Cal Sports Report

Alex Morgan Still Without a Goal as USA Advances

Will Morgan get benched for the knockout round? Carli Lloyd suggested she be replaced in the starting lineup against Portugal.

Jake Curtis

Former Cal star Alex Morgan took a number of shots in the USA's disappointing 0-0 tie with Portugal on Tuesday, but she still has yet to score in this Women's World Cup.

The top-ranked Americans will advance as a result of the tie in Auckland, New Zealand, but they have scored just four goals in three games, and might be the underdogs in their round-of-16 game on Sunday in the knockout stage, probably against third-ranked Sweden.

The question now is whether Morgan will be in the starting lineup in the next game.

Former USA star Carli Lloyd said on television Tuesday that Morgan should have been benched for the Portugal game.

"To spice things up a little bit, to change it up, I am going with the lineup that is behind me," Lloyd said on FOX Sports. "I am taking Alex Morgan out. She's done well, she's occupied the center-backs, she's dragged and pulled players out and whatnot.

"But I just feel like the three up top have been very narrow, so we need to create some width. So if we can put Sophia Smith up in the 9, on the left Trinity Rodman, on the right Lynn Williams."

The USA was fortunate to get the tie in its final game of Group E play as a shot by Portugal striker Ana Capeta hit the post in stoppage time. If it had gone in, the Americans would have been eliminated from the tournament before reaching the knockout round, which would have been embarrassing indeed.

"It's not the result we wanted, but we move forward," Morgan said. "I know this team and I know what we're capable of, and just because it hasn't clicked every moment on the field and we're not putting the goals in the back of the net doesn't mean these aren't the right players for the job. The confidence is there and now we just have to prove it out on the field."

Morgan was expected to be the player to lead them in scoring, but she has yet to hit the back of the net in three games.  She certainly tried to score, getting off a number of shots directed at the goal.

Three minutes into the game, she had a shot blocked, and three minutes later she missed with a shot.

She had another shot blocked before it reached the goal 10 minutes into the second half, and three minutes later had a header from short range go awry.

Morgan put a shot on goal in the 84th minutes, but it was saved, and she had two more opportunities in stoppage time, knocking a left-footed shot from the center box high and wide or the goal, then booting a right-footed shot from the center of the box wide left.

She left the game by substitution about two minutes before the final whistle.

The tie allowed the Americans to finish second in Group E, as the top two finishers in each group advance to the 16-team knockout round.

Meanwhile, Netherlands became the Group E winner when in overwhelmed Vietnam 7-0 in its final game of the group stage.

The USA is still alive for its third straight Women's World Cup title, but the Americans will have to improve considerably to achieve it.

Cover photo of Alex Morgan by Jenna Watson, USA TODAY Sports

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Jake Curtis
JAKE CURTIS

Jake Curtis worked in the San Francisco Chronicle sports department for 27 years, covering virtually every sport, including numerous Final Fours, several college football national championship games, an NBA Finals, world championship boxing matches and a World Cup. He was a Cal beat writer for many of those years, and won awards for his feature stories.

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