The United States of America exits after a millimeter decision on penalties

In the ninth Women's World Cup, there was no medal for American soccer players for the first time. The defending champion lost to Sweden on penalties in the round of 16 in Melbourne.

After 120 unattractive minutes the score was 0-0. But the ending is unsurpassable in terms of drama. The United States could have made the decision four times from a penalty kick or save, but failed each time.

Then Arsenal striker Lena Hurtig stepped up. American goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher seems to be able to stop the ball to the max. However, after seemingly endless seconds, goal-line technology revealed that the ball was barely more than a millimeter above the goal line.

The Swedes cheered, and the Americans returned home earlier than ever. In the previous eight competitions, the United States won four gold medals, one silver medal, and three bronze medals.

The fact that there was actually a duel in the round of 16 between the defending champion and the Olympic runner-up, ranked No. 1 and No. 3 in the world rankings, was due to the poor preliminary round of the Americans, where they finished only second. the group. They showed great improvement against Sweden, but despite their clear field superiority, they were unable to overcome the strong Swedish goalkeeper, Zisera Mosovic.

Nerves failed in the penalty shootout, not least for 38-year-old veteran Megan Rapinoe, who left the big stage with a bitter defeat. This means that Nos. 1 and 2 (Olympic champion Canada) have already failed before the quarter-finals. However, things won't get any easier for Sweden. In the quarter-finals, the Scandinavian team will face Japan, which has performed very convincingly so far.

(NI/DAP)