{"id":1311800,"date":"2019-06-25T11:56:00","date_gmt":"2019-06-25T17:56:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.postindependent.com\/its-on-the-world-cup-clash-between-the-us-and-france\/"},"modified":"2019-06-25T11:56:00","modified_gmt":"2019-06-25T17:56:00","slug":"its-on-the-world-cup-clash-between-the-us-and-france","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/local-news\/its-on-the-world-cup-clash-between-the-us-and-france\/","title":{"rendered":"It\u2019s on: The World Cup clash between the US and France"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
Italy’s Barbara Bonansea reacts during the Women’s World Cup Group C soccer match between Italy and Brazil at the Stade du Hainaut in Valenciennes, France, Tuesday, June 18, 2019. (AP Photo\/Francisco Seco)<\/strong>
AP | AP<\/em><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

PARIS \u2014 It wasn\u2019t just fans who were looking forward to a quarterfinal clash between France and the defending champion United States at the Women\u2019s World Cup. Megan Rapinoe clearly was, too.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hope it\u2019s huge and crazy. That\u2019s what it should be,\u201d Rapinoe said just after the match was set. \u201cThis is the best game, this is what everybody wanted. I think we wanted it, seems like they\u2019re up for it, you guys are of course are up for it, and all the fans.\u201d<\/p>\n

While the players said the focus for the United States was always on one game at a time, Rapinoe voiced the underlying truth about the match in Paris on Friday: It was circled on everyone\u2019s World Cup calendar since December\u2019s draw.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s going to be totally awesome. This is what everybody wants. And these are the biggest games that you kind of dream about as a kid,\u201d Rapinoe said.<\/p>\n

The United States advanced with a physically challenging win over Spain in the round of 16, while France scored in extra time to get past resilient Brazil.<\/p>\n

The top-ranked U.S. team breezed through its group stage at the World Cup, pouncing on Thailand 13-0 before more balanced victories over Chile and rival Sweden. But Spain posed a challenge to the three-time champions, relentlessly targeting Alex Morgan and using brawn to counter the Americans\u2019 superior speed.<\/p>\n

Rapinoe scored on a pair of penalty kicks for the 2-1 victory in Reims on Monday night, although the game-winner in the 75th minute was the result of what many thought was at best minimal contact between Spain\u2019s Virginia Torrecilla and Rose Lavelle. The foul was confirmed after video review.<\/p>\n

Lavelle insisted afterward: \u201cI didn\u2019t flop.\u201d<\/p>\n

Players said the difficult match was crucial to the team\u2019s preparation going into the quarterfinal against the fourth-ranked French, the first time the U.S. has faced the host in a World Cup. The Americans could also face No. 3 England if they go through to the semifinals.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think this game was extremely important to us, looking forward to France,\u201d Morgan said. \u201cIt was a very challenging game and it showed a little bit of what we might see in France, so this was an important stepping stone for us looking forward.\u201d<\/p>\n

France also got a tough test out of the way.<\/p>\n

Les Bleues finished atop their group with three wins before surviving their knockout opener. Captain Amandine Henry redirected Amel Majri\u2019s free kick for a tiebreaking goal in the 107th minute of a 2-1 victory Sunday night in Le Havre. Valerie Gauvin, whose first-half goal was disallowed in a video review, put France ahead early in the second but Thaisa tied the score 11 minutes later for No. 10 Brazil.<\/p>\n

Afterward, French coach Corinne Diacre was critical of her team, saying, \u201cWe weren\u2019t at our best.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously, I know my players inside out. I know that we weren\u2019t 100 percent today and the objective is to hit that 100 percent for the next game,\u201d Diacre said through a translator. \u201cWill this happen? I don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Americans have played the French 23 times, with France winning just three. But one of those was a friendly in January, when Kadidiatou Diani \u2014 who wasn\u2019t named to France\u2019s World Cup roster \u2014 scored twice in a 3-1 victory.<\/p>\n

The match Friday, while great for the sport, also means one of the favorites will be headed home on Saturday. A lopsided draw put three of the world\u2019s top teams on one side of the bracket, while No. 2 Germany tops the other.<\/p>\n

U.S. coach Jill Ellis acknowledged the final-in-the-quarterfinals feel to Friday\u2019s match.<\/p>\n

\u201cI truly believe this is the world game for women, and so what a showcase piece. I\u2019m sure a lot of people would like it later in the tournament, but it is what it is,\u201d Ellis said. \u201cMyself and probably Corinne are both like, \u2018We\u2019ve got good players, good teams and good setups, so let\u2019s go for it.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

via:: Post Independent<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Italy’s Barbara Bonansea reacts during the Women’s World Cup Group C soccer match between Italy and Brazil at the Stade du Hainaut in Valenciennes, France, Tuesday, June 18, 2019. (AP Photo\/Francisco Seco)AP | AP PARIS \u2014 It wasn\u2019t just fans who were looking forward to a quarterfinal clash between France and the defending champion United […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[160],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-1311800","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-local-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-19 15:45:37","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSKE Ski Country","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1311800","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1311800"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1311800\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1311800"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1311800"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1311800"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}