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‘She’s Been Huge for Us This Whole Tournament’- Megan Rapinoe Praises Goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher for Her Performances at the Tokyo Olympics 2020

Published 08/01/2021, 1:29 AM EDT

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The USWNT earned a stunning win over The Netherlands in the quarter-finals of the Tokyo Olympics 2020. The team will take on Canada in the tournament’s semis. Their match against the Dutch team was nothing short of nail-biting.

After a 2-2 draw in the regular time, the game moved to penalties. US goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher came up large in the shootouts. She pulled off a total of 2 saves that helped her team progress to the semis of the tournament. Apart from that, Naeher was absolutely phenomenal during the 90 minutes and in the extra time as well.

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Naeher didn’t only stand tall during the penalties. She was just as efficient in the 120 minutes as she saved a penalty in that time period as well.

US star Megan Rapinoe reflected upon the team’s performance. She also explained how important Naeher’s performance was for the win.

I’ll leave that to you guys. She’s not a person of many words She’s been huge for us this whole tournament. She made a bunch of unbelievable saves. To save a penalty from them in normal time is huge. To then give us two in the shootout took the pressure off all the penalty takers. That’s immense. It gave us all a ton of confidence,” said Rapinoe.

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Who does USWNT face next?

The United States Women’s National Team will take on Canada in their next match at the Tokyo Olympics 2020. After a troubled start to the tournament, the team has eventually started to find its rhythm.

USA Today via Reuters

The team came to Tokyo riding a 44-match unbeaten streak. But Sweden crushed them 3-0 at the opening clash of the tournament. A thrashing of New Zealand saw them return to winning ways. Despite a draw against Australia in the last match of the group stages, they progressed to the quarter-finals.

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Now, with a win against a top team like The Netherlands, it seems like USWNT is back on track. Given their run, they will fancy their chances against Canada as they seek to advance to the gold medal match.

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Apratim Banerjee

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Apratim Banerjee is an MMA author for EssentiallySports and has been writing professionally for almost a year. Before his current gig, Apratim worked as a UFC writer for Sportskeeda. A long-time MMA fan, Apratim has developed a critical eye for the sport that has helped him transfer his vast knowledge to his copies and give hardcore and casual readers a detailed insight into the fights and fighters.
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