And on that note, we’ll see you on Tuesday for the semifinal. Enjoy your afternoon/evening. The player of the match has to be Trinity Rodman. She didn’t just score the lone goal on a superior individual effort. She tracked back repeatedly to help the USA maintain a 71-29 edge in possession. Naomi Girma was, of course, superb in central defense. Sophia Smith was dangerous at times but also squandered some opportunities. Crystal Dunn was in so many places of the field that I was beginning to think Emma Hayes had put two of her in the lineup. It’s a bit disappointing for Japan. This team is capable of a better showing than this. Peter Oh writes: “Bike change while passing through the Louvre? With apologies to William Gibson, I guess it’s fair to say that the race is in Mona Lisa Overdrive.” (Yes, I had to look up the reference.) Full time: USA 1-0 Japan I’m a little more impressed with the USA in this game than NBC’s commentators. I see where they’re coming from, sure, and Julie Foudy is concerned that Hayes isn’t keeping her team fresh with more substitutions. But they exerted such little effort in maintaining possession throughout the first half. No one from the USA seemed tired. And Japan never really looked dangerous. They only put one shot on target, and it didn’t trouble Alyssa Naeher. I think Emma Hayes got it right. And leaving Trinity Rodman out there certainly paid off – the players on the US bench probably don’t score from that position. But that’s academic, really. Bottom line: The USA are deservedly in the semifinals. One win away from getting back on the podium. Two wins away from getting back on top. 120 min +2: Chiba gets inside of Dunn with the ball, but as the US sparkplug left back recovers, the Japanese attacker rushes a shot from an acute angle and is nowhere near. Time has elapsed. 120 min +1: Lynn Williams turns through the Japanese defense and is open for a moment. Eventually cleared. Only two minutes of stoppage time, even though Fox’s injury alone took more time than that. They’re still treating Fox. Krueger is up and ready to go. Elsewhere, this is one of the best things I’ve ever seen on an Olympics results feed: “Bike change after a mechanical for rider 6 while passing through the Louvre.” 118 min: A reader writes to say the game’s broadcast was just fine – in Japan. Corner kick for Japan, well defended. Emily Fox is down. Might we see Casey Krueger? 116 min: Dunn is still running and battling. You may recall that when Megan Rapinoe won every award under the sun in 2019, Dunn basically did all the running on the left flank so Rapinoe could stand and wait for a chance to do something with the ball, like a 3-point shooter on a basketball team just waiting for someone to drive and dish. 115 min: Chiba wins it from Sonnett, who has been shaky for the last hour or so. The US get a free kick as Williams is held in her own defensive third, but it seems a little odd – didn’t they have advantage at the time? 114 min: Nighswonger clears. I’ve yet to figure out what position she’s playing. Dunn is still playing left back. Awkward pass at the back, and Fox decides to go direct to Smith, who brings it into a dangerous area but may have overlooked an open teammate. 113 min: Rodman plays it for Smith, one on one with Yamashita. Kumagai comes in to help, and Yamashita collects. Oh dear – some disturbing news from Richard Rand: “Those of us watching the game on the NBC Olympics streaming channel missed the goal as a “Coverage has concluded” announcement flashed on the screen a few minutes before. Obviously, someone at NBC didn’t understand that football can have extra time. I eventually rediscovered the broadcast on the Peacock app.” Anyone else miss the goal? 111 min: NEARLY TWO FOR RODMAN. Smith plays to Rodman, who has no defender on her and shoots far post. Yamashita stretches a leg for the save. Flag goes up, signaling that Rodman was offside. Had Rodman scored, the VAR on that would’ve been interesting. 109 min: Smith and Rodman play keepaway. Then it goes back all the way to Naeher, who has had just about enough of this patient buildup and blasts it forward. Bad idea – Japan gain possession. But a US forward comes back to shield the ball out of play for a goal kick, and guess who it is. Trinity Rodman is a superstar. Period. 108 min: CHANCE FOR JAPAN! It’s loose near the penalty spot as Hayaski beats Horan to the ball. Somewhere in the mix, Ueki got a shot. But the USA scramble it clear. 