It is officially win-or-go-home time at the Women's World Cup, and the U.S. women's national team are hoping to press the reset button in their round of 16 encounter against Sweden.
USWNT forward Lynn Williams said the team is "excited" to play their best soccer of the tournament in the knockout rounds, but the game also comes after an inconsistent string of performances during the group stage. Head coach Vlatko Andonovski admitted on Saturday that "there's no room for mistakes, so we have to be ready to be our best in this game," per ESPN.
The team will be without Rose Lavelle in midfield, who is suspended for yellow card accumulation, while a pair of players have missed training in the buildup to Sunday's match, per The Guardian. Trinity Rodman skipped Friday's session with a cold but returned on Saturday, while Kelley O'Hara did not participate on Saturday with soreness.
This will no doubt serve as one of the biggest matches of Andonovski's tenure as the USWNT coach, who has plenty to prove as the team aims for an unprecedented World Cup three-peat.
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1. Reexamining the midfield
With Lavelle's absence, Andonovski will be forced into making at least one change to the lineup against Sweden. The head coach name-dropped Savannah DeMelo, who started the USWNT's first two games, as an option to replace her, as well as Ashley Sanchez, who would make her World Cup debut if she plays.
"Rose is a great player -- one of the best players in the world -- and not having her is definitely going to change some of the ways we're going to approach the game," he said. "At this same time, we have a great roster of players who are here for a reason, for moments like this and are ready to step in. … We'll have to see what will be the best fit for the game plan that we have."
It is not the only midfield conundrum facing Andonovski, though. The USWNT were outmaneuvered in the center of the park by both the Netherlands and Portugal, and though the Americans still posted nearly 20 shots each in both matches, the failure to dominate in midfield clearly disrupted the USWNT. The midfielders looked ineffective at times as a result, and halted a handful of attacking plays as a result.
The situation got progressively worse during the group stage, too. The team averaged 2.5 passes per sequence against Vietnam, two passes per sequence against the Netherlands, and just 1.9 against Portugal -- the lowest figure for the USWNT since March 2016. Fixing the midfield may be key to the Americans actually dominating a match for the first time since their opener against Vietnam.
2. In-game management
Despite making all five changes against Portugal, Andonovski has not exactly put the substitutions issue in the rearview mirror. The only player who came on before the 84th minute was Megan Rapinoe, who came on with roughly a half hour to go. It raises questions about his ability to update the approach as a game evolves.
The coach seems inclined to trust his starters, and said as much following the match against the Dutch when he made just one substitute: "We had a good rhythm. We dominated the game, we controlled the game." The USWNT's starters have shown glimpses of potential in each of their games so far, but the team also looked desperate for a disruptor that would challenge the opposition's rhythm against both the Dutch and the Portuguese.
Andonovski is arguably wasting one of the USWNT's top assets -- a deep bench. Mewis and Sanchez, alongside center back Alana Cook, have yet to play a single minute at this World Cup, while Alyssa Thompson has just 14 minutes under her belt and fullbacks Kelley O'Hara, Emily Sonnett, and Sofia Huerta are in the single digits. All have the potential to provide new energy for the USWNT when the team is in sore need of it -- a situation that arises regardless of the quality of a team's starters -- which forces the question: Does Andonovski trust them to do so?
3. Go big or go home
This is a major moment for the USWNT, who aim to avoid their earliest World Cup exit ever. It's an even bigger moment for Andonovski, whose employment status likely depends on his ability to turn the ship around.
He was tasked with refreshing the squad and has done just that, and boasts some successes at the World Cup so far. His team only conceded just one shot on target during the group stage, and is expected to maintain a defensive resolve that will keep the USWNT in the match against Sweden. There's also an argument to be made that the Americans have been unlucky at the worst possible time in front of goal despite continuing to create chances.
That said, Andonovski's first World Cup knockout game could serve as a referendum on his tenure as the USWNT coach. The pressure is on Andonovski to make as many correct decisions as possible against Sweden, and ultimately demonstrate that he has learned lessons from the group stage. Alex Morgan teased that the team has discussed attacking fixes in the buildup to Sunday's game.
"We've broken down what went wrong," she said. "How we can fix that in possession, out of possession -- how we can capitalize on the chances we have in front of goal, how we can create more chances, how I can put away the chances I'm given."
All eyes will be on Andonovski's decision-making from the start, and he may need to deliver a near-perfect performance not only to ensure that the USWNT make it to the quarterfinals, but to prove he can rise to the occasion, too.
