Key events
69 min: Brazil win a free kick at midfield, head down the right side, then win another free kick as Dunn gives the ball away to Adriana and then fouls her.
68 min: A Brazilian shot goes somewhere other than near the goal.
66 min: Rodman nonchalantly makes a perfectly composed (and perfectly clean) slide tackle to stop a Brazilian attack, then walks off as if attacking players do such things all the time. That’ll send a message.
65 min: Here comes the Manchester United forward, Geyse, to replace Gabi Nunes. Will she reinvigorate the Brazilian attack?
63 min: Now it’s Brazil’s turn to fuss at the referee, as Albert possibly knocks down a player on the counterattack. Borjas seems to have a keen eye for noticing embellishment or incidental contact, and she ignores the pleas for a whistle.
62 min: Dangerous attack for Sophia Smith from a beautiful chip forward by Horan. Antonia barely keeps up with her and just manages to get a foot to it to concede a corner kick rather than an uncontested shot.
60 min: Corner kick to Brazil, though Emily Fox gestures that her jersey was held, and she might have been right.
We have a long-delayed offside call after Brazil commit the cardinal sin of playing a short corner right back to the person who took the kick, forgetting that said player is often behind the last defender.
58 min: Oh dear. Morgan blatantly shoves a Brazilian defender who cuts her off as she tries to reach a through ball. Borjas would be in her right to give her a second yellow in short order, but interim coach Twila Kilgore wisely decides that Morgan’s day is done, and she should be replaced while she can. Here comes Sophia Smith.
56 min: My goodness. Korbin Albert just dribbled through three Brazilian players like a latter-day Maradona. That only breaks the Brazilian pressure briefly, though. A longer break comes with a rushed Brazilian shot that poses more danger to the third row of the stands than the goal.
Vitoria Yaya replaces Duda Sampaio.
54 min: A communication breakdown in the US attack lets Luciana collect cleanly.
Morgan brings down Antonia and gets the game’s first yellow card. She’s greatly amused. But it’s not a bad call. Maybe a little later than it should’ve been.
53 min: Keeper-sweeper time! Luciana comes out 30 yards from goal to head the ball away from the onrushing Morgan, who has raced past the defense toward a through ball, and not for the first time.
51 min: Horan comes back in as Brazil press hard in midfield, forcing the USA to play the ball all the way back to Naeher.
49 min: Borjas again intercedes before a set piece to get people to cut things out.
Horan is down after a collision. The first replay shows Horan going from fast-to-0 far too quickly. She’s up, holding her shoulder.
48 min: This is a substantial crowd, but it’s a subdued crowd unless the USA have a promising attack.
And now they do, with Lynn Williams playing a good through ball toward Rodman that must be cut out for a corner kick.
Second-half kickoff: Rose Lavelle is out. Lynn Williams is in. Kind of curious to go with a more attacking player when you have a lead, but the best defense can be a strong offense, and the USA would love to make Brazil spend more time in their own half for the next 45 minutes.
Kurt Perleberg asks why these games have been behind a paywall at Paramount Plus.
The an$wer i$ ea$y.
I see events on pay services for two reasons. One, there isn’t enough interest to justify big ad dollars, which is why most soccer used to be on pay services and why cricket matches still are. Two, there is a lot of interest, and that’s how people raise the price tag that much more. See boxing and mixed martial arts.
MLS took a risk putting a lot of its content on Apple TV. Paramount is gambling that you’ll spend some money to watch the US play.
“If the US had capitalized on those opportunities, perhaps they’d be up two or three to nothing by now,” says Ali Krieger on the Paramount halftime show.
I have no earthly idea what to say to that. Would any readers like to weigh in on whether the US have missed opportunities in that first half?
Halftime: USA 1-0 Brazil
You’d have to give the balance of play to Brazil. There’s some debate over the play of the US midfield, particularly Sam Coffey – to me, she was overwhelmed and resorted to foot-stomping fouls too often and should probably have a yellow card by now.
