finding a player in the seam with the final pass as the
Australians scrambled back to snuff several U.S. chances from close range.
"I'm proud the way our girls approached the game," added Mulvey. "I
think we showed that given our inexperience on the world stage that we've
come a long way in a short time and that with any decent preparation we'd
like to think we could get a bit closer."
For the second straight match day, both games in Group C ended in
identical scores, but that unlikely to happen again during the last round of
group matches on Wednesday. The USA's match against Chinese Taipei will kick
off at 7:15 p.m. and fans can follow all the action live on
www.ussoccer.com's MatchTracker presented by Philips Electronics. England
vs. Australia kicks off at 5 p.m. PT.
The USA could win the group even with a loss against Taipei, as they
carry a +8 goal difference while both England and Australia are even on goal
difference, meaning England or Australia would score a bushel of goals to
unseat the Americans.
"There's no such thing as a walkover in a world championship" said Leone
when asked about her team's focus for Chinese Taipei. "There just isn't.
Soccer is such a complex game. Every team is here for a reason. We just
have to continue to focus on the next task at hand, which is playing well
against Chinese Taipei. These girls understand that at this level, it's
absolutely critical to focus. There are 12 teams and they are all great, so
if we overlook anyone, we're done. It's just not a smart thing to do. From
the experience they've gained over the past two years, they know it's
critical to take that one step of time. We call it a bracket of one."
In the other Group C match, England downed Chinese Taipei, 4-0, getting
two goals from Katy Ward, setting up their epic Commonwealth battle with
Australia. In the Group B matches in Vancouver, Brazil pulled off somewhat
of a stunner, defeating European champion Germany 1-0 to qualify for the
second round, while France squeaked past Mexico, 2-1.
U.S. UNDER-19 WOMEN'S NATIONAL TEAM GAME REPORT
USA: 18-Ashlyn Harris, 3-Jessica Ballweg, 4-Jill Oakes, 2-Rachel Buehler,
8-Kendall Fletcher, 7-Lori Chalupny, 13-Manya Makoski, 10-Leslie Osborne,
15-Lindsey Tarpley-Capt. (12-Angie Woznuk, 62), 9-Heather O'Reilly, 16-Kelly
Wilson. Subs not used: 1-Megan Rivera, 5-Kerri Hanks, 11- Keeley Dowling,
14-Sarah Huffman, 17-Megan Kakadelas.
AUS: 18-Luisa Marzotto, 2-Kate McShea - Capt., 3-Thea Slatyer (12-Rose Dunne,
82), 5-Karla Reuter, 4-Emma Davidson, 6-Stacey Stocco, 7-Lana Harch, 8-Amber
Neilson, 10-Caitlin Munoz (16-Lorissa Stevens, 88), 9-Katie Gill (17-Jessica
Mitchell, 71) 14-Hayley Crawford. Subs not used: 1-Lisa Hartley, 11-Elissia
Canham, 13-Catherinie Cannuli, 15-Selin Kuralay.
Participants: U. S. U-19 National Team vs. Australia U-19 National Team
Competition: 2002 FIFA Under-19 Women's World Championship
Venue: Centennial Stadium - Victoria, B.C., Canada
Date: August 19, 2002 - Kickoff 7:15 p.m. PT
Attendance: 2,600
Weather: Chilly, breezy - 62 degrees
Scoring Summary:
USA - Kelly Wilson (Lori Chalupny) 14th minute.
USA - Leslie Osborne (Heather O'Reilly) 74.
USA - Kelly Wilson (Unassisted) 79.
USA - Heather O'Reilly (Angie Woznuk) 81.
Statistical Summary: USA AUS
Shots
. 20 3
Shots on Goal
... 10 2
Saves
2 6
Corner Kicks
17 1
Fouls
. 12 14
Offside
.. 3 1
Misconduct Summary:
AUS - Kate McShea (caution) 46.
AUS - Amber Neilson (caution) 48.
AUS - Kate McShea (caution) 83.
AUS - Kate McShea (ejection) 83.
Officials:
Referee: Anri Hanninen (FIN)
Asst. Referee: Vibeke Larsen (NOR)
Asst. Referee: Lynda Bramble (TRI)
4th Official: Mayumi Oiwa (JPN)
2002 FIFA Under-19 Women's World Championship
Group A
August 18
Canada 3, Denmark 2
Nigeria 1, Japan 1
August 20
Denmark vs. Nigeria
Japan vs. Canada
August 22
Denmark vs. Japan
Nigeria vs. Canada
Group B
August 17
Germany 2, France 0
Brazil 5, Mexico 3
August 19
France 2, Mexico 1
Brazil 1, Germany 0
August 21
France vs. Brazil
Mexico vs. Germany
Group C
August 17
USA 5, England 1
Australia 5, Chinese Taipei 1
August 19
England 4, Chinese Taipei 0
USA 4, Australia 0
August 21
England vs. Australia
Chinese Taipei vs. USA
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