The Sports Report: U.S. has only itself to blame for World Cup loss
Howdy, I’m your host, Houston Mitchell. Let’s get right to the news.
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From Kevin Baxter in Melbourne, Australia: The end, like so much of this World Cup for the women’s national team, came cloaked in doubt and confusion.
U.S. goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher saved Lina Hurtig’s shot in the seventh round of Sunday’s tiebreaking shootout. She had batted the ball away, she was lying in front of the goal, how could it be otherwise?
The Americans celebrated and the Swedes mourned as referee Stephanie Frappart tugged at her earpiece. A voice in her head was telling her a video replay showed the ball had crossed the line. By the narrowest of margins, Sweden was going on to the quarterfinals, and the U.S. was going home.
“By like a millimeter or something,” Naeher said. “It’s tough to have your World Cup end by a millimeter.”
But if the World Cup ended there for the U.S., that’s not where it was lost.
It was lost when the U.S. failed to score in its final 238 minutes, the team’s longest-ever drought in a World Cup. It was lost when the U.S. failed to beat the Netherlands or Portugal, in two games it could have won. It was lost when a national team that had long played with joy, creativity and confidence became uncertain, predictable and indecisive.
As a result, the U.S. is out of the tournament short of the semifinals for the first time, an unfitting end for veterans Alex Morgan, Kelley O’Hara and Megan Rapinoe, who had gone to three straight World Cup finals.
“We want to be successful, be able to uphold the legacy that this team deserves,” Morgan said. “And we failed at that.”
Morgan watched the shootout from the sidelines, having been subbed out of the game in the first of two 15-minute extra periods. Rapinoe and O’Hara, meanwhile, were two of the three Americans who missed their penalties, Rapinoe sending hers well over the crossbar and O’Hara bouncing a soft try off the right post.
For Rapinoe, 38, who has already announced her retirement, the errant shot will be her last touch for the U.S. in a Hall of Fame career that included more than 200 appearances, 63 goals and the Golden Ball in the last World Cup, where she won her second title. Rapinoe, who doesn’t like to show when she’s been wounded, tried to make light of the irony. But the tears in her eyes were testament to how much it hurt.
“There’s some dark humor,” she said, her voice beginning to crack. “I mean, missing a f— penalty at the end of this game?”
ROUND OF 16
Aug. 4
Spain 5, Switzerland 1
Aug. 5
Japan 3, Norway 1
Netherlands 2, South Africa 0
Sunday
Sweden 0, United States 0
Sweden wins on penalty kicks, 5-4
Monday
England vs. Nigeria, 12:30 a.m., FS1
Australia vs. Denmark, 3:30 a.m., FS1
Tuesday
Colombia vs. Jamaica, 1 a.m., FS1
France vs. Morocco, 4 a.m., FS1
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DODGERS
From Jack Harris: Final assessments of this year’s trade deadline won’t become clear for a couple more months.
One week in, however, the Dodgers’ new arrivals are making a strong first impression.
While Freddie Freeman led the way in the team’s 8-2 win over the San Diego Padres on Sunday — collecting two hits, including a three-run homer — the core of the Dodgers’ seemingly underwhelming deadline class continued to outpace expectations, as well.
Lance Lynn pitched six strong innings in his second Dodgers start, yielding just a lone solo home run while striking out six and giving up only four hits.
Amed Rosario opened the scoring in the first inning with a two-run blast, giving him nine RBIs through his first eight Dodgers games.
Kiké Hernández added three hits, improving to 11 for 33 (.333 batting average) in his first 10 contests back with the team.
Since Tuesday’s deadline passed — lapsing without the Dodgers landing any of the big-name players they pursued over the previous week — the club is now 5-1.
It’s NL West lead is up to four games, matching a season-high.
And over the last couple series at least, all the new pieces have fallen into place, with the Dodgers new-look lineup jumping all over a left-handed pitcher (this time, ex-Dodger Rich Hill) once again.
