USWNT downs Japan 3-1 to win SheBelieves Cup

Megan Rapinoe, Christen Press and Lindsey Horan scored in USWNT's 3-1 win over Japan, which sealed the SheBelieves Cup for Vlatko Andonovski and Co.

Published : Mar 12, 2020 10:23 IST

The USWNT holds a 31-game unbeaten steak.
The USWNT holds a 31-game unbeaten steak.
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The USWNT holds a 31-game unbeaten steak.

Megan Rapinoe and Christen Press scored early goals and the World champion United States beat Japan 3-1 on Wednesday to win the SheBelieves Cup friendly women's football tournament.

Lindsey Horan added a goal in the 83rd minute to seal the victory in Frisco, Texas, which saw Vlatko Andonovski improve to 10-0 as coach of the US women.

Japan's Mana Iwabuchi scored in the 58th minute -- the first goal allowed by the United States since it conceded two to Sweden in Andonovski's debut as coach on November 7.

 

Rapinoe, who swept the individual prizes at the 2019 World Cup in leading the US to a second straight triumph, opened the scoring in the seventh minute, firing home a free kick after a foul on Lindsey Horan.

Press doubled the score in the 26th, spinning on the top edge of the area and chipping over the Japanese keeper.

Iwabuchi's goal galvanized Japan, but it was unable to find an equaliser.

The match was played amid rising tension over the US women's gender discrimination lawsuit against the US Soccer Federation.

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US Soccer president Carlos Cordeiro apologized on Wednesday for the “offense and pain caused” by language used by the federation in court documents in defense of pay differences between the men's and women's national teams.

Before the match the women warmed up with their jerseys turned inside out in apparent protest of the federation's claims that the men's national team player carries more responsibility and “requires a higher level of skill based on speed and strength” than what is demanded of the women.

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