The Shadow League has often raved about the dominance of the U.S. Womens National Team, particularly in The World Cup over the past two decades and we’ve covered their fight for equality in pay and the struggle to be valued like their much less successful male counterparts. Their glorious 2015 FIFA Womens World Cup win was the squads first WC title since 1999 and the most watched soccer match in American history.
With heavy hearts we watched the stunning loss to Sweden in Rio that knocked the US favorites out of the Olympics in August. The loss surely didnt hurt the teams celebrity. They still have some of the worlds elite players like Alex Morgan, who dropped her 18th career multi-goal game. Her 77 career goals, moves her into sole possession of seventh place on the all-time scoring list for the WNT.
WNT vs. New Zealand: Alex Morgan Second Goal – Sept. 19, 2017
It was another beautiful run from Pugh on the left wing to find Morgan in the corner inside the 18-yard box. Morgan received the ball with her right foot, bringing it down to set up an incredible first-time, left-footed strike thundering off the underside of the crossbar into the net for her second goal of the match.
Win or lose, these girls stay in the news and are a huge draw in America. Those myths about Americans not wanting to watch soccer goes out the window when Team USA rolls through. From Michelle Akers to Mia Hamm to Kristine Lilly to Tiffeny Milbrett to Abby Wambach to Carli Loyd, the tradition of high-powered excellence rolls on.
Tuesday night proved that as the U.S. Womens National Team defeated New Zealand 5-0 in front of a frenzied crowd of anywhere between 30,000-36,000 fans depending on which publication you trust. Alex Morgan, Lindsey Horan, Mallory Pugh and Lynn Williams scored at Nippert Stadium in Cincinnati, Ohio.
The crowd was the largest to ever attend a WNT match in the state of Ohio and was the seventh highest standalone WNT friendly crowd in history. The other six came in 2015 and included another match against New Zealand (April 4 in St. Lous) as well as five Victory Tour games. Additionally, the crowd was 23rd largest WNT home crowd all-time.
Lisa Brown on Twitter
35,817 in attendance at US Womens national soccer game vs. New Zealand at Busch Stadium. U.S. Leads 4-0 #USAvNZL
With the win, the USA sweeps the two-game series against the Oceania champions.
Next for the USA will be two matches against the Korea Republic on Oct. 19 at the Superdome in New Orleans (7 p.m. CT on FS1) and on Oct. 22 at Sahlens Stadium at Wakemed Soccer Park in Cary, N.C. (2 p.m. ET on ESPN) as they continue to build for the 2019 World Cup and the 2020 Olympic Games.