But the US defenders have been resolute, especially the superb Naomi Girma. An unfortunate fact of defenders is that they’re often noticed less if they play particularly well. You may have barely heard Girma’s name on the broadcast, but that’s because Brazil can’t find a way past her.
And one year after the US struggled to find the net in the World Cup, the finishing has been nearly perfect in this tournament. In the semifinal, the US attackers put away their two best chances – neither particularly easy. They’ve only had one clear-cut chance in this final, and it’s 1-0.
45 min +2: As stoppage time winds down, Gabi Nunes runs over Naomi Girma in a desperate effort to reach a ball in the US penalty area. That’s a foul, and when Alyssa Naeher takes the goal kick sometime in the next 48 minutes, it’ll be the end of the half.
Goooooaaall! USA 1-0 Brazil (Horan 45)
Not good enough from the Brazilian defense. You just can’t let Horan get enough space to get up on the ball like that. Fox’s cross floats in the air long enough for Horan to wriggle away from pressure and easily head it back across Luciana’s goal into the net.
45 min: A US counter, and the ball is played wide to Rodman, who struggles with her footing but gets it back to Emily Fox, who crosses, and …
44 min: Tarciane brings down Alex Morgan off the ball and is astounded that the referee saw it.
Through ball intended for Rose Lavelle, but Luciana alertly races out to cover it.
Pulsating game through parts of this first half. Could use a goal to liven things up a bit more, though.
42 min: Through ball looking for Rodman, but Tarciane brilliantly times a slide tackle to put the ball out of play.
41 min: Now that looked like a possible dive as Brazil go on the attack and try to win a free kick, but Borjas is unimpressed.
40 min: SHOT ON TARGET as Horan is off balance but gets her head to the ball and puts it right at Luciana, who seemed unprepared for the occasion but recovers to hang on.
40 min: But before that kick is taken, Horan tumbles in the penalty area. Replay shows … um … can we see that again?
39 min: Peter Oh: “Brazil has a fantastic coffee culture, with the good stuff being served and enjoyed even in the evening. However the Canarinhas didn’t seem to enjoy Coffey coming in too hot on Duda Sampaio’s foot.”
Ouch.
Horan wins a corner kick with a deft touch off a defender’s shin.
35 min: Horan and referee Borjas share a laugh after the latter lectures the former. Not the smartest foul from the US captain there.
You could say Brazilian players are exaggerating the contact here, but the contact is there.
Duda Sampaio ends up on the ground after another harsh tackle from Coffey, and play continues for a few seconds until Borjas has seen enough and blows the whistle. The crowd again doesn’t like that, but there’s nothing to complain about – that contact surely hurt, and the USA weren’t in a dangerous position at that point. Borjas will drop it to the USA, and we’ll all forget this happened. Except Duda Sampaio, who’ll have a nice bruise tomorrow.
34 min: Naeher was nearly caught with the ball at her feet earlier in this game, but she needn’t have rushed as much as she just did, blasting the ball out of play under no pressure.
The USA go the other way, and Rodman again appears dangerous out wide, coming close to an incisive pass.
33 min: Brazil on the break, but the USA get numbers back, and Davidson easily intercepts a cross from Yasmim.
31 min: This is much better for the USA, and it’s the young Albert with the play, pouncing on an unsuspecting Brazilian midfielder to win the ball and play it forward to Alex Morgan as the veteran streaks past her defender. Only the alert Brazilian keeper Luciana can stop the play, and she does. She may have taken a bit of a knock in the process.
30 min: Morgan gets the ball in a dangerous position, then passes ahead for Rodman – who is in an offside position. By several yards. Rodman knows it, and she lets the ball go to the Brazilian keeper.
29 min: Brazil have 99 “correct passes” to the USA’s 69, according to Concacaf’s stats. But it’s no longer as one-sided as it was, and play is now deep in the Brazilian third.
