It has been just under a month since the second of two friendlies that the US Women’s national team played against Nigeria.
The US will face its toughest opponents of the year in England and Spain in this FIFA international window.
The clash at Wembley featured the 2022 European Champions the Lionesses, who are climbing the FIFA rankings ahead of the 2023 World Cup. With key players out for both sides, Alex Morgan for the US, and Leah Williamson for England, it was interesting to see how the teams would adapt to their losses.
The home team struck first by way of poor defending from the US. England’s transition offense began to click and a race to the ball by US defender Alana Cook and Lauren Hemp, saw Cook slide to clear the ball in front of the net, however, she missed, and Hemp was able to tap it in for the easy goal in the 10th minute.
The press of the United States seemed to work in spurts, and it paid off in the 28th minute. Lindsey Horan brought pressure on Georgia Stanway and dispossessed her with ease. A quick pass to Sophia Smith and a rifled shot in goal tied the game.
Just before the equalizer, right back Emily Fox had to be subbed off due to injury and she was replaced by Hallie Mace. Mace struggled to keep up with the speed of play and committed a high boot to award England a penalty in the 33rd minute which was taken and made by Stanway to give England the lead back.
It looked like the US tied the game shortly after England scored, but the goal was called for offside. It was a great build-up by the visitors, with the ball traveling through multiple players, from Sophia Smith to Megan Rapinoe for a back-heel, to a Trinity Rodman finish. Unfortunately, the goal was called back, however, VAR neglected to show the actual offside line, so it is unclear how the call was decided.
The midfield of the US has not been much of a talking point, however, there are some clear issues that need to be fixed. The midfield of England completely dominated and were able to take control of the game to connect with the forwards. The US struggled to do so.
The next match for the team will take place against Spain in Pamplona on Tuesday, October 11th at 2:30 PM ET.