Here Come... the Excuses!

By the thinnest margin possible, Sweden eliminates the U.S. on penalties.

This was featured in live coverage.

Sweden advances on a kick that was initially saved by 

U.S. goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher but then slipped over the goal line.

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Don't do this, American media.  Losing is a part of the game too.

(You'd never have written a sports story up this way for the men...)

They lost, the final score shows, the American women's team lost.

No excuses, no "the Americans played better all game, 

but the Swedes came out on top."

That's like crying, years after the fact, that Hillary Clinton "won" the popular vote and more people really really wanted her, but dastardly Donald just pulled it off in the Electoral College. 

Both team knows the rules of the game going in.  The better team comes out on top at the end as the recognized winner. Don't complain about the rules after the game because you lost.  Maybe the "other team" strategized better?  (ie/ Did Sweden put their best kickers last in the penalty round?  I don't know, but there's no denying:  Sweden beat the U.S. fair and square.  Let the American ladies process their loss honestly; it could help their game if the team does not fall back on excuses, fed by the media...

Imagine what the Democratic party might look like today if after their 2016 loss people had not made excuses for Hillary Clinton's loss and got about the serious business of re-building the party;  sloughing off the old baggage (TeamClinton and friends/assorted hanger-oners), and looking to youth.

They didn't and now they are stuck.  They squeaked out a win in 2020, but the two elections apparently did not teach them much about campaigning and building up a younger healthier team D.  That's what happens when you keep Looking Backwards and refuse to plan or prepare for the future...

Just throwing money at things, confident that you have the most and can "buy" the best to play for your team doesn't work in reality.  Sometimes, you really do have perform honestly.  And if you lose?  Accept it, change things up, and be determined it does not happen again.

Get serious; focus and let the of-the-field antics be minimized or privately performed, not for the public consumption.  We don't care about your identities or antics;  we want the best performers playing for our team so we can have the best possible chances of success, while also lifting up the sport/profession.

Don't cheapen the game so your squad can always win, even when they are not the best anymore...