The USWNT bounced back, as basically everyone expected it to do, taking care of New Zealand 6-1 on Saturday in Saitama, Japan. After they were crushed by Sweden in the Olympic opener, the Americans needed a response, and this was a pretty good one. It was a fairly straightforward victory, though not necessarily the sort of performance that will scare the other medal favorites in Japan.
One thing Team USA did accomplish was providing one of the few audience members a profound understanding of the intricacies of the offside rule.
American first lady Jill Biden was a special guest at Saitama Stadium, one of the few non-participants allowed to watch the game in person. While Jill and her husband have a history of attending national team matches (men and women), it’s unclear how closely the first couple follows soccer. Fortunately, the USWNT gave Jill Biden — and any Americans tuning in for a 4:30 a.m. PT kickoff — a crash course in the offside rule.
FLOTUS in the house! Thank you for your support, @DrBiden! pic.twitter.com/h3YVeXyrWH
— U.S. Soccer WNT (@USWNT) July 24, 2021
The U.S. had four goals called back for offside in the first half, almost as if they were intentionally trying to provide examples of offside for new fans of the sport. They finally figured out how to stay onside in the second half, piling on four goals in the final 30 minutes to overturn a bit of the goal difference hole they dug in the 3-0 defeat to Sweden.
USWNT vs New Zealand Highlights (2020 Olympics)
Rose Lavelle scored nine minutes in and it quickly became apparent the U.S. would not lose this game, even if New Zealand occasionally highlighted how porous this USWNT defense has been in Japan.
¡LLEGÓ EL PRIMER GOL DE ESTADOS UNIDOS!
La encargada fue @roselavelle quien con un fogonazo le está dando el triunfo a @USWNT #OlimpicosTelemundo #NZL 0-1 #USA #JuegosOlimpicos #Tokyo2020 pic.twitter.com/2NXVIctzyO— Telemundo Deportes (@TelemundoSports) July 24, 2021
What ensued in the remainder of the first half was a parade of goals called back by the offside flag.
Carli Lloyd flicked the ball over the keeper for a lovely finish, but she had lazily strayed offside before the cross. Tobin Heath scored via a Crystal Dunn pass, but the left back made her run too early to get in behind the defense. Megan Rapinoe had a nice finish near the penalty spot, but everyone in the stadium knew the flag was soon to be raised. And finally, Lindsey Horan flew in at the back post to score with her head, only for the VAR to confirm a questionable offside call.
If ever there was a match to explain the offside rule, this was it. Hopefully Jill Biden had someone explain it to her if she wasn’t already aware of the rule. For those unfamiliar, here’s the offside rule:
A player is in an offside position if:
- any part of the head, body or feet is in the opponents’ half (excluding the halfway line) and
- any part of the head, body or feet is nearer to the opponents’ goal line than both the ball and the second-last opponent
- The hands and arms of all players, including the goalkeepers, are not considered. For the purposes of determining offside, the upper boundary of the arm is in line with the bottom of the armpit.
A player is not in an offside position if level with the:
- second-last opponent or
- last two opponents
Here, Lloyd strayed beyond the second-to-last New Zealand player before Emily Sonnett’s ball in, which is offside.
¡Lastima que fue un fuera de lugar!
@CarliLloyd nos había regalado un bonito gol en el áreaLa abanderada marcó posición adelantada #OlimpicosTelemundo #NZL 0-1 #USA #JuegosOlimpicos #Tokyo2020 pic.twitter.com/mVMbkd5pEa
— Telemundo Deportes (@TelemundoSports) July 24, 2021
On this disallowed goal, the assistant referee and VAR thought Horan went beyond the second-to-last defender before being picked out at the back post by Lavelle. This one looked onside to us, so maybe it wasn’t the best example of the rule.
¿Es enserio? ¡4 goles anulados a #USA!
Entró el VAR a revisar y determinó que había posición adelantada
Para ti ¿fue correcta la decisión? Te leemos#OlimpicosTelemundo #JuegosOlimpicos #Tokyo2020 pic.twitter.com/KrM35ZeNly
— Telemundo Deportes (@TelemundoSports) July 24, 2021
Dear VAR, I’d like to speak to the manager. Lindsey Horan was 100% onside here. Should be 2-0 right now. #USWNT #NZL #Tokyo2020 pic.twitter.com/oG21kIbFcq
— The18 (@the18com) July 24, 2021
After the spate of offside goals, the U.S. finally scored a second through Horan. Fortunately, you can’t be offside on a corner, so Julie Ertz headed the ball back to Horan to make it 2-0 just before halftime.
¡EL QUINTO FUE EL BUENO!
@LindseyHoran remata de cabeza en el área chica tras una linda jugada#OlimpicosTelemundo #NZL 0-2 #USA #JuegosOlimpicos #Tokyo2020 pic.twitter.com/nQeloZdiNL— Telemundo Deportes (@TelemundoSports) July 24, 2021
The second half went a bit better for the Americans, who realized they didn’t need to get in behind the Football Ferns defense to find space — there was plenty of it all over the pitch against a team that was unable to properly prepare for the Olympics because of Covid-19 restrictions.
Though she didn’t get on the score sheet on Saturday, Lloyd did trouble the New Zealand defense and created an own goal from NWSL veteran Abby Erceg.
¡¿QUÉ PASÓ AHÍ?!
Abby Erceg quiso desviar el remate de cabeza de @CarliLloyd y terminó metiéndolo en su propia portería #OlimpicosTelemundo #NZL 0-3 #USA #JuegosOlimpicos #Tokyo2020 pic.twitter.com/0UzldWZejZ— Telemundo Deportes (@TelemundoSports) July 24, 2021
New Zealand got one back in the 72nd minute after an absolute nightmare from Abby Dahlkemper. The goal was the fourth allowed by the USWNT in Japan after having allowed four goals in Vlatko Andonovksi’s first 23 games in charge of the team, which has to worry U.S. fans.
¡Oh no!
Desatención de la defensa de #USA que aprovechó @betsyhassett12 para definir de gran manera #OlimpicosTelemundo #NZL 1-3 #USA #JuegosOlimpicos #Tokyo2020 pic.twitter.com/WmzpSZv5dU— Telemundo Deportes (@TelemundoSports) July 24, 2021
Christen Press then delighted Biden with a lovely finish to kick off a closing period in which the U.S. piled on three late goals.
¡BELLEZA DE DEFINICIÓN!
@ChristenPress a pase de @julieertz está sellando la goleada⚽️ 37 goles en 38 partidos con @USWNT #OlimpicosTelemundo #NZL 1-4 #USA pic.twitter.com/dZS3xzjzQB
— Telemundo Deportes (@TelemundoSports) July 24, 2021
Alex Morgan came off the bench to make it 5-1 with a composed finish.
¡Gol ⚽️ de @alexmorgan13 de @USWNT! y se estrena en estos #JuegosOlimpicos de #Tokyo2020
— Telemundo Deportes (@TelemundoSports) July 24, 2021
And finally Press created one more own goal to improve the USWNT’s goal difference heading into the Group G final against Australia, which is also sitting on three points after losing to Sweden 4-2 on Saturday.
Cayó e 6to. gol para @USWNT , por un autogol de Catherine Bott de Nueva Zelanda.#USA golea a #NZSL para desquitarse del mal inicio en los #JuegosOlimpicos de #Tokyo2020 #OlimpicosTelemundo pic.twitter.com/tVqLDXMTK9
— Telemundo Deportes (@TelemundoSports) July 24, 2021
Now that Biden has an intimate understanding of the offside rule, she can get ready for the USA-Australia match, which will kick off at 4 a.m. ET on Tuesday.