107 min: Rodman tracks back again and helps Albert win the ball. The Japanese subs: Honoka Hayashi for Yui Hasegawa, and Remina Chiba for Hikaru Kitagawa. Rodman spends about five minutes taking a few sips of water. I exaggerate a little. Japan brings the house, using two more subs. And yes, it’ll be a defensive sub – Jenna Nighswonger replaces Rose Lavelle. No idea of the shape, but we’ll see. Elsewhere – the USA are guaranteed gold in another event taking place right now. Might even be gold-silver. This is the morning the USA needed – if this lead holds. End first half of extra time: USA 1-0 Japan What a scintillating moment for the outstanding Rodman. We get the VAR freeze-frame. Rodman was barely onside. Emily Fox with the assist. Now the substitution calculus changes. Maybe put in a defensive player and take off Rodman or Smith? GOOOOOOAAAALLLLL!!!! USA 1-0 Japan (Rodman 105+2) What a beautiful goal. Cut back onto her left to beat Hitagawa, then blasted it up into the upper netting as Yamashita can only get a hand to it. Will it be called back? Was Rodman offside? NO! It stands! 105 min: That was terrible. Girma played a great ball over the top to Rodman or Williams. One of them dropped it back, but there were two attackers in … Never mind all that … 105 min: Horan draws a foul at midfield. They take it quickly but then play the ball around slowly again. Smith with a through ball to Horan … oh, that was there. If Horan had taken off a split-second sooner, she would’ve been through on Yamashita. 104 min: Smith has the ball! She plays to the right for Rodman! … And Rodman boots it a mile wide of the goal. 104 min: The USA pass around for a bit, but it feels different this time, as if they’re trying to reclaim some control after conceding a couple of chances. 102 min: It appears that Albert may continue. Reminder: Emma Hayes has used only one (1) substitution. 101 min: Crystal Dunn fights through two Japanese attackers to win the ball off the Japanese corner. But it’s played back in and Naeher has to punch clear! That’s followed up by an overly ambitious shot by Hamano that sails high. If you like gymnastics at all, put your second screen on the vault. Rebeca Andrade is up. 99 min: Emily Fox plays a Japanese cross out for a corner, but that may be the least of the USA’s worries. Albert is drinking water, a sign that maybe she’s going to keep playing, but she’s clearly in some distress. Actually, now that we get a good view of the trainer, it looks like her calf rather than her knee, which might be promising. But we’re going to see Casey Krueger very soon, apparently. That will prompt a major shift. 97 min: The USA have a shot at a medal in the men’s road race. On my results feed, it looks like the women’s vault just completely stopped after Simone Biles went. Nothing of note is happening in this game … except that Korbin Albert just went down grabbing her knee. Uh oh. 96 min: CHANCE FOR SOPHIA SMITH, who picks a defender’s pocket and is one-on-one with Yamashita! But she takes one touch too many, and Yamashita is able to cut off the angle. 95 min: Where did Dunn go? Moriya has acres of space. The ball is centered, where Sonnett misplays it badly and is relieved to see Miyazawa’s shot hit the side netting. 94 min: We’ve not yet resumed the long spells of possession, with the USA creating significant problems for Japan in their own third. 93 min: Corner deflected for another corner. 92 min: Smith gets a sliver of space at the top of the area and is able to get a shot off as three Japanese defenders converge. Deflected for a corner. 91 min: Kitagawa gets a little physical trying to work her way past Fox. It’ll be a foul on Kitagawa, who also seems to have come out a little worse. Sub: Lynn Williams replaces Swanson. Also, Takahashi replaces Koga. End regulation time: USA 0-0 Japan Whee. Thirty more minutes of this. Elsewhere: GOLD AND SILVER FOR THE USA! Not saying what event. The women’s vault must have started late. 90 min +4: Ball is played into Rodman. She goes down in the penalty area! Didn’t look like a foul. On replay – no, that’s not a foul. Japan counter, and Naeher may have been a bit out of position and lucky to see a shot go over the bar. 90 min +3: CHANCE for the USA. Rodman splits two defenders. Swanson gets a touch. Resets back to Rodman. Cleared, and Japan play long for one attacker against two defenders, and Alyssa Naeher makes it three, racing out to get the ball forward with no delay. 90 min +2: A solid cross in the air from Japan, but there’s no one up front who’s going to win an aerial battle like that. Rodman clears with admirable poise. 