Lady Yanks Touch Down in Wellington and Gear up to Tussle With the Dutch

Wellington – Burgundy Wave is anticipating another up-and-down and sideline-to-sideline duel between two international football rivals. FIFA 9th ranked Netherlands and 1st ranked United States are set to play tonight in Wellington, New Zealand’s oval-bowl Sky Stadium. 

The impressive bay side venue is complete with an enormous pattern that depicts Tangaroa, the guardian of all sea and waterways and Nga Mangōpare, the hammerhead sharks. The other night it hosted the Philippines and New Zealand contest. The crowd filled to its rafters with over 48,000 ardent nationals.

Next, it will host a no holds barred grudge match, as the Netherlands aim to avenge an agonizing loss in the 2019 Women’s World Cup final. To say nothing of the 4-2 penalty kick loss to the Lady Yanks in a wild quarterfinal during the postponed 2020 Summer Olympics in Japan.

That match sent the United States Women’s National Soccer Team (USWNT) to the semifinal, and bitter Dutch, back home to simmer, until now.

Both teams are coming off Group E first game victories. The Netherlands nipped Portugal, 1-0, while the United States KO’d Vietnam 3-0 in 90 minutes of entertaining play. The Yanks were led by the Colorado dynamic duo of Sophia Smith and Lindsey Horan, now household names around the globe.

Team USA should have scored more than three times.

“We obviously could have put away a few more questions, myself included,” Smith said during her assembly with the media. “That’s always going to be the case. We always want more, we always want to strive for more, but we’re happy with the result. It’s a win and we’ll take it and we take that going into the next game.”

Horan added that she expected the team to view films of their play against Vietnam and get down to the root cause of their underwhelming performance.

The U.S. got off 28 shots, of which seven were on target, while the Netherlands launched 12 salvos, five of which were aimed at goal.

One can only hope that both teams have more goals in them, as it make for a double-entertaining game for the world to watch. Fans here on the southern end of the North Island are eager for the tussle to begin. Picturesque Wellington is brimming with World Cup activities and fanfare. Country-by-country bravado is both evident in fashion choices and heard, loud and clear, throughout the metropolitan city.

The U.S. currently sits atop Group E on with a +3 goal differential. The top two teams from each group will advance to the Round of 16.

During the Summer Games, they squared off in Yokohama, Japan. In retrospect, it was a game meant for viewing in an IMAX theater with complete sound surround. Back then it was U.S. goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher who rose to the occasion. Throughout the match, she made numerous brilliant saves including one late in regulation that would have put the Oranje ahead. 

She replicated her defiance by making two worldly saves during the penalty kick shootout. Yet, the win came down to Megan Rapinoe. 

Rapinoe followed the cool, calm and collective likes of Alex Morgan, Rose Lavelle and Christine Press, who found the back of the net.

Rapinoe took charge and squeeze-off her shot into the top right corner.

Horan was a member of that Olympic team. She played her usual dogged two-way football. Four minutes into the match, she received a pretty cross from Lynn Williams and attempted to header it past Dutch keeper, Sari van Veenendaal. She made a grade A save and Horan’s header ricocheted away from the frame.

The game will be played on July 26 7 p.m. MT on FOX, Telemundo, Universo and Peacock. The Down Under winter weather is predicted to be mostly sunny and in the 50’s during match play.

Expect the Dutch to pack-in their stellar midfield in an attempt to bog-down the United States attack, meanwhile, deploying their wingers to go forward with the ball. 

Beyond that, Lady Yanks head coach Vlatko Andonovski lips were buttoned-up, with the exception of saying “I won’t go into details about how we can hurt them, but I do believe in the quality and the ability in the players that we have on our team. I think there are always to be successful ways against them (Netherlands).” See, Andonovski is a believer too. I expect the unexpected, especially in the starting lineup. Game on.

Check with your local American Outlaw Organization for viewing events and your favorite watering holes this should be one doozy of a game soccer fans.

Photo Credit: John Babiak.

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