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USA vs. Argentina: Final Score 6-0 as Yanks Capture Fourth SheBelieves Cup Trophy

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5 years ago

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It took the United States Women’s National Team some time to find their shooting boots, but eventually they did, and ran Argentina off the field in a 6-0 win at Exploria Stadium. With the victory, the USWNT claimed their second straight SheBelieves Cup championship and their fourth in the event’s six years of existence. Rose Lavelle was named the tournament’s MVP.

Megan Rapinoe scored the first two goals and she was vital in setting up Carli Lloyd’s strike. Kristie Mewis scored a banger and assisted on Lloyd’s goal as the U.S. rolled to their first and only comfortable win of the tournament. Alex Morgan and Christen Press added second-half strikes.

“It’s always hard to play against a team that sits low,” said USWNT Head Coach Vlatko Andonovski after the match. “It’s hard to break them down and it’s hard to do it quick. So for us, it takes a little bit of time to figure out the the angles, to figure out the area, to figure out the positions, and how we can do it. So, overall very happy with how we performed and how we were able to unlock Argentina early in the game, and how we finished the game as well.”

The United States improved to 7-0-0 at Exploria Stadium, outscoring opponents by a combined 22-0 in those matches. The USWNT is 4-0-0 in the all-time series against Argentina, outscoring La Albiceleste by a combined 28-0. The U.,S. finished 3-0-0 in the tournament with an aggregate score of 9-0 to claim the trophy. Argentina went 0-3-0 and finished fourth in its first appearance in the SheBelieves Cup.

Andonovski rotated his squad a bit, starting Jane Campbell in goal behind a back line of Kelley O’Hara, Tierna Davidson, Becky Sauerbrunn, and Casey Krueger. The midfield trio of Julie Ertz, Lavelle, and Kristie Mewis played beneath a forward line of Press, Lloyd, and Rapinoe. Orlando Pride striker Alex Morgan started on the bench.

Argentina started out playing stifling defense and a good line at the back, forcing numerous offside calls on the U.S. early. When the USWNT did manage to get the ball into good areas, the tournament-long problem of sharpness in the final third was still a problem at times.

Despite that, the U.S. broke the deadlock 16 minutes in. Lavelle played a great ball over the top to Rapinoe, who made a well-timed diagonal run to get in behind just as the ball arrived. Rapinoe smashed a low shot past goalkeeper Solana Pereyra to make it 1-0.

Mewis nearly made it 2-0 in the 18th minute, getting on the end of a cross but heading just wide of the left post. Four minutes later, Rapinoe sent a free kick into the area that found Ertz, but the midfielder hit her shot straight at Pereyra.

The second goal came in the 26th minute when Press sent a nice pass to release Lloyd up the right side. Lloyd broke in on goal, drew Pereyra’s attention and slotted a pass across for Rapinoe’s easy finish, making it 2-0. It was Rapinoe’s 57th career goal.

Lloyd should have made it 3-0 moments later when Rapinoe sent her in alone but she got tangled in her own feet trying to set herself for the shot and her shot skipped wide as she fell in the box. Press then hit a hard shot on goal that Pereyra saved in the 31st minute as the U.S. continued to attack.

The USWNT scored an exquisite team goal in the 35th minute. Davidson sent a ball forward to Rapinoe, who one-timed a nutmeg pass through her defender to release Mewis down the left flank. Mewis crossed in an easy pass for Lloyd to one-time past Pereyra to make it 3-0.

Mewis finished the first-half scoring by making a great move at the top of the box to leave her defender flat-footed, broke in behind, and scored a banger from the left side that slipped inside the far post for her fourth career goal to make it 4-0 in the 41st minute.

“Early on, when we started the game, Kristie was was trying to figure out those areas that I was talking about, or the position where she could impact the game,” Andonovski said. “It took a little bit of time, but once she figured it out, I thought she was very good. She scored a great goal, she assisted on a very nice goal as well. The whole buildup and the execution was very good and she she she was able to impact the game different ways.”

That was it for the first-half scoring and Argentina had to be relieved when the halftime whistle blew. Midge Purce, Morgan, and Lindsey Horan came on to start the second half in place of Krueger, Lloyd, and Lavelle.

Rapinoe nearly completed her hat trick two minutes after the restart, but hit a free kick just inches over the crossbar.

The U.S. didn’t fashion too many chances in the second period, but didn’t need to. After making several substitutions, the team played a bit disjointed and at times too deliberate, which was easier for Argentina to defend. Press smashed a shot wide of the far post in the 64th minute and a minute later substitute Sophia Smith danced around several defenders and fed a pass to an open Mewis, who fired just wide of goal.

