Current time in Tokyo: July 30, 9:51 p.m.
July 30, 2021, 8:48 a.m. ET
July 30, 2021, 8:48 a.m. ET
reporting from Yokohama, Japan
90′ They announce five minutes of additional time, plenty of time for someone to snatch this win.
July 30, 2021, 8:48 a.m. ET
July 30, 2021, 8:48 a.m. ET
reporting from Yokohama, Japan
89′ Two of today’s quarterfinals went to extra time, and as we near 90 minutes in Yokohama you get the sense that’s where we are headed here, too. Let’s hope the late bus back to Tokyo is running ….
July 30, 2021, 8:47 a.m. ET
July 30, 2021, 8:47 a.m. ET
reporting from Yokohama, Japan
89′ Rapinoe wins a corner, but she sends the ensuing kick sailing over everybody’s heads. Things are getting tense now.
July 30, 2021, 8:45 a.m. ET
July 30, 2021, 8:45 a.m. ET
Credit…Chang W. Lee/The New York Times
Every tournament run has a moment, that split-second where a single decision, a single action, can determine a team’s fate.
Alyssa Naeher’s penalty save might have been just that. And it’s not her first. She quietly saved her team’s World Cup title run several times in 2019 with big saves, most notably against England in the semifinals with a save a lot like that last one there against Lieke Martens.
Naeher is one of the quietest members of the United States team. You might not know much about her: She gives little away in interviews, and rarely smiles on the field until the game is over. In other words, a total pro.
But her teammates and her coach trust her implicitly. And she just showed why. Again.
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July 30, 2021, 8:41 a.m. ET
July 30, 2021, 8:41 a.m. ET
reporting from Yokohama, Japan
81′ That was not a good penalty from Martens. She stood over the ball forever while waiting for the review. I wonder if that tightened her up. Regardless, she sent the ball, low and slow, toward Naeher’s left. Naeher guessed correctly and easily brushed the ball aside. That saved the tournament for the Americans.
July 30, 2021, 8:39 a.m. ET
July 30, 2021, 8:39 a.m. ET
reporting from Yokohama, Japan
81′ Lieke Martens will take it ….. VAR review ….. confirmed ….. SAVED!!! NAEHER!
July 30, 2021, 8:38 a.m. ET
July 30, 2021, 8:38 a.m. ET
reporting from Yokohama, Japan
80′ Kelley O’Hara took out Lineth Beerensteyn in the box to draw the whistle!
July 30, 2021, 8:37 a.m. ET
July 30, 2021, 8:37 a.m. ET
reporting from Yokohama, Japan
80′ PENALTY!
July 30, 2021, 8:37 a.m. ET
July 30, 2021, 8:37 a.m. ET
reporting from Yokohama, Japan
77′ Lindsey Horan gets the first yellow card of the game. She charges hard at a ball that’s sitting at the feet of Danielle van de Donk and takes a huge chunk of the Dutch player’s foot with her slide tackle. Looked painful. That’s the first booking of the night.
Credit…Doug Mills/The New York Times
July 30, 2021, 8:35 a.m. ET
July 30, 2021, 8:35 a.m. ET
77′ With Rapinoe and Lavelle in the game, the U.S. now has both goal-scorers on the field who helped secure the team’s victory over the Netherlands in the 2019 World Cup final.
July 30, 2021, 8:30 a.m. ET
July 30, 2021, 8:30 a.m. ET
reporting from Yokohama, Japan
70′ Andonovski was just waving his players forward a minute ago after a clearance. He wants them out of their own end, clearly. But he probably wants pressure of the field when they clear the ball out, too, to keep it out.
July 30, 2021, 8:27 a.m. ET
July 30, 2021, 8:27 a.m. ET
reporting from Yokohama, Japan
68′ Lineth Beerensteyn, who replaced van de Sanden on the Netherlands right wing a few minutes ago, drives to the end line, but Alyssa Naeher is there to stuff the trouble.
July 30, 2021, 8:25 a.m. ET
July 30, 2021, 8:25 a.m. ET
reporting from Yokohama, Japan
64′ We’ve got another change, as Megan Rapinoe enters the game for Tobin Heath.
Credit…Chang W. Lee/The New York Times
July 30, 2021, 8:22 a.m. ET
July 30, 2021, 8:22 a.m. ET
reporting from Yokohama, Japan
63′ Horan feeds Press at the back post for a goal but — wait for it — she is offside. That’s seven in the tournament for the U.S. now. Offside Goal still trails Miedema by a comfortable margin, however, in the Golden Boot race.
