This international window, the USWNT played two friendly matches against Brazil, marketed as Olympic Gold Medal Rematches.
In the first match, the USWNT rebounded from their SheBelieves loss to Japan with what felt like a pretty solid 2-0 win over Brazil. I was among the 32,303 people that attended the historic game at SoFi Stadium, the first women’s sporting event held at the venue. It was a lot of fun and the energy in the stadium was good!
I was a little bit nervous coming into this game because this roster looks very different from the one that played in the 2024 Olympics and Brazil is a tough opponent. The US rolled out a 4-2-3-1 and I thought it worked pretty well. Naomi Girma and Tierna Davidson were both ruled out of this camp due to injury, so Emily Sonnet and Tara McKeown stepped up as the center back duo between outside backs Crystal Dunn on the left and Emily Fox on the right. Lindsay Heaps (nee Horan) and Sam Coffey made up the midfield. Alyssa Thompson, Ally Sentnor, and Trinity Rodman composed the forward line with Catarina Macario in front of them as the striker. Phallon Tullis-Joyce got her first cap for the USWNT this game, a moment that I’ve been long awaiting since becoming a fan of hers when she played for OL Reign.
Overall, I thought that Tullis-Joyce played well. She seemed confident and made some great stops. Her first cap wasn’t without a few hiccups though. There were definitely moments of defensive breakdown and miscommunication including a collision with Sonnet that was eerily similar to the one that occurred during the Japan game in February which resulted in a goal for the opposition. However, the group seemed to improve throughout the game. Dunn in particular was on fire up and down the left side. It seems like she’s settling in well at Paris Saint-Germain and is back in form. Tullis-Joyce emerged from her first game with a clean sheet. I hope we get to see more from her.
During the warm ups it felt like Rodman and Thompson were successfully combining over and over again. That paid off within the first five minutes of the game when Thompson shook her defender 1v1 to lay it off to Rodman who put it away. This was followed by a cheeky celebration referencing the back injury she’s been managing since after the Olympics. I really liked what I saw out of the attack in this game, they seemed to be combining well and creating a lot of chances. The US had 12 shots on goal compared to Brazil’s six. Macario did a great job as the 9, often being held from behind by her defender, but her hold-up play was excellent and she was able to pass to another threat or eventually roll her defender and get her own shot off. I so desperately wanted a Thompson goal at SoFi and I think she did too. She had a strong performance both taking good chances and creating them for others, but alas, it did not come to pass. Her decision making in the final third is improving but she still has room to grow. I think we could have had more goals but the potential is there.
Part of what I enjoyed about this game was that the substitutes made a positive impact on the game and it didn’t feel like there was a big dip in quality or that they just went in to hold down the game until the final whistle. They continued to push for another goal. First 17 year-old Lily Yohannes came in for Sentnor and Michelle Cooper, who has been excellent for the Kansas City Current this year, came in for Rodman. Yohannes is such a joy to watch. She just looks so composed on the ball, she both absorbs and avoids pressure easily, and she can send in the most beautifully placed passes through the lines. She has great game sense, as well. It is she that draws a penalty in the 66th minute. Heaps puts it past Lorena. Toward the end of the game we also saw Ashley Hatch, Jaedyn Shaw, Yazmeen Ryan, and Avery Patterson come in for Macario, Heaps, Thompson, and Fox, respectively. It was a pretty good performance from the US with probably Hayes’s preferred lineup within this group of players. Considering how many key players are out with injury or due to personal reasons or maternity leave, that’s a good sign in my book.
The officiating in this game was horrendous, but I don’t think I can even talk about that.
Three days later, the sides played again, this time in San Jose at a sold out PayPal Park. Hayes must have felt satisfied enough with what she saw on Saturday because on Tuesday, she chose chaos. She said “let’s just throw on all the kids and make Sonnett their captain.” The average age of the starting lineup was 22 years old and the total number of caps between them was 187 with Emily Sonnett earning about 56% of that number.
It definitely showed. The formation looked pretty much the same as the previous game. McKeown, Sonnett, A. Thompson, and Macario stayed in their same positions. Avery Patterson and Gisele Thompson came in as outside backs, Korbin Albert and Claire Hutton filled in the double pivot, Lily moved upfield into the attack, and Michelle Cooper slotted in on the wing.
The US actually scores within the first minute of the game thanks to a breakaway down the left by A. Thompson, and although she’s stopped in the box by a couple defenders, Macario picks up the loose ball and slots it home. I feel like A. Thompson, Macario, and Cooper were all able to keep the offensive heat turned up for most of the first half. They were consistently in dangerous positions and creating opportunities. If there had been some better finishing it felt like the US could have been up by a couple goals by the end of the first half.
However, what was going on behind them was a little bit of a mess for basically the entire game. Lily seemed to struggle a bit in her more advanced position. At times she looked herself and contributed well to the attack and at others she got dispossessed and turned around. Hutton and Albert seemed to have no chemistry and were constantly on top of each other. McKeown and G. Thompson joined in this chaos seeming to be unable to communicate with each other which led to Brazil’s Kerolin’s goal in the 24th minute. Thompson pushes way too far up, leading McKeown to follow. This leaves acres of space behind them for Kerolin to receive a pass from Gio and shoot, McKeown and Hutton literally collide trying to get back and cover her.
Unfortunately this hole on the US’s right never seemed to get fully patched up. Brazilian players continued to attack this side and found open space there for most of the game. The US seemed to completely lose control of the game in the second half once Patterson and Cooper leave with head injuries and substitutes file in. The second half in general felt kind of insane. Brazil may have had more “momentum” but the game was off the rails. Tons of fouls. Highly transitional. Ball pinging back and forth. People going down left and right. Despite their experience, Horan, Coffey, and Dunn didn’t seem to be able to reel in control to change the tide. Sentnor and Ryan continued to try to push and G. Thompson put in a tough 90 minute shift but it just was not enough. In very NSWL After Dark fashion, Brazil’s Amanda found the back of the net soon after coming off the bench in the 97th minute. The game ends 2-1 for Brazil.
The officiating in this game was equally, if not more, horrendous than the first. Perhaps either team could have gotten true control of the game at some point if the game had been controlled.
Emma Hayes didn’t look particularly pleased after this loss, but she’s keeping her money where her mouth is. She allowed these inexperienced players to try to ride out most, if not all, of this physical, tough, chaotic game. In preparation for the 2027 World Cup these players need minutes and hands-on experience with good and bad moments. There were players that I felt really impressed by, even in this second game. Hutton put in work and is an excellent ball winner. Cooper showed that she deserves to be in this pool as yet another one of our dynamic wingers. A. Thompson, Sentnor, Yohannes, and Ryan continue to grow and improve in this environment. Macario looks like she’s back in full force. Although it would have been nice to pick up two wins here, I think this was a valuable camp for all the players and I look forward to the next one in June.