USA Women’s National Team And Alex Morgan Roll On: Take-Aways From SheBelieves Cup

The US Soccer-hosted SheBelieves Cup served as a big test for the world’s top teams ahead of this summer’s Rio Olympics and the Euro 2017 Cup. The US Women’s National Team topped the invitational tournament, beating Germany, France, and England. England will look ahead to the Euros, but the other three will be title contenders and are currently prepping for the Rio Olympics.

USA Women’s National Team And Alex Morgan Roll On

Here’s what we learned from the first inaugural SheBelieves Cup:

Firstly, the US women continue to win. At times, it almost seemed as if they wouldn’t be able to beat any one of their three opponents–and yet somehow, late in the game, they always found a way to win. The women’s team is on a strong winning streak that suggests coach Jill Ellis is on track to make history. They defeated Germany 2-1 at FAU Stadium in Boca Raton, Fla. on Wednesday. After Germany led 1-0, the US’s Alex Morgan received a lob pass from Meghan Klingenberg after the latter avoided a German defender. Morgan took the pass on the left side of Germany’s box, let it bounce twice, then controlled it by lifting it over a defender with her left foot, and finished off by firing a shot with her right before the ball could hit the ground again. She tied the game at 1-1 in the 35th minute.

Morgan also scored the US’s only goal in their 1-0 win over France at Nissan Stadium in Nashville, Tenn., on Sunday. The US women’s team also defeated England 1-0 in Tampa on March 3.

It appears that no American player has been both criticized and praised simultaneously in the past year as much as Morgan has been. She scored once in last summer’s World Cup and some believed her to be unqualified to start for the US women’s team. As of late, she has seemed to be performing well, although she is nowhere near the form she was in back in 2012, when she scored nearly one goal per game. She scored 28 goals in 31 appearances that year, versus eight goals in nine appearances in 2012.

Christen Press and Crystal Dunn have also stepped up and proven themselves to be strong, valuable attackers who have scored brilliant goals in both the SheBelieves Cup and CONCACAF Olympic qualifiers. This, coupled with the retirement of Morgan’s longtime striker partner Abby Wambach, led some critics to state that Dunn and Press would make better strikers than Morgan.

Morgan earned the Golden Boot and Golden Ball of the SheBelieves Cup, while US goalie Hope Solo earned the Golden Glove.

Secondly, we learned that England’s Women’s National Team remains a team on the rise. Striker Jodie Taylor seemed to sum it up best: “If this tournament had come this time last year, a few people might have thought we’d be a little bit out of our depth. But it shows how far we have come. To even be invited to a tournament like this shows what the rest of the world thinks of us.”

In the aftermath of the tournament, the English Lionesses continued to prove that they can compete against the world’s top teams. Their historic third-place finish at the Women’s World Cup was certainly noteworthy.

Coach Mark Sampson will surely come up with new tactics to prevent setbacks like being out-shot like they were in every game of the SheBelieves Cup. (Even then, England ultimately finished third in the overall rankings)

Thirdly, we learned that the debate over the turf is getting progressively more complicated

After the US players revolted in December and US Soccer canceled a planned friendly over concerns about the poor field conditions, federation president Sunil Gulati partially blamed the dust-up on US Soccer’s failure to inspect the field beforehand. The attorney for the players union declared the incident part of larger discrimination the team faces from US Soccer.

However, Hope Solo’s tweet on Tuesday complaining about poor field conditions at FAU Stadium before the team’s win over Germany demonstrated that the issue goes beyond natural grass versus artificial turf and where the women’s team gets to play versus where the men’s team does. FAU’s field is natural grass and both the national teams have played there in the past two years, eliminating common complaints about how the women’s team is treated. But the grass also looked patchy and uneven, scattered all over with bumps and sandy plots that lacked grass. It wasn’t a nice pitch.

The US Soccer lawsuit–aimed at the union representing the Women’s National Team over an ongoing contract dispute about when the team’s collective bargaining agreement expires –is set for May 25.

Caption: FRISCO, TX – FEBRUARY 10: Alex Morgan #13 of USA scores a goal in the first minute of play against Wendy Acosta #20 of Costa Rica during the 2016 CONCACAF Women’s Olympic Qualifying at Toyota Stadium on February 10, 2016 in Frisco, Texas. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)