90 min +1: Miyazawa is looking quite dangerous on Japan’s left flank. Four minutes of stoppage time. 90 min: Japan line up every player on the top of the penalty area. Lavelle gets set. A US player immediate runs five yards offside. But the ball is loose in the middle of the penalty area, and Rodman gets a chance that’s blocked. 89 min: Is Vlatko Andonovski coaching this team again? Still no subs. But again, given who’s available, it’s hard to see an obvious swap. And the languid pace of play means no one should be exhausted. Swanson is hauled down, and that’ll be a free kick from a moderately promising position. 88 min: To be clear, this is not a badly officiated game. The center ref has just had one bad miss, and the ARs have had a couple of dubious no-calls as well, each way. 87 min: The AR is paying attention! The AR is paying attention! The flag goes up as Japan make a mental lapse, drifting offside to derail a promising possession. 86 min: So that’s my pick – Jaedyn Shaw replacing Horan. Smith, Swanson and Rodman have been too industrious to remove. Maybe bring on Lynn Williams for Swanson. 84 min: I’m wondering … can Jaedyn Shaw replace Horan, maybe? Could Swanson take a midfield role? Meanwhile, Japan have a promising attack, ended as always by the excellent Naomi Girma. Joe Pearson writes to say the ref might have gone missing rather than the ARs. That was indeed a bad, bad miss. The replay couldn’t have been clearer. 82 min: Horan petulantly pushes down Kumagai while the Japanese captain shields the ball. Horan might be the best player to remove here, but … who takes that place? Japanese sub during that break: Hinata Miyazawa (Manchester United) for Aoba Fujino. 80 min: Rodman’s clearance doesn’t go far, and Hasegawa is furious with herself for putting a 20-yard shot well over the bar. Someone’s down on the field, but they haven’t told us who. Everyone else is getting a hydration break. Interesting thing picked up on the field, though – Hayes passed a note to Smith, who passed it to Horan. It’s like my 10th-grade history class. 78 min: Smith with a nice turn. She plays out to Lavelle, who takes a couple of touches in toward the middle of the field and shoots harmlessly from 22 yards. Debra Keates asks why Croix Bethune isn’t available today, and I have to confess that I don’t know. I can’t recall in the past seeing a team limited to a certain number of players if one player is suspended due to yellow cards, but the Olympic system of allowing alternates in some situations but not others is a new thing. 76 min: Rodman with a steal! She’s off – but Ueki returns to reclaim it. Rodman tumbles, but there’s no call, and the crowd don’t really care for that decision. We get a replay, and … oh my, that’s a foul. I said at the outset that, as a ref myself, I’m generally not too agitated about fouls missed in the heat of play, but that’s a bad miss. 75 min: Resume US possession and crowd whistling. Fox’s pass for Rodman is cut out by Kitagawa, but Rodman makes it quite difficult for Japan to do anything with it. 73 min: OK, hive mind – you’re Emma Hayes. Sub now? For whom? No one looks out of form right now. They don’t really have midfielders available. Lynn Williams? Jaedyn Shaw? But for whom? Wasted possession for Japan. There we go: West Ham’s Riko Ueki replaces Mina Tanaka. 71 min: CHANCE for Japan as Fujino finds Hasegawa making a run. She centers it, but the US defense has the attacking players covered. There was a Japanese sub, and I’m trying to confirm the names. Lavelle blocks a hard pass with her left foot, and she takes a seat on the grass for a moment. 70 min: Horan nearly gets a head to the inswinging corner. Rodman beautifully touches it back to Swanson near the corner of the penalty area, and she shoots. Not well. 69 min: Horan and Lavelle have their wires crossed, and Japan have a mini-breakaway. Good recovery, though, and the ball goes out to a wide-open Rodman. Her first touch is far too heavy, but then Kumagai and Yamashita can’t decide who should clear it, and it’s knocked out for a corner. Unusually imperfect play from both sides there. 67 min: That’s better. Rodman again makes things happen, and a ball toward the center deflects toward Lavelle, who tees up a long shot that is deflected for a corner. 66 min: The whistling from the crowd has resumed. I’m getting drowsy. 65 min: Resume US keepaway practice. 