Megan Rapinoe and Lauren Holiday Will Miss Next Match Following Second Yellow Cards Of 2015 Women’s World Cup
During Team USA’s 2-0 victory over Columbia yesterday in the Round of 16 at the 2015 Women’s World Cup, midfielder Megan Rapinoe accumulated her second yellow card of the tournament, which will force her to miss the quarterfinals match against China.
Megan understood what was at stake and accepts the consequences, but noted that she never let that affect her mentality against the Columbians, per ESPN.
“I knew [it meant missing the next game], of course. You can’t change too much how you play. Maybe I could have been a little bit more cautious, but I didn’t think the fouls were that bad. Yeah, it’s unfortunate both Holiday and I out for the next game. But we’ve got good players coming off the bench, so I don’t feel too bad about it.”
According to Sports Illustrated, when asked how the team will fare in her absence, Rapinoe playfully responded, “They’re gonna struggle.”
“No, I think we’ll be fine. When you can look down our bench and bring all those players off our bench, I think we’re pretty lucky.”
Christen Press is more than likely going to fill Rapinoe’s shoes during her one-match suspension.
“Probably Press. It’s kind of a straight swap. She did well tonight and can be so dangerous. She’s quick, she’s very smart, really good around the box. I think she’ll probably step into that role.”
Megan had this to say following the victory.
“It’s getting there. I thought there were a lot better things going on tonight, a lot more creativity. I thought we went through the middle a lot better, got Carli involved a lot more, got [Holiday] involved, Tobin was coming inside, as well. It’s good to get Alex back and going, get her a goal. I thought that was really big. I think that we keep growing with each game and keep getting better.
Of course, we still want to be flying at everybody and winning 5-0, but these teams are good. We can’t just walk over these teams.”
After Megan was given the yellow card, she drew a penalty in the Columbian box that allowed Team USA veteran Carli Lloyd to capitalize, per SB Nation.
GOAL #USA! Rapinoe earns the PK and Lloyd slots it home. 2-0. #worldcuppic.twitter.com/6e0SPgXsOE
— Ben Jata (@Ben_Jata) June 23, 2015
Rapinoe isn’t the only USA starter who will be sitting out against the Chinese. In the 17th minute against Columbia, midfielder Lauren Holiday was also given her second yellow card of the 2015 tourney, and had this to say in the aftermath.
“I didn’t think about it the rest of the game. It was unfortunate that it happened, and I think it was a weak yellow card, in my opinion. But I think we have a great team, [and] we have a lot of people that can step up.”
After Columbian goalkeeper Catalina Perez was given a red card and sent to the locker room for sliding for the ball and cutting down USA’s Alex Morgan, Holiday had the opportunity to play a more advanced role in the team’s offense, one she’s not necessarily accustomed to.
“Heck yeah. I had so much fun. Obviously, I didn’t get the ball as much as I wanted to, but it was fun. It was fun to play in that 10 spot and to be higher up the field.”
As the Inquisitr previously reported, the USA side is highly dependent on the 29-year-old Rapinoe, but they have no fear that the talent on the bench is more than enough to get the job done.
Currently 4-0, the Women’s National Team goes against China PR this Friday at 7:30 p.m. EST on Fox Sports 1 at Landsdowne Stadium in Ottawa, Canada.
[Photo by Todd Korol/Getty Images]