July 30, 2021, 8:23 a.m. ET
July 30, 2021, 8:23 a.m. ET
reporting from Yokohama, Japan
They’re doing a VAR check on the Press goal, but she looked off in real time and on replay. Which the review confirms.
July 30, 2021, 8:17 a.m. ET
July 30, 2021, 8:17 a.m. ET
reporting from Yokohama, Japan
57′ Line change for the U.S.: Morgan, Lavelle and Press come on for Williams, Lloyd and Mewis. That could signal a shift in formation, too, as Press slots in on the right of midfield.
July 30, 2021, 8:14 a.m. ET
July 30, 2021, 8:14 a.m. ET
reporting from Yokohama, Japan
55′ My goodness, Vivianne Miedema is unstoppable. She picked up the ball outside the box and made something seemingly out of nothing, measuring out some space with a series of quick touches, before cutting across the 18-yard line. When she found herself with a pocket of space, she lashed a right-footed shot inside the left post, out of the reach of Alyssa Naeher. That’s her 10th(!!!) goal of the tournament.
July 30, 2021, 8:12 a.m. ET
July 30, 2021, 8:12 a.m. ET
reporting from Yokohama, Japan
54′ GOAL! Vivianne Miedema’s second for the Netherlands. Wow. It’s 2-2.
Credit…Doug Mills/The New York Times
July 30, 2021, 8:10 a.m. ET
July 30, 2021, 8:10 a.m. ET
reporting from Yokohama, Japan
51′ The other semifinal is set, by the way: Australia stuns Britain, 4-3 in extra time, and will play Sweden (which beat the Matildas in group play). Canada, which knocked out Brazil on penalties, gets the U.S.-Netherlands winner.
July 30, 2021, 8:08 a.m. ET
July 30, 2021, 8:08 a.m. ET
reporting from Yokohama, Japan
50′ It sounds like someone turned up the volume on the fake crowd noise in here by half a tick. It’s hard not to get caught up in the atmosphere!
July 30, 2021, 8:05 a.m. ET
July 30, 2021, 8:05 a.m. ET
reporting from Yokohama, Japan
46′ The second half is underway. No lineup changes for either team.
July 30, 2021, 7:58 a.m. ET
July 30, 2021, 7:58 a.m. ET
Credit…Chang W. Lee/The New York Times
If you were hoping to see a different version of the U.S. women’s team in the knockout stages, well, congratulations. That was probably the best, most energetic, most dynamic 45 minutes the United States has played in Japan. That they did it against one of the world’s best teams is, for the moment, a bonus.
“We know what type of team we are,” forward Christen Press had said in a call with a handful of reporters on Thursday, suggesting that no one had seen that team yet.
“We know what type of offense we are. We have a way that we play, we have a way that we score goals and it’s been successful for years.”
“Ultimately,” she added, “when the team’s at its best, we are relentless and lethal.”
That was what the team showed in the first half. Relentless pressure and energy. Lethal finishes by Sam Mewis and Lynn Williams minutes apart, and just after the Americans had fallen behind against the run of play.
All week, after an opening loss to Sweden, the U.S. players talked about the “mentality” of their team, a winning mind-set forged over decades of successes and failures, highs and lows, internal pressures to not let down, even for a moment.
They know what it takes to win tournaments. They are showing it tonight.
But can they do it for another 45 minutes?
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July 30, 2021, 7:43 a.m. ET
July 30, 2021, 7:43 a.m. ET
Credit…Chang W. Lee/The New York Times
The energy from the American players is palpable right now. All game they have been yelling out to one another, sprinting for loose balls, working hard on defense.
Giving up an early goal, clearly against the run of play, would have been an easy opportunity for a team to deflate and hang their heads. The United States instead mustered a whirlwind response, netting two goals in a span of three minutes.
Earlier in the tournament, defender Kelley O’Hara talked about the need for the players to be “ruthless.” It feels like we’re seeing some of that attitude right now. There’s a long way to go, but the show of resilience is a promising sign for the time.
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July 30, 2021, 7:34 a.m. ET
July 30, 2021, 7:34 a.m. ET
reporting from Yokohama, Japan
33′ A clear handball in the area by the Netherlands there, a ball jumping up and hitting van der Gragt, I think, as she mis-controlled it. But the Australian referee, Kate Jacewicz, waves on play.