63 min: SHOT for the USA. Lavelle’s pass is deflected for a corner. Swanson plays a short corner and takes a return pass, then dribbles into the penalty area and shoots a curling ball to the far post that doesn’t miss by too much. Probably the closest the USA have come to scoring, though that’s not saying much. 61 min: CHANCE for the USA after someone (Rodman?) takes one for the team and blocks a hard pass. Smith winds up taking on two defenders and nearly gets by both. 60 min: Easy interception by Dunn, and Girma will complete a few more passes. 59 min: Swanson also comes back, and she cleanly wins the ball and plays ahead to Smith, who goes on a 40-yard run. But the next touch is lacking, and Japan earn possession. 59 min: Japan have 2 on 5, and they win the battle somehow. But it’s Rodman, an outstanding two-way player, coming back to cut out the danger. 57 min: That was, officially the first offside of the game, though we’ve seen several instances in which the flag just never went up. Now we have the first yellow card, as Emily Sonnett slides through Fujino’s legs 40 yards from goal. The referee correctly waits to see if advantage materializes, then brings the play back when it doesn’t. And now we have the first offside call against Japan, so all three officials have been summoned to action after 56 mostly idle minutes. 56 min: Rodman goes marauding through the penalty area and creates some danger. She earns a corner … or not, because now the AR’s flag is up, answering the question about whether the ARs are still in the stadium. 55 min: I think Girma just had an incomplete pass. Her first? Is her percentage now down to 99.98 or something? 54 min: Joe Pearson writes: “It sure seems that Japan’s movement off the ball when in possession is much more inventive and attacking than the USA’s. The USA seem bereft of attacking ideas.” I think that’s fair. On most of the rare plays in the attacking third, the USA have passed to where someone should be but is not. 53 min: Pass back to Naeher that bounces while the US goalkeeper is a yard outside the penalty area. She awkwardly traps it with her chest and keeps possession. But that seems like a little lapse in a half in which the USA have had a few little lapses. 52 min: A clever attempt to flick the ball from the near post into traffic. It rolls through, and Aobi takes a shot that looks like one of my drives the last time I took my golf clubs to the range. That’s not good. 51 min: That was surely offside. But play is allowed to continue, and Dunn has to sweep a dangerous cross out of play. Do we have ARs in this game? I saw them on the stat sheet. Corner kick for Japan again. 48 min: One thing to consider with the way this game is going – the USA have not rotated players in the group stage. Japan did. With the USA possessing and Japan chasing, any edge in freshness may be eliminated. No one from the USA should be tired after that first half. Hey, Japan win a corner. Looked like a player was offside, but ARs now keep the flag down until the cows come home, so … 47 min: Julie Foudy has picked up a startling stat from Opta – Naomi Girma completed 105 passes in the first half. 105??!@!@ Crystal Dunn tries a through ball to no one. 46 min: Second verse, same as the first … Sub: Maika Hamano, who played for Emma Hayes at Chelsea, replaces Kiko Seike. The peloton reeled in the breakaway in the men’s road race. Back in this game – the stats from the first half are stunning. The shot count (4-2 USA total, 2-1 USA on target) isn’t all that unusual, though at least one of those US shots on goal was from a play that would’ve been called back for offside. But each team has 1 foul. The USA have the only corner of the game. Japan and the USA have each won medals while this game has been in progress. Checking the mailbag … Charles Antaki puts the medal count in perspective: Medals…hmm… I imagine loads of people are playing around with various kinds of adjustments according to each country’s population, GDP, Government subsidy, latitude and longitude and anything else. Population seems the least contentious and perhaps most informative. On that basis you’d have to shake hands with (at the moment) 108,436,154 Chinese people to find a gold medallist, but only 2,273,545 Australians. Still a lot of shaking hands, mind you. Also in the mail: I noticed that you own a website. I bet you’re always looking for ways to increase traffic and get more traffic on your website. Did you know that guest posting can help with that? Guest posting is a great way to establish trust and authority with the search engines, which can result in higher rankings over time. This way, you’re website ranked higher in google search result, and it also help to make more business. Reminds me of the time I was working at a wire service and fielded a call from someone asking me to switch my company’s phone carrier. That would be like asking the guy delivering your pizza about switching the company’s internet host. Halftime: USA 0-0 Japan Much passing. No shooting. Ball mostly at the USA’s feet. 45 min: It’ll be one minute of stoppage time. Swanson was down injured at one point, so that probably accounts for most of it. 44 min: The ball remains in or near the Japanese half. Stoppage time should be minimal. I’d be tempted to give negative-1 minute. 