The United States women’s national team doesn’t have much to show in a couple of contested friendlies against Australia three months after the Olympics and 20 months before the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup, but the players want to be back. Part of the USWNT there are many.
Coach Vlatko Andonovski took just two players over the age of 30 on the Down Under trip and only six with more than 25 international appearances. He deployed young veterans Lindsey Horan and Rose Lavelle in the heart of midfield to fuel the attack, but most people on the pitch carried little international experience in the two games.
And the kids were given a smash.
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The USWNT drew Australia 1-1 early Tuesday – Australia’s goal came from a lucky miss – after winning 3-0 three days earlier. Andonovski said he believes the Americans controlled the play in both games.
They created and shot more chances. They weren’t dominant, but playing in front of large crowds on the street with mostly newbies, that shouldn’t be expected.
There’s a lot to draw from the two games, most of which are positive:
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World Cup hero Alyssa Naeher missed the extended stretch of the NWSL season – and the Chicago Red Stars’ appearance in the championship game – because of a knee injury that occurred during the Olympics. She probably won’t make this trip, anyway, because of the emphasis on youth.
But Naeher learned over the past week, as did many USWNT watchers, that 25-year-old Casey Murphy could be a serious challenge to catching the main goal at the next World Cup.
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North Carolina Courage’s Casey Murphy (below) excelled in two games, making eight saves to score in her first game, then stopping in the 20th minute from a hot volley burns of a promising Australian teenager Kyra Cooney-Cross.
The shot came after the corner was cleared and recovered by Cooney-Cross at the top of the box, and it should have been a goal. But Murphy jumped to the right, extended his arm and gloved the ball just enough for it to miss the post and out of danger.
The only shot beat Murphy in the 87th minute of the 1-1 draw, and a missed clearance by teammate Becky Sauerbrunn sent the ball over the bar towards the post. No one can save it.
Murphy leads the NWSL in saves and has 11 saves. She has a future with the USWNT – and possibly a future in her place.
USWNT has hatched another striker
With the retirement of Carli Lloyd in October, the USWNT is suddenly thin in the center. There is enough skill in the attacking corps to entertain Andonovski by using the wrong number nine, but the 4-3-3 formation usually works best when the player in the middle can hold the ball, distribute and also be proficient. in finishing opportunities.
Ashley Hatch has done all of that in her two games in Australia, scoring in the first minute of the team’s 3-0 win on Friday and then scoring with a calm, shrewd shot. economy at the third minute.
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Hatch is a new player on this team, but not a young player. The 25-year-old has had a breakout season, winning championships with Washington Spirit in 2021, winning the tournament’s Golden Boot award with 11 goals in 20 games.
Her strike in Tuesday’s game was the work of someone who was completely confident in her abilities. It was the product of a streak that began with Australia’s penalty shootout, fueled by a smooth pass from right winger Midge Purce, who tracked a ball near the end line and patiently held it for until Hatch crosses into the box. Moving quickly forward to get the ball, Hatch could have built his momentum leading to a shot over the bar. Instead, she skillfully sent the ball wide of the post, out of reach of the opposing goalkeeper.
A new option in the back left
When Emily Fox was still in her teens and still a student in North Carolina, she made her first two caps in friendly matches against the US more than six months before the 2019 World Cup, but when the preparations for the tournament came. That fight gets serious, she’s not ready to play a role. And then COVID-19 passed most of 2020 and before you know it, Fox has gone through two full years with only one limitation.
Meanwhile, regular USWNT left-back Crystal Dunn has been eager to go further up the line and play the attacking role she usually does with her club. But there is no clear substitute at left-back and Megan Rapinoe and Christen Press are available to play on the left – and with Dunn regularly stellar, saving for a relatively disappointing Olympics – will it is not reasonable to move her.
Having only played professionally for one season with Racing Louisville, Fox has shown to Australia his ability to cover, be flexible in attack and quick to recover on defense, all the strengths that Dunn brings to the position. this. Fox has veteran Australian winger Hayley Raso, allowing nothing dangerous to develop from her half. When moving forward, Fox (below) displays speed and aggression, and falters simply because he is too focused on his passes.
Andonovski called Fox’s performance “astonishing,” noting that her inexperience didn’t affect her ability to animate the game. “I think she showed how much potential she has, or how good she can be.”
Rapinoe will be 38 years old in the next Women’s World Cup. If she still wants to play until then, it would be a similar role to Lloyd’s in 2019 or Abby Wambach in 2015. The left wing position should be Dunn’s. And last week Fox looked like a player to fill her spot at the back.
Sullivan shows Olympic rejection was a mistake
Not only was Andi Sullivan (above) a central figure in Spirit’s NWSL Championship victory, she also showed in these two USWNT games – especially in the opening game – that an obvious Andonovski mistake tells since taking over USWNT is not giving her a real shot to fill. replace Julie Ertz in central midfield position in Tokyo.
Sullivan is no Ertz player – but due to her injury problems, neither was Ertz during the spring and summer. Instead of giving Sullivan a chance to fill that void while Ertz was healthy, Andonovski tried to force Lindsey Horan into the defensive midfield she didn’t fit. When the USWNT arrived in Tokyo, he rushed Ertz into the lineup with minimal preparation. And it didn’t work.
Sullivan had too many moments in the second game where she picked safe passes, falling behind when there were picks up front. But she is generally outstanding. Australia didn’t score until she was dropped from Tuesday’s game for an extra defender.