NL WEST STANDINGS
Dodgers, 64-46
San Francisco, 61-51, 4 GB
Arizona, 57-56, 8.5 GB
San Diego, 55-57, 10 GB
Colorado, 44-67, 20.5 GB
WILD-CARD STANDINGS
top three teams qualify
San Francisco, 61-51
Philadelphia, 61-51
Chicago, 58-54
Cincinnati, 59-55, 0 GB
Miami, 58-55, 0.5 GB
Arizona, 57-56, 1.5 GB
San Diego, 55-57, 3 GB
New York, 50-61, 7.5 GB
Pittsburgh, 50-61, 7.5 GB
ANGELS
From Sarah Valenzuela: In the wake of being swept by the Seattle Mariners amid a six-game losing streak, the Angels continue to raise questions about whether they’re capable of making the postseason.
Chief among them: Can they win their upcoming series with the San Francisco Giants and make up ground in the standings with key division matchups against the Houston Astros and Texas Rangers looming?
After their 3-2 loss to the Mariners in 10 innings Sunday, the Angels are 56-57. They are 7 games behind the Toronto Blue Jays for the final American League wild-card spot and 10½ games behind the AL West-leading Texas Rangers.
The Angels remained confident they still have time to win games and challenge for a playoff spot.
“I know everyone’s now done with us, counted us out,” manager Phil Nevin said after Sunday’s loss. “That’s fine. I got 26 guys in there, plus staff that know we haven’t. They know we’re still there.”
AL WEST STANDINGS
Texas, 66-46
Houston, 64-49, 2.5 GB
Seattle, 60-52, 6 GB
Angels, 56-57, 10.5 GB
Oakland, 32-80, 34 GB
WILD-CARD STANDINGS
top three teams qualify
Tampa Bay, 68-46
Houston, 64-49
Toronto, 63-50
Seattle, 60-52, 2.5 GB
New York, 58-54, 4.5 GB
Boston, 57-54, 5 GB
Angels, 56-57, 7 GB
Cleveland, 54-58, 8.5 GB
UCLA FOOTBALL
From Ben Bolch: Most of UCLA football practice is hermetically sealed from the media, leaving reporters to search for the tiniest clues about what’s happening behind locked gates.
On Saturday afternoon, that meant watching for the order of interviews involving the top four candidates to become the team’s next starting quarterback.
Would the precocious Dante Moore, bidding to become the Bruins’ first true freshman to start a season at the position since Josh Rosen in 2015, lead off? Or would it be Ethan Garbers, the team’s primary backup the last two seasons?
Then again, perhaps the first quarterback to speak would be Collin Schlee, the veteran transfer from Kent State. Or maybe a curveball would lead to redshirt freshman Justyn Martin going first.
The honors went to Schlee, followed by Garbers.
“There was a seniority,” explained Garbers, a redshirt junior. “So, Collin being the oldest, and then me, and I think Justyn might go next.”
Nope. Moore went next, followed by Martin. Make anything of it at your own peril.
CHARGERS
From Jeff Miller: What follows is a football story and a father-son story and a comeback story. Yeah, a comeback story, one for all time.
Most of all, though, this an L.A. story, a hometown tale that starts in a torrent of gang violence on the blocks of Crenshaw and ends in a cozy huddle of Chargers on the turf of SoFi Stadium.
That covers a distance of barely five miles. But this is L.A., where even the shortest commutes can unravel into an agonizing misadventure of dead ends, regrettable decisions and maddening detours.
Daiyan Henley, a Chargers third-round draft pick in April, was conceived in prison, the son of a first-generation Crip who served 13 years after being convicted of trying to rob an undercover sheriff’s deputy of 33 pounds of cocaine.
RAMS
From Gary Klein: The Rams might look to the past as they build for the future.
Former Rams safety John Johnson, a free agent after his March release by the Cleveland Browns, attended practice Sunday at UC Irvine and chatted during the workout with general manager Les Snead and team vice president Tony Pastoors.
Johnson, 27, was a third-round draft pick by the Rams in 2017, and he played for the team through the 2020 season. In the 2018 playoffs, Johnson made one of the biggest plays in Rams history when he intercepted a Drew Brees pass in overtime of the NFC Championship game at New Orleans, setting up a game-winning field goal that sent the Rams to Super Bowl Llll.
After the 2020 season, the Browns gave Johnson a three-year contract that included $24 million in guarantees.
