Follow Us
Megan Rapinoe thinks USWNT needs to enter “do-or-die mode” after suffering a shocking 3-0 loss to Sweden in their Olympic opener.
The loss ended the USWNT’s phenomenal streak of 44 games unbeaten. FIFA’s Women’s Best Player of the Year for 2019 said this about the unfortunate event:
“I think we just got a little bit in our head. We’ll obviously watch film and all that, but you drop points in the beginning of a tournament and now you’re in sort of a do-or-die mode. So you’ve got to pick up points, otherwise we’re going home quick, and you don’t want to do that.”
USWNT’s 3-0 loss to Sweden certainly comes as a surprise. After all, the Americans are favorites to take home the gold Olympic medal. This status comes from an amazing period of 2021 before the Olympics when the team won all but one game. You guessed it – Sweden managed to draw 1-1 to the US team back in April. Megan Rapinoe was the US hero in that game scoring the equalizer from a spot-kick in the 87th minute of the match.
Having lost the first game in the group stage, USWNT now sits at the bottom place in Group G with no points (same as New Zealand, but worse goal difference). It looks like they will have to win all their remaining games against Australia and New Zealand if they want to make sure to qualify for the knockout phase of the tournament. Do you think USWNT can turn things around and win the gold medal?