In the 77th minute, a corner kick cross nearly found Horan’s head but barely cleared her. Morgan got a foot to it but it trickled out wide of goal.

Morgan got her goal in the 85th minute. Sauerbrunn won the ball in her own end and knocked it up field to Smith, who cut in from the left to the middle of the field. Once there, Smith slotted a nice through ball that sent Morgan in between the defenders and the Orlando striker sent her shot past Pereyra to make it 5-0. It was Morgan’s 108th career international goal, moving her into sole possession of fifth place on the all-time USWNT scoring list.

“I’m very excited to get my first goal back with the national team, and join the list of moms on the team who have scored goals and played as a national team player,” Morgan said. “I just want to kind of be an example for for other female athletes who are moms or want to become moms knowing that they still belong in the game. You can be a mom and still be at the top of your game, so I want to continue to show that and and tonight was the first step of that.”

Moments later, Press added to the total. Morgan sent a shot that deflected out off a defender for a corner kick. On the ensuing set piece, Horan got her head to the cross and nodded back across the box to a wide-open Press, who headed home her 60th career goal to make it 6-0.

Morgan nearly scored a seventh in the 90th minute when she sent a header just inches over the bar off a set piece. The match ended without any stoppage time and the U.S. had another SheBelieves Cup trophy.

The U.S. out-shot Argentina 27-1 (11-0 on target), held 68% of the possession, and had more corner kicks (7-0).

The USWNT became the first team to finish all three SheBelieves Cup matches without conceding a goal.

“We’re always happy to be able to kind of hoist the trophy at the end, it’s it’s a fun feeling and hopefully we can, we can keep doing that,” Lavelle said.

Canada 0-2 Brazil

In the early match, Orlando Pride star Marta played a more advanced role for Brazil than in previous games in the competition, starting and serving as her team’s captain. The Brazilians did their damage in the first half with good pressure and passing, taking control before the break in a 2-0 win.

Both sides looked to be in an attacking mood, but Brazil got the first decent look in the sixth minute when Bruna headed wide of goal off a corner kick cross.

The breakthrough didn’t take long. Brazil’s pressure paid off in the 14th minute when Adriana stepped in a passing lane and won a battle for the ball. She then played a quick give-and-go with Debinha and bombed down the left side of the penalty area before unleashing a shot. The shot nutmegged Canadian goalkeeper Stephanie Labbe but hit the far post and stayed out. Debinha was the first to reach the loose ball and knocked it in to make it 1-0 for the Brazilians.

Marta cut in from right to left in the 27th minute and smashed a cannon shot toward goal but former Pride teammate Shelina Zadorsky was able to block it.

Brazil’s pressure continued to create issues for Canada. The Canadians struggled to clear their area and that allowed Julia to double Brazil’s lead in the 39th minute. She took possession on the right side of the penalty area, turned and fired inside the far post to make it 2-0.

Adriana nearly tripled the lead in the 45th minute. The Brazilians worked the ball from left to middle where Adriana unleashed a long-range shot that would have gone in if Labbe hadn’t gotten a hand to it to push it onto the crossbar.

Brazil took its deserved two-goal lead to the break. Canada struggled to connect in the final third and created very little. The best Canadian opportunity of the opening period came when Barbara was caught out of goal and Nichelle Prince had a wide-open net to shoot at from long range. Prince waited a bit too long to shoot and then fired a bit wide.

Canada came out with more determination to start the second half, and Brazil’s intensity seemed to drop after subbing off Marta and Debinha. Pride midfielder Jordyn Listro started the second half for Canada, while her former Pride teammate Camila came on for the Brazilians.

Despite some early pressure, Canada didn’t generate much and Brazil settled into the second half, with much of the first 20 minutes played in the middle third of the field. Evelyne Viens nearly got in behind for Canada in the 66th minute but she was just offside.

In the 71st minute, Janine Beckie sent a cross through Brazil’s six but a sliding Adriana Leon couldn’t quite reach it as Canada continued to find the right touch on the final ball in the attacking end. Moments later, Listro switched play nicely and Leon was sent down the left. She cut inside and sent a shot on goal that Barbara misplayed but Canada couldn’t capitalize.

Canada’s best opportunity of the game came in the 84th minute. Beckie lined up a free kick from the left and sent a curling ball into the box. Zadorsky stretched out a leg and got a toe on it and it hit off the post. The ball came back to Zadorsky as she was lying on the ground. She fired from a prone position but the shot was cleared off the line by the defense.

