LIVE: Mewis, Williams Respond for USWNT vs. Netherlands

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The 2019 Women’s World Cup finalists clash for a place in the semifinals vs. Canada.

The U.S. women’s national team is playing for its life at the Olympics, opening the knockout stage with a 2019 Women’s World Cup final rematch vs. the Netherlands.

The quarterfinal in Yokohama, Japan, comes on the heels of an uncharacteristic group stage for the U.S., which finished second to Sweden in the group and saw its 44-match unbeaten streak come to an end. Despite a bright start on Friday, the U.S. was forced to play from behind, but it appears to have found its mojo again.

Vivianne Miedema added to her Olympic record with her ninth goal of the competition to open the scoring for the Dutch in the 18th minute, only for Sam Mewis to equalize 10 minutes later and Lynn Williams to give the U.S. the lead three minutes after that. Miedema’s goal came against the run of play, with the U.S. having enjoyed a bright opening quarter of an hour with a lineup that featured plenty of surprises.

Alex Morgan, Megan Rapinoe, Christen Press and Rose Lavelle were all confined to the bench, with Williams—an alternate only on the full roster due to the IOC expanding squads from 18 to 22 players—Carli Lloyd and Tobin Heath starting up front and Lavelle, who scored in each of the U.S.’s past two meetings vs. the Netherlands, being looked over in favor of Lindsey Horan and Mewis in the midfield.

Nevertheless, Vlatko Andonovski’s changes appeared to pay off at the start. The U.S. pressed well and was on the front foot. Heath had a goal disallowed for offside in the 10th minute, the sixth time a U.S. goal has been chalked off by the offside flag at this tournament. Four minutes later, Horan had a header turned off the post by Netherlands goalkeeper Sari van Veenendaal, but it was clear the U.S. was enjoying the early momentum.

That changed four minutes later. Danielle van de Donk’s shot from the edge of the U.S. box was blocked, and it fell for Miedema, who had barely had a sniff of the action but was aggressive to be first to the loose ball and then clinical enough to beat Alyssa Naeher with her shot.

The U.S. responded well, though. First, Mewis delivered a diving header off a cross from Williams to pull the U.S. even at 1-1.

Then three minutes later, the roles were reversed, with Williams firing home from the center of the box off an assist from Mewis, who simply kept the U.S. attack alive by winning a header in the Netherlands area.

The winner will advance to the semifinals to face Canada, which outlasted Brazil in penalty kicks after a 0–0 draw.

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