Olympic Soccer Live Updates: U.S. Women’s Team vs. Netherlands

All of it, however, was undone by a momentary lapse that let the best player in the tournament turn and fire from about 15 yards. Miedema was never going to miss from there.

But the lineup is also a reflection of what will be coming at it: a front line of Lieke Martens, Vivianne Miedema and Shanice van de Sanden, supported by Danielle van de Donk and Jackie Groenen in midfield.

There isn’t a coach in the world who wouldn’t love to run out either of these teams. But let’s see how they start and play before anyone jumps to conclusions about the instructions they’ve been given.

But the only game that matters now, Dunn said, is Friday’s quarterfinal against the Netherlands in Yokohama, a match she described as “all or nothing.” (Follow live coverage.)

The quarterfinals will be an unwelcome memory for many of the United States players; this was the stage at which they exited the Olympic tournament at the Rio Games in 2016, the first time the United States women had ever failed to win a medal at the Olympics.

That night in Brasília was a look-in-the-mirror moment, a crossroads game from which the Americans’ next steps could have led to disaster. Instead, the defeat became a milepost on the road to the 2019 Women’s World Cup championship, a title claimed by many of the same players on the team now and in a final against many of the same Netherlands players they will face on Friday.

The problem, at least for the Americans, is that the current Netherlands team might be better than the one they beat, 2-0, two years ago. The Dutch, the reigning European champions, have been devastating offensively here: They scored 21 goals in their first three games and have two players — Vivianne Miedema (eight) and Lieke Martens (six) — with as many goals as the entire United States squad has produced.

And they may be looking to rewrite some recent history of their own. But the Americans will be looking to prove a point, too, after some frustrating performances in the first round. First up will be avoiding another early Olympic exit.

“I think that the team is really hungry,” U.S. forward Christen Press said. “The group stage has left us feeling like we have more to give. And I think that’s a great thing, it’s a powerful thing and it’s intimidating.”

Andonovski, correctly and not for the first time, noted the game plan had worked: The United States did not allow a goal, or even more than one or two real chances, against Australia and emerged with the draw it needed to advance to the quarterfinals.

“It’s not easy, and sometimes we have to sacrifice some of the things we believe or have worked on to execute the game plan,” Andonovski said. “That was not something we’ve done in previous games. But that was the game plan, and I feel like we executed it well.”

The idea to sit back and repel attacks and grind out a draw, though, rather than direct the pace of the game and stay on the front foot, was not universally popular. Forward Alex Morgan repeatedly referred to “a tactical decision by Vlatko” when she was asked about the game plan after the match, and defender Becky Sauerbrunn brushed aside the performance as “disciplined, professional — what we needed to do.”

On Thursday, as criticism of the tactics continued on social media — the preferred forum for outraged and overheated discussions related to the U.S. team — the issue came up again in a call with two players. Both made clear they would be happy to receive new instructions for their game against the Dutch.

“The tactics that we’ve been given is obviously what we need to execute,” defender Crystal Dunn said. “We trust our staff to put us in a position to execute.”

But Dunn and forward Christen Press also made clear that the players were eager to get back to driving at teams instead of fending them off, waiting them out.

“We know what type of team we are,” Press said. “We know what type of offense we are. We have a way that we play, we have a way that we score goals and it’s been successful for years.”

“Ultimately,” she added, “when the team’s at its best, we are relentless and lethal.”

But that rigidity may give the United States a sense of what to look for on Friday night, and what they have seen so far might offer a glimmer of hope. While the Dutch have been the most potent offense in the field by far, they also have allowed eight goals — by far the most of the eight teams in the knockout round.

First, though, he has to get his own team on track. The United States was shut out in two of its three games in the group stage — a rarity, and a potentially worrisome one — and has had almost as many goals ruled out by offside calls (five) as it has actually scored (six).

The United States may want to avoid a shootout against an offense led by Vivianne Miedema (eight goals) and Lieke Martens (six), but U.S. forward Christen Press said it had the talent to do so as needed.

“The team is really hungry,” Press said. “The group stage has left us feeling like we have more to give. And I think that’s a great thing, it’s a powerful thing and it’s intimidating.”