Beckie headed a shot toward goal off a pass from Leon moments later but it took a deflection and went wide. Viens then got free on a set piece in the area when the ball fell at her feet but she skied her effort over the bar early in stoppage time. One last shot from Beckie was hit right at Barbara deep in stoppage time and that brought the match to a close.

Brazil finished second in the SheBelieves Cup with a 2-1-0 record and a +3 goal differential. Canada fell to 1-2-0 and was -2, finishing third.

That’s it for the 2021 SheBelieves Cup — the first one to take place exclusively in one venue.

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Orlando City

Orlando City vs. San Jose Earthquakes: Preview, How to Watch, TV Info, Live Stream, Lineups, Match Thread, and More

Orlando City restarts its 2026 MLS campaign late tonight out west at San Jose.

Published

2 weeks ago

on

July 22, 2026

By

Image of Braian Ojeda taking a shot in a friendly against FC Dallas.
Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Justin Glatt

Welcome to your match thread for a late night midweek matchup tonight between Orlando City (4-9-2, 14 points) and the San Jose Earthquakes (10-3-2, 32 points) at PayPal Park (10:30 p.m., Apple TV). This is the only scheduled meeting between the teams in 2026 and the first time the teams have met since 2024.

Here’s what you need to know ahead of tonight’s match.

History

Orlando City is 3-1-3 in the previous seven MLS meetings with the Quakes since the club joined Major League Soccer in 2015. The Lions got their only away win in the series in the last meeting and enter tonight 1-1-2 on the road against San Jose.

The teams last met on May 18, 2024, with Jack Lynn coming off the bench to score the game’s only goal. Lynn’s strike in the 89th minute broke the scoreless deadlock and lifted the Lions to a 1-0 victory.

The teams met in Orlando most recently way back on June 22, 2021, with the Lions beating the Quakes down, 5-0. Orlando got things started with an early penalty kick goal by Nani, followed by braces from Benji Michel and Daryl Dike to easily put the game away. The lasting memory from the game is Michel’s celebratory dance wearing a cowboy hat that came out of the stands.

Prior to that Orlando City romp, the last time the teams met was on Aug. 31, 2019 when the Lions got freight trained 3-0 at Avaya Stadium, giving the Quakes their first win in the series. San Jose’s offense came via a Chris Wondolowski brace and an early opening goal by Magnus Eriksson. Orlando looked flat and weary out of the gate.

The Lions were victorious in Exploria Stadium in the 2018 meeting on April 21, a 3-2 Orlando win. It was the first win in the series for either side after three straight draws. Chris Mueller, Sacha Kljestan, and Dom Dwyer gave the Lions a 3-0 lead before Florian Jungwirth pulled two back in the game’s late stages.

The Lions led all of the first three matches in the second half only to see San Jose pull level, with two of those tying goals coming late. In the 2017 meeting, Carlos Rivas finally broke the scoreless tie and gave Orlando City the lead in the 81st minute, but Wondolowski spoiled the Lions’ night with an equalizer two minutes later as the teams drew at Avaya Stadium, 1-1.

In 2016, the Lions were gut-punched in the 94th minute in an emotional match that ended in a 2-2 draw. It was the first home match following the Pulse nightclub tragedy and what appeared to be a storybook ending to a cathartic win turned sour on a last-gasp equalizer by Shea Salinas. Seb Hines — now the Orlando Pride’s head coach — opened the scoring for Orlando, only to see Chad Barrett tie it up. Julio Baptista restored the lead in stoppage time, but Salinas ruined everything.

The two teams also drew in the first meeting, a 1-1 affair at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, with the Lions down to 10 men after Brek Shea was sent off in the first half. Kaká and Wondolowski each scored from the penalty spot four minutes apart in that initial meeting.

Overview

The teams meet tonight to get their post-World Cup portion of the season started. Orlando City has been terrible on the road all season long, keeping only one MLS opponent under two goals all year away from home and allowing five goals twice (at New York City FC and Nashville) and six goals twice (at LAFC and in the team’s most recent match away at FC Cincinnati just before the break).

Orlando City is a putrid 1-6-1 on the road this season, and now the Lions must face the Western Conference co-leaders tonight before coming home to face Supporters’ Shield-leading Nashville SC at home on Saturday. They’ll have to play at least tonight’s game without Martin Ojeda, who is out with a thigh injury sustained some time between his first-half goal a week ago in a friendly against FC Dallas and the time the availability report dropped on Tuesday.

