USWNT, chief-rival Canada primed for battle to reach Olympic final

By Doug McIntyre
FOX Sports Soccer Writer

For all the hand-wringing caused by the U.S. women’s national team’s unconvincing displays at the Tokyo Olympics so far, the USWNT stand just one match away from the gold-medal game following Friday’s thrilling shootout win over the Netherlands.

Getting to the Aug. 6 title game won’t be easy, though. The Americans face another stern test against northern neighbor Canada in the semifinal early Monday (4 a.m. ET, USA Network and Telemundo), a rematch of the epic London 2012 semi that the U.S. won in extra time on the way to their fourth and most recent gold.

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Here are three things to watch for in Monday’s contest:

1. Will U.S. stars Alex Morgan, Megan Rapinoe and Christen Press start?

The shorter-than-usual turnaround between games in Japan — just two rest days compared to the three or four teams got at the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup — forced U.S. coach Vlatko Andonovski to rotate his lineup through the Americans' first four matches. Still, it was shocking to see all-planet attackers Morgan, Rapinoe, Press, and Rose Lavelle on the bench when last week’s win-or-go-home quarterfinal against the Dutch kicked off.

All four players entered the game in the second half and helped the U.S. prevail. Each of them converted a penalty kick in the tiebreaker, with Rapinoe — who else? — netting the clincher. But the U.S. might not have reached that point if not for reserve forward Lynn Williams, who didn’t even make Andonovski’s Olympic roster originally but who produced a vital goal and an assist in less than an hour of action.

Does the coach stick with the same strategy, keeping the 30-something legs of Morgan, Rapinoe and Press fresh should the game go long? Or does he ride his horses from the start and hope they can put the game away within 90 minutes, with four days to rest up for the finale?

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2. Stopping Canada’s Christine Sinclair will be key

Sinclair’s hat trick almost single-footedly dragged Les Rouges to its first major tournament final nine years ago. Only a late penalty by Abby Wambach and another by Morgan deep into the extra session allowed the U.S. to prevail in one of the most memorable matches in the history of the women’s game.

Sinclair is 38 years old now. But the U.S. will still need to contain international soccer’s all-time top scorer — men’s or women’s — to give themselves their best chance of advancing.

The Americans have had mixed results dealing with the other top strikers at these Games. While the U.S. successfully shut down Australia’s Samantha Kerr in their final group stage match, Netherlands forward Vivianne Miedema tortured them in the quarters, scoring both Dutch goals and forcing USWNT keeper Alyssa Naeher into a spectacular save with penalties looming.

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Physical and skilled, Canada boasts other weapons besides Sinclair. Defender Kadeisha Buchanan is among the world’s best players, while Sophie Schmidt and Desiree Scott bring plenty of major tournament experience.

And goalkeeper Stephanie Labbe has been a standout in place of veteran Erin McLeod, making two crucial saves in Canada's shootout win over Brazil to lift her squad into the final four.

3. Familiarity could be an advantage for the Americans

Ahead of a contest that really could go either way, one thing is for sure: There won’t be any surprises when these teams line up. The U.S. women have faced Canada more often than any other opponent in their history, including in the knockout stage of two of the past three Olympics.

Knowing their foe inside out can’t hurt the favorites — although that familiarity obviously cuts both ways. After coming so close twice before (Canada also lost in extra time in the quarters in 2008), the Canadians are desperate to finally topple their chief rival on a global stage. They might never get a better chance.

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The USWNT and Canada met most recently earlier this year at the SheBelieves Cup, a characteristically tight affair decided by Lavelle’s free-kick with just over 10 minutes to play. Lavelle came off the bench in that game to score the winner.

Could history repeat itself on Monday?

One of the most prominent soccer journalists in North America, Doug McIntyre has covered United States men’s and women’s national teams in more than a dozen countries, including multiple FIFA World Cups. Before joining FOX Sports, the New York City native was a staff writer for Yahoo Sports and ESPN. Follow him on Twitter @ByDougMcIntyre.