Ellis downplays U.S.’s brief relaxation forward of Spain
Graham HaysespnW.com
CloseGraham Hays covers faculty sports activities for espnW, together with softball and soccer. Hays started with ESPN in 1999.
REIMS, France — The US might want to overcome each Spain and scheduling disadvantages when it performs its first knockout-round recreation Monday within the FIFA Girls’s World Cup.
The U.S. was the match’s most dominant staff in profitable all three of its video games within the group stage. The Individuals set a World Cup group-stage report by scoring 18 targets whereas not permitting any in wins towards Thailand, Chile and Sweden. However along with being one among solely two group winners that performs a second-place finisher within the preliminary knockout spherical as a substitute of a third-place finisher, the U.S. will play Spain with significantly much less relaxation than its opponent.
Whereas the U.S. performed Sweden in its last group recreation on Thursday, Spain performed its last group recreation towards China on Monday. Each the U.S. and Spain performed these video games in Le Havre.
U.S. coach Jill Ellis downplayed the results and famous that her staff hosted tournaments just like the annual SheBelieves Cup and Event of Nations with a watch towards this form of situation.
“We’re very used to a three-day rhythm,” Ellis stated Sunday. “It is what we have performed in sure tournaments, particularly for [that] objective of getting a constant rhythm in what we do. And we won’t management, clearly, what our opponent has.”
On this 12 months’s SheBelieves Cup, for instance, the U.S. performed Japan on Feb. 27, England on March 2 and Brazil on March 5, touring not less than 700 miles between every recreation. However its opponents in that and comparable tournaments had equivalent journey and restoration intervals.
Complicating issues forward of Monday’s recreation, temperatures in Reims are anticipated to peak at 90 levels within the hour earlier than the 6 p.m. native kickoff, the most well liked climate the U.S. has skilled in France.
“I have never paid consideration to the climate report,” Ellis stated. “However for us, all the things has been about ensuring our restoration was taking place the night time of the Sweden recreation. After the huddle, I simply stated to them, ‘The MVP proper now’s going to be your restoration and your hydration and your consideration to element,’ by way of ensuring they do this. I feel our gamers are unbelievable with that, by way of figuring out that the subsequent recreation begins as quickly as that recreation is over.”
4 years in the past, the U.S. had 5 days off between its last group recreation and first knockout-round recreation towards Colombia, which was ranked 28th on the earth on the time. Spain is at present ranked 13th.
The oldest staff on this World Cup, the U.S. already confronted a condensed schedule by advantage of being one of many last two groups to play its opening recreation. If it reaches the ultimate in Lyon on July 7, it would play seven video games in 27 days.
“I might have taken an additional day or two,” Kelley O’Hara stated of the Spain recreation. “However no, it would not matter. It is all about getting the job performed, whoever we’re taking part in, concentrate on that.”
The winner of Monday’s recreation performs once more on Friday in Paris towards the winner of Sunday’s recreation between France and Brazil.