42 min: Smith takes on a defender and passes wide to Horan, whose pass to Lavelle is knocked out of play. The US keep possession and … a foul! We have a foul! Tanaka is late sliding on Sonnett. Nothing malicious, and not in a dangerous spot, but noteworthy because it’s the first foul on Japan. And that’s not because the referee has been lenient. 41 min: The restless crowd have started whistling. 39 min: The US work it forward to Rodman, who takes on a defender and earns a corner kick, the first of the game. They take it short, and Lavelle puts the ball in toward the onrushing Horan, but it’s a simple catch for Yamashita. 39 min: Resume US possession. 36 min: CHANCE FOR JAPAN! Seike flips a lovely ball toward Fujino. Dunn stretches a leg out to try to at least get it farther in the air and delay things until more players can help out, and perhaps that was just enough to make Moriya rush her shot, which goes high. 35 min: SHOT ON GOAL FOR JAPAN! Seike unexpectedly beats Girma and plays for Tanaka, who turns past Horan and has an angle to shoot. She takes a touch to get a better angle, but I think the first one was better. Her shot is straight at Naeher, who makes the first legitimate save of the game. 34 min: Kitagawa intercepts a pass but can only play it out of bounds. Dunn tries to go a bit more direct on the left flank, but the pass is blocked. And now it’s back with … you guessed it … Naomi Girma. 33 min: Lavelle and Dunn stumble simultaneously, but there was no apparent foul. Japan have still not committed a foul in this game. 31 min: Fox passes to Smith, which is unfortunate because there are four Japanese players around her, and they win possession. But Rodman, who is a fierce ball-winner when she tracks back from her forward possession, immediately takes it back. 30 min: A SHOT! WE HAVE A SHOT! Horan flicks the ball to Smith, who seems to be of two minds in the eternal “pass or shoot” dilemma and ends up firing well wide. 30 min: The foul on Fox was the first foul of the game. 29 min: A wonderful give-and-go puts the US under pressure, and Sonnett swings over to cover for Dunn and knock the ball out of play. Japan falter with the throw-in, and it’ll be a goal kick. 28 min: Hasegawa plays it an onrushing player at the near post, but the US defense is unimpressed and unmoved. But Japan maintain possession at the back, taking their turn passing it endlessly. 26 min: Seike takes on Emily Fox and does pretty well, holding off a challenge, facing up against her and then getting a glimmer of space. Fox slides to try to win the ball, pokes the ball a slight distance away but then tangles with Seike, who falls. It’s a foul – and it’s a fair call. Fortunately for the USA, it’s barely outside the penalty area at an awkward spot on the side. 25 min: Japan get forward! The danger is snuffed out, and then the USA get numbers forward. Or not. Sophia Smith races past the defense with the ball and centers … to no one. 24 min: The IOC site says the USA have two shots, one on target. The one on target would’ve been called back for offside if it had mattered. I don’t remember the other shot. This has been a 24-minute keepaway drill, and the USA are winning. 22 min: Julie Foudy has lost patience with this and wants to see the USA play one over the top and then press. They do no such thing. 21 min: US turnover, three Japanese passes, and it’s knocked out of play. Snoop Dogg is here. 20 min: Now a throw-in for Japan. Two passes, and suddenly Girma has the ball again. This is looking a bit like the US men vs. Morocco, except that the USA are Morocco in that analogy. Nothing too incisive yet, but Japan seem unable to keep the ball on the rare occasions that they get it. 19 min: Rodman wins a throw-in. I can’t remember the last time the ball was out of play. If we were running one of those experimental 30-minute clocks that only run when the ball is in play, we’d have only 11 minutes left in this half. 18 min: Horan wins a contested ball and plays to Lavelle. Out wide to the overlapping Dunn. Back to Lavelle. Back to Albert … and we’re back to Girma again. 