In evaluating any athlete, team or coach, the danger is always in drawing broad conclusions from results determined by the width of a toe or a bit of luck.
So many crucial moments in the history of the USWNT could have gone the other way. Kristine Lilly clearing a goalbound shot in extra time of the 1999 World Cup. Carli Lloyd’s long-range shot in 2008, which many goalkeepers would have saved. Questionable penalty kicks all through the 2019 World Cup knockout rounds.