REIMS, France -- The last team off the field four years ago in Canada, when it hung around amid the confetti to celebrate its third world championship, the United States was the last contender to take the field in the 2019 Women's World Cup.

The Americans looked like a team that was tired of waiting.

Paced by a record-matching performance from Alex Morgan, whose five goals equaled Michelle Akers' for the most by an American in a World Cup, the U.S. women routed Thailand 13-0 on Tuesday. The final tally set a record for the most prolific offensive performance in tournament history.

Playing in front of a sold-out crowd at the Stade Auguste-Delaune that sounded and looked as if it were watching a game in Portland, Oregon, or New York rather than the north of France, the United States took the game to Thailand from the opening whistle.

But by the end of the match, some were asking, how many goals is too many goals?

The U.S. women had the game comfortably in hand a few minutes into the second half, when Samantha Mewis put the Americans up 4-0. The game was long since settled by the time Mewis and Rose Lavelle scored within two minutes of each other to make it 7-0 with more than 30 minutes to play.

The U.S. women outshot Thailand 40-2 in their 13-0 World Cup-opening victory on Tuesday. Green dots signify goals, and red dots indicate shots saved, blocked or off-target. ESPN Stats and Information

On and on, wave after wave, the United States created more chances and goals until it had topped the 11-0 record win Germany put on Argentina in the 2007 World Cup.

But to put blame on the United States ignores two obvious points. First, the Americans didn't make the rules under which the number of goals scored is part of deciding the outcome of the tournament. Goal differential counts. The U.S. women want to win its group. Unlike just about any other sport, the Americans have a vested interest in running up the score.

And second, it isn't the United States' fault it can't clear its bench. It is allowed three subs. It used three subs.

"If this is 10-0 in a men's World Cup, are we getting the same questions?" U.S. coach Jill Ellis asked after receiving repeated queries about the score. "I think a World Cup, it is about competing, it is about peaking, it is about priming your players ready for the next game."

But beyond that, why is it the obligation of the U.S. team to act in the interest of creating a picture of a falsely level playing field? Why shouldn't FIFA or the Asian Confederation get blamed for not doing more to promote the women's game in places where it lags behind?

Are we really going to blame players for celebrating a goal, in many cases in their first World Cup, instead of looking at the underlying reasons for the disparity in the first place?