Lack of goals bounces USWNT from World Cup earlier than ever - ESPN

MELBOURNE, Australia — As the players of the U.S. women's national team walked one-by-one through the mixed zone outside Melbourne Rectangular Stadium to speak with reporters, it was obvious they'd rather not.

Sophia Smith and Julie Ertz were crying. Kelley O'Hara stared at the ground, crestfallen. Everyone was reeling from a dramatic penalty kick shootout that saw Sweden prevail 5-4 after a goalless 120 minutes. Sunday's loss sent the Americans home in the round of 16, their earliest exit in a major tournament ever.

A reporter asked Alex Morgan whether the players had been set up to succeed by the coaching staff, including manager Vlatko Andonovski. «I mean, I can't even process that question, sorry,» she said before walking away.

The time for pointing fingers and placing blame will come soon enough. It has to with the Olympics coming in less than one year.

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The process, of course, starts with looking at the 120 minutes against Sweden in which the USWNT couldn't find a goal, at a World Cup in which the Americans entered as favorites but could never click into gear.

«We dominated the game and created way more chances than them,» forward Trinity Rodman said after the match. «The only thing we were missing was a goal.»

Rodman was talking about the 0-0 stalemate against Sweden, but she could have been discussing the USWNT's group stage, too. In those three games, the team could muster only one win and two draws for its worst-ever five points in a World Cup group stage. That meant the No. 1-ranked U.S. couldn't top its group and was forced to face No. 3-ranked Sweden in the round of 16 instead of a far easier opponent.

After the clamoring from fans and critics