GYMNASTICS
From Helene Elliott: Simone Biles had walked out to the competition floor hundreds of times in hundreds of gyms during her spectacular gymnastics career, but the few steps she took to the blue-carpeted floor at NOW Arena outside Chicago on Saturday represented something new.
The Core Classic would be her first competition since the Tokyo Olympics, when an onset of “the twisties,” a sense of spatial disorientation that made it dangerous for her to twist through the air, forced her to withdraw from the team final and all but one individual event final. This would be the first time she’d test her body to see if it remembered how to generate skill and power, the first time she’d test her mind to see whether it would nudge her forward or drag her back.
Understandably, she was nervous. Jordan Chiles, her close friend and Tokyo teammate, was not.
“Honestly, I knew she was going to go out here and demolish everything and do everything that she’s capable of doing,” said Chiles, who left UCLA to train for a shot at the 2024 Paris Olympics. “I honestly just saw a light in her eyes, and I knew it was just going to take off from there.”
SPARKS
Nneka Ogwumike had 20 points, 10 rebounds and five assists, Azurá Stevens finished with 17 points and the Sparks beat the Washington Mystics 91-83 Sunday to snap a four-game losing streak.
Jordin Canada, who made nine of 10 from the free-throw line, had 15 points for Los Angeles (10-18).
Sparks coach Curt Miller became the fifth-fastest in WNBA history to reach 150 career wins and became one of three coaches (Van Chancellor and Lin Dunn) with at least 275 collegiate and 150 professional wins.
SPORTS ON TV
Local teams on TV today:
All times Pacific
1 p.m. Dodgers at San Diego, SportsNet LA
6:30 p.m. San Francisco at Angels, Bally Sports West
The rest of today’s sports on TV listings can be found here.
THIS DATE IN SPORTS
1907 — Walter Johnson wins the first of his 417 victories, leading the Washington Senators past the Cleveland Indians 7-2.
1999 — Wade Boggs becomes the first player to homer for his 3,000th hit, connecting with a two-run shot in Tampa Bay’s 15-10 loss to Cleveland.
2004 — Greg Maddux becomes the 22nd pitcher in major league history to reach 300 victories, leading the Chicago Cubs to an 8-4 victory over San Francisco.
2005 — Justin Gatlin dominates the 100 meters at the track and field championships in Helsinki. The Olympic champion wins in 9.88 seconds, finishing 0.17 seconds ahead of Michael Frater of Jamaica. The margin of victory is the largest in the 10 world championships held since the meet’s inception in 1983.
2007 — San Francisco’s Barry Bonds hits home run No. 756 to break Hank Aaron’s storied record. Noticeably absent are Commissioner Bud Selig and Aaron.
2012 — Aly Raisman becomes the first U.S. woman to win Olympic gold on floor. She picks up a bronze on balance beam on the final day of gymnastics at the London Olympics and just misses a medal in the all-around.
2016 — Jim Furyk becomes the first golfer to shoot a 58 in PGA Tour history. Three years after Furyk became the sixth player on tour with a 59, he takes it even lower in the Travelers Championship with a 12-under 58 in the final round.
2016 — Ichiro Suzuki triples off the wall for his 3,000th hit in the major leagues, becoming the 30th player to reach the milestone as the Miami Marlins beat the Colorado Rockies 10-7.
2016 — Manny Machado becomes the second player in major league history to homer in the first, second and third innings, driving in a career-high seven runs in a 10-2 victory over the Chicago White Sox.
2016 — American swimmer Katie Ledecky sets a new world record with a time of 3:56.46 to win the gold medal in the women’s 400m freestyle at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics.
2021 — Kevin Durant with 29 points leads USA to his third and the team’s 4th consecutive Olympic men’s basketball gold medal with an 87-82 win over France in Tokyo.
2021 — Indian javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra wins his country’s first-ever Olympic gold medal in Tokyo.
—Compiled by the Associated Press
And finally...
Wade Boggs gets his 3,000th hit. Watch and listen here. Ichiro Suzuki gets his 3,000th hit. Watch and listen here. Barry Bonds hits his 756th home run. Watch and listen here.
Until next time...
That concludes today’s newsletter. If you have any feedback, ideas for improvement or things you’d like to see, email me at houston.mitchell@latimes.com, and follow me on Twitter at @latimeshouston. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.
Go beyond the scoreboard
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