17 min: Almost a break for the USA, but a through ball is well defended, and Yamashita collects at the top of the penalty area. 17 min: And again – Smith turns over the ball, but Japan is pinned against the side of the field and can only manage a couple of passes before Dunn collects, and we reset. 16 min: Japan’s possessions, conversely, are lasting only a few seconds. Korbin Albert limits Japan to a one-pass possession, and now the ball is in Girma’s hands, er, at Girma’s feet. 15 min: The passing percentage for the USA must be through the roof here. But very little of it is going forward. 14 min: Turnover from Rodman, but fine work from Fox to win it back quickly. 12 min: Dunn has overlapped with Lavelle, interestingly. Not often you see a No. 10 move back to left back. Lavelle moves up a bit, and Sonnett scoots out to move into more of a three-back set as they patiently seek holes in Japan’s defense, with Girma playing almost as a point guard rather than a center back. 11 min: Lavelle, one of the purest playmakers the US women have ever had (only the oft-injured Aly Wagner springs to mind as a analogue), feeds Rodman. Japan recover, but the ball goes back to Lavelle, who dribbles through two defenders and tries again. An active Lavelle spells doom for any opponent. 10 min: Rodman springs Swanson on a through ball. The US forward does indeed seem to have recovered well. 9 min: The IOC site is listing Horan’s shot as an official shot on goal and a save. Maybe so, though if Horan had scored, VAR would have taken it away – correctly. 7 min: Girma holds it … holds it. Safe to say this isn’t being played at super speed. Mallory Swanson is down – looks like Koga stepped on her foot as they both attempted to play the ball. We get the obligatory camera shot of someone warming up, but Swanson will shake this off. 6 min: Shot on goal for Horan … no, not really. She was offside on Sonnett’s cross. Nice idea, though. 5 min: If Japan are to win this game, they cannot give the ball away so simply to Crystal Dunn and let her combine with Smith on the left. That was dangerous. 4 min: If you’re wondering whether Japan would line up five defenders across the field when the USA have possession, the answer is yes. 2 min: It’s a poised attack for Japan. But they let Sophia Smith get behind them and are fortunate that Smith’s centering pass is nowhere near anyone. NBC points out that Albert is playing at home in Parc des Princes. Sort of. How often do PSG’s women actually play there? 1 min: The US defenders look a little shaky moving the ball around under Japan’s press. Nerves? Kickoff: USA in all white, Japan in all blue. Shirts, shorts, socks. Consistent. Game officials Be warned – as a very low-level referee, I tend to forgive officials for missing fouls in the heat of the moment but very little patience with problems on basic mechanics like forgetting to punish players for delaying a restart. Referee: Tess Olofsson (SWE) AR1: Almira Spahic (SWE) AR2: Francesca di Monte (ITA) VAR: Ivan Bebek (CRO) USA lineup Goalkeeper: A stunning surprise selection here for … no, I’m kidding, it’s Alyssa Naeher (Chicago) Defense (left to right): Crystal Dunn (Gotham FC), Emily Sonnett (Gotham FC), Naomi Girma (San Diego), Emily Fox (Arsenal/ENG) Midfield: Korbin Albert (PSG/FRA) likely in a No. 6 role, Lindsey Horan (Lyon/FRA) likely as a No. 8, and Rose Lavelle (Gotham FC) likely as a No. 10. Or thereabouts. Forward (left to right): Sophia Smith (Portland), Mallory Swanson (Chicago), Trinity Rodman (Washington) Albert replaces the suspended Sam Coffey and scored on a screamer in the group stage. Sonnett is deputizing for the injured Tierna Davidson, who is not listed among the substitutes today. Given the absurdly limited rosters in this competition, the only field players available to Emma Hayes are defenders Casey Krueger, Jenna Nighswonger and Emily Sams, and attacking players Lynn Williams and Jaedyn Shaw. One option if Hayes needs attacking options late – Crystal Dunn was listed as a forward on the roster and has proven to be world-class in that position in NWSL play, so we could see an outside back subbed on and Dunn pushed forward without a drop in quality. If you’re curious about soccerdonna’s valuations, Smith is at 350,000 Euros, then Rodman at 275,000, Horan at 250,000, Lavelle at 210,000, and Girma is an absolute bargain at 210,000. Defenders don’t get enough respect. Japan lineup