July 30, 2021, 7:32 a.m. ET
July 30, 2021, 7:32 a.m. ET
reporting from Yokohama, Japan
31′ Williams kept a play alive, winning a header off a corner kick, lofting the ball high into the air. When the ball finally descended to the field, she was there to smash it into the left side of the net.
July 30, 2021, 8:04 a.m. ET
July 30, 2021, 8:04 a.m. ET
Lynn Williams, one of the last players cut from the 2019 World Cup team, was originally an alternate for the Olympic roster until it was expanded to allow for a squad of 22. This is her first time in Tokyo as part of the starting 11 — and she makes her mark with an assist and a goal.
July 30, 2021, 7:31 a.m. ET
July 30, 2021, 7:31 a.m. ET
reporting from Yokohama, Japan
31′ GOAL! Lynn Williams! The U.S. turns the tables and it’s 2-1 in the blink of an eye.
Credit…Doug Mills/The New York Times
July 30, 2021, 7:32 a.m. ET
July 30, 2021, 7:32 a.m. ET
reporting from Yokohama, Japan
Christen Press and Rose Lavelle and Emily Sonnett come sprinting off the U.S. bench after that one. Lots of fire back in this team tonight.
July 30, 2021, 7:31 a.m. ET
July 30, 2021, 7:31 a.m. ET
reporting from Yokohama, Japan
28′ Williams made a hard dribbling run down the right side, then did a great job cutting the ball back to give herself the time and space to peek up into the box. She spotted Mewis making a run, and whipped a lefty cross straight onto her forehead. Mewis gave it a good knock just inside the right post, giving the Americans the goal they desperately needed. It’s a whole new ballgame.
July 30, 2021, 7:29 a.m. ET
July 30, 2021, 7:29 a.m. ET
reporting from Yokohama, Japan
28′ GOAL! Sam Mewis header! We’re tied in Yokohama.
Credit…Chang W. Lee/The New York Times
July 30, 2021, 7:27 a.m. ET
July 30, 2021, 7:27 a.m. ET
reporting from Yokohama, Japan
27′ Still waiting for our first Lynn Williams-Lynn Wilms encounter. Alas, they’ve been patrolling opposite touch lines.
July 30, 2021, 7:24 a.m. ET
July 30, 2021, 7:24 a.m. ET
Credit…Doug Mills/The New York Times
The goal that gave the Netherlands the lead will sting the United States, obviously, but mostly because a lot of good work over the first 15 minutes was undone in an instant.
The U.S. strategy has definitely been a shift tonight: They are pressing the Netherlands whenever it has the ball, almost as if they don’t want the Dutch to have it, or they are insulted when they do. But that’s hard work — a lot of running, a lot of pressing, a lot of tracking for no reward, until there is one.
All of it, however, was undone by a momentary lapse that let the best player in the tournament turn and fire from about 15 yards. Miedema was never going to miss from there.
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July 30, 2021, 7:20 a.m. ET
July 30, 2021, 7:20 a.m. ET
reporting from Yokohama, Japan
18′ What a great piece of skill by Miedema. A cross was swirling into the box behind her, and she got a toe on it to get it under control. In a single motion, she spun her body, got in position to shoot and fired it into the lower left corner to give the Netherlands a 1-0 lead. That’s her ninth(!) goal of the tournament.
July 30, 2021, 7:24 a.m. ET
July 30, 2021, 7:24 a.m. ET
Miedema is already breaking records. She has scored the most goals ever in a single Olympic women’s tournament, a record she shattered in the group stage.
July 30, 2021, 7:18 a.m. ET
July 30, 2021, 7:18 a.m. ET
reporting from Yokohama, Japan
18′ GOAL! The Netherlands leads through Vivianne Miedema. 1-0.
Credit…Chang W. Lee/The New York Times
July 30, 2021, 7:16 a.m. ET
July 30, 2021, 7:16 a.m. ET
reporting from Yokohama, Japan
14′ Oooh, the U.S. gets close again. Williams is sprung on the right and crosses hard and low for Horan at the back post. She meets the ball well, but the Dutch goalie Sari van Veenendaal dives to push it onto her post, and then covers up as it lays there tantalizingly. Great chance.
July 30, 2021, 7:14 a.m. ET
July 30, 2021, 7:14 a.m. ET
reporting from Yokohama, Japan
11′ Ouch! Ertz went airborne for a lofted ball, but Shanice van de Sanden did not. Ertz flipped over the Dutch player’s body and landed squarely on her back. She winces in pain, but she’s OK.
