The United States women’s soccer team has suffered a shock 3-0 hammering by Sweden in its opening Tokyo 2020 match, bringing an abrupt end to the team’s 44-game unbeaten streak. The U.S. team—the overwhelming favorite to take gold home from Japan—put in a vanishingly rare poor performance against the Swedish side on Wednesday. Sweden’s Stina Blackstenius scored first with a short-range header in the 25th minute, then she put in a rebound to make it 2-0 at 54 minutes. Lina Hurtig sealed the thrashing with a header in the 72nd minute. The loss doesn’t eliminate the U.S. but the team will have to up its game against New Zealand on Saturday and Australia on Tuesday if it’s to finish in the top two in the group of four and progress.