But it isn’t all bad news for the Lions, who should have both Antoine Griezmann and Dike in the lineup. Griezmann was the club’s highly prized and widely publicized summer Designated Player signing, while Dike’s return to Orlando came together more recently, following his departure from West Bromwich Albion. They’ll help the club’s offense, but the attack hasn’t been the issue in 2026 — it’s been the historically porous defense, which is on pace to shatter the MLS record for goals conceded.

Meanwhile, San Jose is one of the first half of the season’s biggest surprises, as the Quakes have been outstanding in 2026. Scoring 34 goals while conceding just 15, San Jose is among the league leaders in goals scored (tied for third), goals conceded (third), and goal differential (+19, third).

The Earthquakes are 4-2-1 at home and are coming off a 3-1 road win at Portland in their last game prior to the World Cup break. San Jose boasts Golden Boot challenger Preston Judd, who leads the Quakes with 11 goals, adding two assists in his 15 appearances. Ousseni Bouda has chipped in five goals and three assists. Niko Tsakiris leads the team with seven assists to go along with his two goals, but he’s still recovering from a lower body injury and is not available tonight. However, the arrival of Timo Werner (four goals and five assists in just seven games) has truly elevated Bruce Arena’s Quakes, and he’ll need to be one of the main focal points for the Orlando defense.

To have any shot at taking something from this game, the Lions will need to play better road defense than they have all season. Orlando can score goals, but with Ojeda out, Griezmann will need to adapt quickly, and someone other than the team’s leading scorer will need to find the net.

The Lions will play without Ojeda (thigh), Joran Gerbet (knee), Nolan Miller (knee), Colin Guske (international duty), and Clovis Archage (international duty). In addition, Marco Pasalic may or may not have returned to the team after the World Cup. He was not in training Monday, although interim head coach Martin Perelman said he expected the Croatian back soon. The Earthquakes will be without Nonso Adimabua (lower body), former Lion Earl Edwards Jr. (lower body), DeJuan Jones (lower body), and Tsakiris (you guessed it, lower body…come on, San Jose).

Match Content

Official Lineups:

Orlando City (4-4-2)

Goalkeeper: Maxime Crepeau.

Defenders: Adrian Marin, David Brekalo, Robin Jansson, Griffin Dorsey.

Midfielders: Ivan Angulo, Braian Ojeda, Eduard Atuesta, Tiago.

Forwards: Justin Ellis, Antoine Griezmann.

Bench: Javier Otero, Bernardo Rhein, Tahir Reid-Brown, Zakaria Taifi, Iago, Wilder Cartagena, Luis Otavio, Harvey Sarajian, Tyrese Spicer

San Jose Earthquakes (4-2-3-1)

Goalkeeper: Angus Gunn.

Defenders: Jamar Ricketts, Reid Roberts, Daniel Munie, Benjamin Kikanovic.

Defensive Midfielders: Beau Lerouox, Ronaldo Vieira.

Attacking Midfielders: Timo Werner, Nick Fernandez, Ousseni Bouda.

Forwards: Preston Judd.

Bench: Jonathan Gonzalez, Dave Romney, Paul Marie, Jack Skahan, Jack Jasinski, Ian Harkes, Francesco Montali, Max Floriani, Darius Johnson.

Referees

REF: Elijio Arreguin.
AR1: Adam Wienckowski.
AR2: Mike Nickerson.
4TH: Timothy Ford.
VAR: Jose Carlos Rivero.
AVAR: TJ Zablocki.

How to Watch

Match Time: 10:30 p.m.

Venue: PayPal Park — San Jose, CA.

TV/Live Stream: Apple TV.

Radio: AM 810 FOX Sports Radio Orlando (English), Mega 97.1 FM (Spanish), Nossa Rádio 1160 AM-WRLZ (Portuguese).

Social Media: For rapid reaction and live updates, follow us on Bluesky Social at @themaneland.bsky.social or follow Orlando City’s official Twitter (@OrlandoCitySC) or Bluesky (@OrlandoCitySC) feed.

Enjoy the match. Go City!

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Podcasts

PawedCast Episode 542: Tampa Bay Friendly, McGuire Traded, OCB Beats Cincinnati, and More

Lions maul the Rowdies in friendly action, OCB wins on the road, and it’s transfer season.

Published

3 weeks ago

on

July 14, 2026

By

Image of Antoine Griezmann and Ivan Angulo celebrating a goal in a friendly against the Tampa Bay Rowdies.
Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

Orlando City welcomed I-4 Derby rival Tampa Bay to Inter&Co Stadium for a friendly match on Wednesday and then proceeded to bludgeon the Rowdies with a couple of hammers named Antoine Griezmann and Justin Ellis. The two attackers combined for a goal and four assists in a 6-0 beatdown of the team from the Gulf Coast, with five different Lions scoring and Griffin Dorsey forcing an own goal. We discuss Griezmann’s first minutes with Orlando City, what the team showed in its formation, and how good Justin Ellis’ vision is.

