PARIS — Megan Rapinoe played a memorable role when a World Cup quarterfinal launched a new golden era for the United States women’s national team eight years ago, serving up the pinpoint pass that Abby Wambach headed home in extra time against Brazil.
Friday night, even as darkness finally fell over a boisterous Parc des Princes in another quarterfinal for the ages, Rapinoe made sure the sun hasn’t set on that era quite yet.
Scoring two goals for the second consecutive game, the first player to do that in the World Cup since Marta in 2007, Rapinoe propelled the United States to a 2-1 win against France in front of a crowd of 45,595 in Paris.
Rapinoe gave the U.S. women the lead with a set-piece goal in the opening minutes, then added to her total in a second half in which the United States was largely under siege from the resilient French. It was that second goal that proved to be the difference after France’s Wendie Renard headed in a free kick and brought France within a goal in the final 10 minutes.
Rapinoe said after the previous game that she wanted a spectacle. She helped make Friday the best kind.
This World Cup hasn’t always come off in the best light. From a missing Ballon d’Or winner to goal celebrations to VAR to the all-around chaos of Cameroon against England, controversy has all too often overshadowed soccer. Even Friday, concerns about excessive heat in Paris cast a proverbial, but unfortunately not literal, shadow over things. But for a night in one of the planet’s grandest cities, the spectacle and the soccer were everything.
From a deafening rendition of “Le Marseillaise,” the French anthem, and a spirited effort by an enormous contingent of American fans to match the noise from the hosts, the atmosphere was electric with an edge. This wasn’t family fun. This was a World Cup quarterfinal.
What distraction?
It’s usually not a sign everything is going smoothly when a player has to open a news conference with a statement before taking questions, as Rapinoe did the day before the match in Paris. But in saying Thursday she stood behind her comments about not wishing to visit the White House, minus some of her language, and then shifting the focus to the game against France, she looked entirely at ease with her place in the spotlight. She always does.
Any thought that the week’s controversy would distract her or the U.S. team vanished when her free kick went under a leaping Julie Ertz and between the legs of Eugenie Le Sommer before sliding into the French net for a 1-0 lead in the fifth minute.
Early yellow unsettles France
Alex Morgan spent most of the Round of 16 game against Spain getting run over, knocked down and generally hassled by opponents intent on being physical with her.
In really the first point of conflict Friday night, she didn’t give France’s Griedge Mbock Bathy a chance. Morgan’s speed gave her a step on Bathy as both chased a ball down the left flank. Bathy didn’t do much to hide the firm grip she put on Morgan’s arm as a result, drawing a yellow card when the forward finally fell. That sprint, when Morgan certainly looked no worse for wear after the punishment she absorbed against Spain and after earlier injury concerns, created the free kick on which Rapinoe scored.
U.S. digs in to survive
The second half dissolved into a struggle for survival, but credit the U.S. women for withstanding as tough a test as any they will ever face — slowing waves of French attacks with a stadium of fans pushing the host forward.
Becky Sauerbrunn’s positioning and play throughout shone all the more while sharing the field with Renard. Sauerbrunn made a strong case, quietly as always, as the best defender in the world.
But also give credit to Crystal Dunn and Kelley O’Hara. Stretched to the breaking point by France’s ability to get wide — through Kadidiatou Diani on Dunn’s side of the field and Amel Majri and Le Sommer on O’Hara’s side — the two converted attackers hung in. It was largely composed in the first half and largely frantic in the second half, but they did the job.
If O’Hara needed a bit of luck with a near-handball in the box in the closing minutes, the ball striking her arm but when it was in a natural position close to her body, she earned it.
The entire U.S. defensive effort earned it.
Lindsey Horan was missed
Rose Lavelle is going to have a decade’s worth of good nights in big games. Friday, unfortunately, won’t rank highly on that list. The decision not to start Horan for the second game in a row was puzzling before the game started and got no less puzzling as it progressed.
The United States misses her all-around game when she’s not in the midfield, and if getting her back out there means playing her alongside Sam Mewis, then that might need to be the plan.
On to the semifinals
It was a little more difficult than four years ago, when the U.S. women needed only beat China to advance, but the Americans’ streak of reaching the semifinals in every World Cup continues.
And the challenge doesn’t get much easier. In winning its quarterfinal against Norway, England finally looked like the chic pick it was before the tournament. The English have played the U.S. women well in recent years, beating them in New Jersey in 2017, and there shouldn’t be a fear factor.
France, meanwhile, is out of the World Cup and fails to qualify for the Olympics next summer. The top three European finishers at the World Cup earn Olympic spots; England is already through to the semifinals, and Saturday’s quarterfinals pit four more European teams (Italy vs. Netherlands and Sweden vs. Germany).