By Juan Carlos Maygua
The Summer series signaled the final preparation stage for the USWNT ahead of the Olympic games. Texas was the stage chosen for the exhibition game against Portugal, a good fixture to welcome fans into the stadium after a year of absence.
The European side had an opportunity to end the USWNT unbeaten record of 39 games, with 35 wins. On the home front, however, the pressure begins as the decision for the final roster edges closer.
Unstoppable team
The starting XI alone is enough to strike fear into any rival that faces the USWNT. While the sport demands a collective effort to be successful, the amount of individual talent is endless. In my opinion, even the substitutes don’t deserve to be on the bench, a luxury that not many coaches have in the game nowadays, but that’s a topic for another day. In terms of the match, the team displayed another fixture of pure dominance. They managed to push Portugal into their half within the first five minutes. The high-pressure forced errors kept Portugal in defensive mode for much of the game. Set piece plays and corner kicks were the National team’s most used method to cause damage. Although, statistically speaking, the numbers speak for themselves. The national team had a total of 26 shots, with 10 of them being on target. Portugal had 4 shots throughout the game with only 1 hitting the target.
The statistics say that it was a very one-sided game, but the fact that the game ended with a narrow scoreline reflects an ongoing issue. An unfortunate amount of goal-scoring chances are not being capitalized. Yes, the talent is there and the names support it, but it’s an issue that will have to be fixed as quickly as possible. If not, I’m sure Olympic rivals are already taking notes on this aspect of the National team. Unless it’s a way to distract and confuse opponents to keep the element of surprise. Everything is possible so why not consider it you know? But for now, it’s just that, a possibility.
Luckily the game-winning goal came off a corner kick taken by Christen Press and scored with a header by Sam Mewis in the 65th minute. However, it’s safe to say that the dynamic of the game changed once Carly Lloyd stepped into the field. Her leadership and movement off the ball gave a new alternative to the attacks generated by the National team. Before the goal, even Rose Lavelle managed to move freely in her position and displayed her vision and abilities with more clarity. This brings back my point about the depth in talents, as a rival how do you go from containing Megan Rapinoe for almost 90 minutes to having a similar threat with Carly Lloyd as a replacement. A true headache to say the least, but for now, the attention turns to Sunday and the game against Jamaica.
The assist for the game-winning goal awarded Christen Press the MVP of the match. My colleague Alonso Contreras asked her how these types of games will help in the Olympics in case they face similar situations.
“I think it’s hugely valuable, we face all different types of opponents in preparation for these Olympics, I think the style of play that we went up against tonight it’s something that we could see. Also going into the half scoreless and having to push for a goal, it starts to feel as you get closer to the Olympics, that these are the types of experiences that we want to have, and we want to succeed in”.
He also spoke statistics and asked head coach Andonovski about his thoughts about the team’s tactical performance, given that these exhibition games allow tactical observations.
“I thought that out of ball possession we were very good, obviously not allowing any significant dangerous opportunity for the other team. There were things that we could have done better, there were instances in the first and second half where we showed quality with the ball, we just didn’t capitalize”.