LE HAVRE, France (AP) — Megan Rapinoe and Alex Morgan scored and the U.S. women’s national team beat France 2-0 in an exhibition soccer match Tuesday.
The top-ranked United States extended its unbeaten streak to 39 matches, dating to January 2019 when the Americans fell to France 3-1.
“I felt like tonight we had a good showing and it’s always nice to get on the scoresheet against France. It makes it that much more special in France,” Morgan said.
Rapinoe, who is on the roster of Tacoma-based OL Reign of the National Women’s Soccer League, scored on a penalty kick in the fifth minute. She leads the team with seven goals in seven matches this year.
Morgan made it 2-0 with her 109th career goal in the 19th minute.
Morgan credited her preseason training with the NWSL Orlando Pride for helping her return to top form after the birth of her daughter last year as well as a bout with COVID-19 over the holidays.
“I’ve been with Orlando day in and day out trying to gain 90-minute fitness,” she said. “So coming into this camp, I felt really sharp and fit and felt like if 90 minutes was asked of me that I could take that on.”
Rapinoe scored twice against the French in a 2-1 quarterfinal victory at the 2019 World Cup, and the United States went on to win its second straight title in the tournament. France, ranked No. 3 in the world, had not lost a match since then.
France was missing some of its top players, including Wendie Renard, Amandine Henry and Dephine Cascario, because of a coronavirus outbreak on that trio’s club team, Lyon.
The Americans were coming off a 1-1 draw against Sweden on Saturday in Stockholm that snapped a 16-game winning streak. The U.S. team is preparing for the Olympics in Tokyo.
“I think our game against Sweden, we were a little bit sloppy. We were giving away a lot of balls, and the way we want to play we can’t do that. If our technique breaks down, then our tactics break down,” captain Becky Sauerbrunn said. “We wanted to be technically clean for this game, we wanted to come out flying with a lot of energy and I think we did both.”
France beat England 3-1 on Friday. The French did not qualify for the Olympics.