Ray Acevedo-USA TODAY Sports
Nothing will ever erase the memories of the 2023 World Cup elimination United States women’s national team experienced on Aug. 6 in Melbourne, Australia. The missed penalty kicks, and the subsequent save that wasn’t — “lost by a millimeter,” as an incredulous US goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher repeated to cameras and microphones moments later under the stadium — cannot be rewritten.
“That’s a very painful memory and that will sit, probably, with all of us for a really long time,” US interim coach Twila Kilgore, who was an assistant at that 2023 World Cup, said on Wednesday after her team’s advancement over Canada to the 2024 Concacaf W Gold Cup final.
Reminders of the US’ Round-of-16 elimination to Sweden, marking the team’s worst finish in a major tournament, had come rushing back on Wednesday. Here again, on an “unplayable” rain-soaked field in San Diego for the Concacaf W Gold Cup semifinals, there was a shootout with familiar protagonists.
Naeher was in goal again. Forward Sophia Smith, who scored the go-ahead goal for the US in extra time on Wednesday, stepped up to take the first penalty for the Americans. Seven months earlier — to the day — Smith missed a penalty that would have clinched advancement to the quarterfinals for the United States. After Wednesday’s shootout victory over Canada, Smith was seen sobbing on the field.
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