Credit…Doug Mills/The New York Times
July 30, 2021, 7:12 a.m. ET
July 30, 2021, 7:12 a.m. ET
reporting from Yokohama, Japan
10′ GOOAAAL … Nooooo. Heath beats the trap and latches onto a ball in the area, and then slots it home. But as soon as it hits the net the assistant referee raises her flag: no goal. That’s the *sixth* goal lost to offside in the last three games for the Americans — equal to their actual goal total.
July 30, 2021, 7:07 a.m. ET
July 30, 2021, 7:07 a.m. ET
reporting from Yokohama, Japan
6′ Case in point about the quiet in the stadium: We just heard Julie Ertz yell, “We gotta keep the ball moving!”
July 30, 2021, 7:08 a.m. ET
July 30, 2021, 7:08 a.m. ET
reporting from Yokohama, Japan
7′ That’s better than what she was yelling a minute earlier, the extremely subtle instruction of “Drop Tobin drop Tobin Tobin drop drop drop!”
Heath gets away by winning the first corner, but the Dutch clear it easily.
Credit…Chang W. Lee/The New York Times
July 30, 2021, 7:06 a.m. ET
July 30, 2021, 7:06 a.m. ET
reporting from Yokohama, Japan
4′ Lloyd just forced a hurried clearance. She hasn’t let up since the opening whistle. She is the fittest player on the U.S. team, but at 39 she knows this might be her last big tournament (if she follows through on hints that it is). She doesn’t want to go out in the quarters.
July 30, 2021, 7:00 a.m. ET
July 30, 2021, 7:00 a.m. ET
reporting from Yokohama, Japan
Eight seconds into the game and Carli Lloyd is in the goalkeeper’s face inside her own six-yard box. So that’s how Lloyd is going to play, I see.
July 30, 2021, 7:00 a.m. ET
July 30, 2021, 7:00 a.m. ET
reporting from Yokohama, Japan
It’s steamy here in the press area. I’m sweating, but it might have just been the seven-story ascent to get to our nosebleed seats. And with the track ringing the field, it feels like we’re watching from a mile away. Even so, it’s so quiet that we can hear what some of the players are saying way out there on the grass.
July 30, 2021, 6:59 a.m. ET
July 30, 2021, 6:59 a.m. ET
reporting from Yokohama, Japan
Canada beats Brazil 4-3 on penalties after a scoreless tie. That means the Canadians await the winner of the U.S. vs. Netherlands match.
July 30, 2021, 6:56 a.m. ET
July 30, 2021, 6:56 a.m. ET
reporting from Yokohama, Japan
Canada and Brazil are in penalties in the day’s first quarterfinal, and Sam Kerr scored late for Australia to tie Britain, 2-2. We may have four games at once here.
July 30, 2021, 6:47 a.m. ET
July 30, 2021, 6:47 a.m. ET
reporting from Yokohama, Japan
Six members of the Netherlands starting lineup also started the 2019 Women’s World Cup final. For the U.S., that number is eight.
July 30, 2021, 6:47 a.m. ET
July 30, 2021, 6:47 a.m. ET
The United States, as it has in every match, has made a few changes to its starting lineup against the Netherlands. But look closely and you can see some purpose in a few of them.
Up front, an attack of Tobin Heath, Carli Lloyd and Lynn Williams suggests the Americans might be looking to press the Dutch a bit. Williams, not a fixture in the team lately, is very good at that, and very quick. Lloyd might be the fittest woman in Yokohama today, or anyplace else for that matter. Her work rate and ability and willingness to challenge a goalkeeper taking a punt and then track back to harass the place it lands is legendary, and has been evident at the Games.
That midfield — Sam Mewis, Julie Ertz and Lindsey Horan — is about as sturdy as the team can send out: tough on the ground, strong in the air. And the back line is Coach Vlatko Andonovski’s preferred setup.
But the lineup is also a reflection of what will be coming at it: a front line of Lieke Martens, Vivianne Miedema and Shanice van de Sanden, supported by Danielle van de Donk and Jackie Groenen in midfield.
There isn’t a coach in the world who wouldn’t love to run out either of these teams. But let’s see how they start and play before anyone jumps to conclusions about the instructions they’ve been given.
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July 30, 2021, 6:36 a.m. ET
July 30, 2021, 6:36 a.m. ET
reporting from Yokohama, Japan
Both teams are going through expansive, spirited warmups on the field at Yokohama International Stadium, which is ENORMOUS. But it will never not be weird to hear booming public address announcements in these giant stadiums, welcoming you to a game that no fans can attend.