Goalkeeper: Ayaka Yamashita (free agent on official roster; listed elsewhere as Kobe Leonessa/JPN) Defense (left to right): Moeki Minami (Roma/ITA), captain Saki Kumagai (Roma/ITA), Toko Koga (Feyenoord/NED) Midfield (left to right, more or less): Hikaru Kitagawa (Kobe Leonessa/JPN), Fuka Nagano (Liverpool/ENG), Yui Hasegawa (Manchester City/ENG), Miyabi Moriya (Kobe Leonessa/JPN) Forward: Aoba Fujino (Manchester City/ENG), Mina Tanaka (Utah/USA), Kiko Seike (Urawa Reds/JPN) It looks like a 3-4-3, but Kitagawa and Moriya are listed on the roster as defenders, and Fujino and Seike are listed as midfielders. The difference between a 3-4-3 and a 5-4-1 is really a matter of attitude and intent. (Or desperation, if the USA manage to pin those midfielder/defenders back in their own end.) Minami is the only player on a yellow card, meaning she would miss the semifinal if she picks up another today. Kumagai and Yamashita are the only players who’ve played all 270 minutes so far. Six different players have scored goals. Several of today’s starters did not start the group stage finale against Nigeria. Manchester United’s Hinata Miyazawa, No. 26 on The Guardian’s list of top 100 female footballers, is available on the bench after starting twice in the group stage. Hasegawa, Kumagai and Tanaka are all on that list as well. At soccerdonna.de, the most valuable players on the team are Hasegawa (225,000 Euros) and Tanaka (125,000). And just after typing that, I checked the schedule, and the USA just took another silver medal when a gold was in sight. I won’t mention the sport in case people don’t want results spoiled. The trend is the important thing. That is the 19th silver medal for the USA. In some cases, of course, silver and bronze are great. The women’s rugby team taking bronze has been one of the highlights of the Games so far. Evy Leibfarth’s stunner in canoe slalom is another. Silver and bronze in men’s skateboarding isn’t bad. But when will those silvers turn into gold? In fact, what’s the record for silver medals? Hmmm … more spreadsheet work in my future … Nations turn their lonely eyes to you … We’re far enough along in the Olympics for US fans to be concerned about the medal count. Not the overall medal count, which has typically been what US fans notice most, but the gold medal count, which the rest of the world tends to point towards. I’ll spare you the detailed calculations I used to project gold and overall medals for the USA and China and the update a few days ago. It’s too early in the day for math. The bottom line is that my model that pegged the USA for 48 gold medals is now down to 41. A more subjective count gives the USA something closer to 33 — which might still be enough to take the top spot, because China are behind their projection as well, and France aren’t likely to sustain this momentum, etc., etc. Anyway — yes, the USA have been dealing with a mix of expected triumphs (Simone Biles, Katie Ledecky), a few surprises (two women’s foil golds, men’s four rowing), and a lot of shocks (US men’s swimming, BMX cycling, surfing, 3x3 basketball - pending further play, shooting - pending the skeet competitions, women’s eight rowing, and women’s tennis). In soccer, things were looking up for the USA - until yesterday, when the score of the men’s 4-0 loss to Morocco accurately reflected the gulf in technical and tactical acumen between the teams. So while US fans wait for Simone Biles or maybe Suni Lee to win a couple more gold medals and wait for a potentially giant haul in track and field (starting today with Ryan Crouser and Sha’Carri Richardson?), this women’s soccer team could boost some spirits. But if you think the USA have had it rough in France, consider Japan. Sure, they have eight gold medals — three judo, two skateboarding, two gymnastics and one fencing. But in team sports, they’re struggling. Men’s soccer cruised through an easy group but lost in the knockout rounds. Other teams — men’s and women’s basketball, men’s and women’s volleyball, women’s field hockey, men’s handball, men’s rugby sevens and men’s water polo — are a combined 2-22 after men’s water polo lost 23-8 to Spain today. (Women’s rugby sevens won three times to finish ninth.) Women’s soccer offers a chance to put things right. Preamble Good morning, USA – and good afternoon and evening to anyone else eager to see a showdown between two women’s soccer teams with a history of excellence. (Maybe a few people in England eager see Emma Hayes show everyone how to coach a national team?) We’re used to seeing the