U.S. women beat Italy to qualify for World Cup
Nearly 30 minutes after the United States completed a 1-0 victory Saturday against Italy, it still hadn't sunk in to defender Amy LePeilbet that she and her teammates are going to next summer's Women's World Cup.
“Not totally yet, but I'm super excited that we are,” the Crystal Lake native said after she and 9,508 fans celebrated at Toyota Park in Bridgeview.
The United States found itself in an unusual position, having to win a two-game playoff series after finishing third at the CONCACAF qualifying tournament, but the Americans did it with a little room to spare. They won the series 2-0 on aggregate.
The United States scored the game's only goal when Italian goalkeeper Ana Maria Picarelli couldn't handle Megan Rapinoe's ball from her right, fumbling it in front of her net. Forward Amy Rodriguez beat a couple of defenders to the ball, scoring from 7 yards out.
“It was kind of a jumble in front of the net,” Rodriguez said. “The ball was loose and I just saw it escape from the goalie and just tried to dive in there and put it on frame. Luckily it hit the back of the net.”
“It was huge for us to get a goal before the break,” Rapinoe added. “That was big for us. A win is a win. We have a lot to work on going into the World Cup, but at this point we're ecstatic to be qualified for the World Cup and we'll do all we can next year to put ourselves in good position to win.”
While the Americans were thrilled to reserve their spot in Germany next June, they know they need to play better. Their coach made sure they knew.
“First of all, I want to apologize for the first 20 minutes. It was crap,” U.S. coach Pia Sundhage said to begin her postgame press conference. “... We made some bad decisions, some technical errors I've never seen before from experienced players.”
Part of the problem can be blamed on nerves, part of it on the 36-degree temperatures. The cold affected the players “My feet were like cinderblocks,” Rapinoe said and the soccer ball.
“It was hard as a rock,” Rapinoe said. “You can tell by my toes. They're aching a bit.”
While Sundhage pronounced herself “very happy with the way they played eventually,” the main object of the exercise was to advance, and the Americans accomplished that, even if the accomplishment was delayed a few weeks.
“I'm so happy that we won. we worked so hard,” LePeilbet said. “It's a great feeling for us today of success and accomplishment. We're on to that next step now.”