Oh, and it’s also transfer season now. Duncan McGuire is on his way out and Marco Pasalic reportedly will follow soon, while a new left back may be headed from Spain to Orlando.

Following all of that, we discuss Maxime Crepeau being added to the MLS All-Star Team and the announcement that he’ll participate in the 2026 MLS All-Star Skills Challenge.

Our mailbagbox asked us about which World Cup semifinalist players we’d want to join Orlando this season (if we could only pick one), and more. Remember, if there’s anything — and we do mean anything — you want us to address on the show, just ask us by tweeting it to us at @TheManeLand with the hashtag #AskTMLPC, or hitting us up on Bluesky Social with that same hashtag.

After the mailbagbox, we dive into OCB’s 2-1 road win at FC Cincinnati 2. It wasn’t the prettiest game by the Young Lions, but they managed to do enough to earn three points on the road, where they’ll stay to face Chattanooga on Saturday. We briefly preview that game.

Finally, Orlando City will be in Dallas Wednesday for the second of two friendlies leading up to the restart of the MLS season. It’s unlikely we’ll get a lot of details about that one, but we’ll see what happens. Maybe the FC Dallas folks will help us out.

Be sure to rate and review our show wherever you get your podcasts. Remember, we’ll read any five-star reviews we get on Apple Podcasts on the next show.

If you’d like to support our independent writing and podcasting efforts, we’d love to have you as a subscriber or donor over at our Buy Me a Coffee site.

Here’s how No. 542 went down:

0:15 – Orlando City crushed the Rowdies, the transfer season is in full swing, plus: hey now, Crepeau’s an all-star.

28:50 – The mailbagbox is always good for a hypothetical scenario.

36:54 – The Young Lions slipped past Cincy and head to Chattanooga, while the senior Lions head to Dallas.

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Podcasts

SkoPurp Soccer Episode 119: International Break, USWNT, Louisville Preview, and More

The Pride return from a long international break looking to get their first-ever road win against Racing Louisville.

Published

3 months ago

on

April 22, 2026

By

Image of Haley McCutcheon scoring the opening goal in Orlando's home playoff win over Seattle.
Image courtesy of Orlando Pride / Jeremy Reper

It feels like months since the Orlando Pride last took the field, but the calendar says otherwise. If you believe calendars, it’s only been a little less than three weeks, but time moves strangely in the post-pandemic apocalyptic world.

Anyway, we don’t have a match to recap, so we touched on a couple of Pride players putting the ball in the net during the international break and chat a bit about the United States Women’s National Team’s three-game friendly series against Japan. Emma Hayes used a lot of players, and the team looked solid for two of the three matches, but the rotated middle game seemed a bit disjointed. Hayes has greatly expanded the player pool and will have plenty of options when the World Cup approaches.

Our mailbagbox had questions about a potential change in the NWSL schedule, as the league explores adopting the fall-to-spring slate, and opposition own goals. Remember, you can ask us anything by hitting us up on Twitter at either @TheManeLand or @SkoPurpSoccer and using the hashtag #AskSkoPurp. You can use that same hashtag and hit @TheManeLand.bsky.social up on Bluesky. Or you can visit our show page, scroll down, and fill out the handy form. We’d also appreciate any ratings or reviews you can leave wherever you get your podcasts, and if you do that on Apple Podcasts, we’ll find them easily and read them on the show.

After the mailbagbox, we turned our attention toward Friday’s late afternoon tussle with Racing Louisville in Kentucky. The Pride have never won on the road against Louisville, and it’s about high time they did. This match begins a congested push to the June World Cup break, and although Friday’s hosts aren’t high in the table, the Pride must be at their best to get a road result in this fixture. We look back at the series history, compare the two sides, provide our key matchups in the game, and make our final score predictions.

If you’d like to support our independent writing and podcasting efforts, we’d love to have you as a subscriber or donor over at our Buy Me a Coffee site.

Here’s how Episode 119 went down:

0:15 – We open the show with a little banter about the Pride in the international break and the USWNT’s series vs. Japan.

9:03 – The mailbagbox features questions via both eletronic mail and social media. We welcome all modes of delivery.

19:59 – The Pride travel to Louisville to face Racing. They’ve never won in Kentucky, but we inform them how to do so.

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