Spain serves the USWNT a wake-up call with a two-goal defeat to open the first of two friendlies
The U.S. played well for much of the day, but fluffed a pile of chances. Almost all came after the World Cup champions scored two early goals, on pretty plays by Patri Guijarro and Eva Navarro.
WASHINGTON — It’s a rare occurrence when the U.S. women’s soccer team plays a quality game but the final score is a decisive loss.
That’s what happened Saturday, as Spain scored two early goals and the U.S. fluffed on a pile of chances in a 2-0 defeat at Audi Field.
Both goals were great plays.
Patri Guijarro hit a 21-yard belter and Eva Navarro had a smart finish of a cross from Salma Paralluelo. They were both off transition moves, too, the kind of thing the U.S. prides itself on.
This time, though, the roles felt almost reversed. The Americans had lots of possessions and pretty sequences that led to nothing, while Spain hit twice charging the other way.
How much of that was the hosts’ fault, and how much was the trap that the reigning World Cup champions can lure any opponent into?
That is the eternal question when facing Spain. But early on, it felt that one of the factors was a starting lineup decision from U.S. manager Emma Hayes.
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She sent out a group without a true defensive midfielder in it, putting Lindsey Heaps and Lily Yohannes in the deep spots. Neither is well-suited for the enforcer role needed in a game like this — or in most games the U.S. plays on big stages.
The injured Sam Coffey obviously would have helped, but Claire Hutton and Jaelin Howell were available on the bench.
The U.S. didn’t lack for scoring opportunities. It outshot Spain 13-6, including 10-3 in attempts on target.
“To lose a game 2-0 with them metrics, that gives me hope, too,” Hayes said, letting the London-born side of herself out for a moment. “I’m frustrated with us. I’m frustrated. But there’s things we’re teaching our players to play in this game. And those messages of course have landed, but they will land even harder now.”
Spain’s defense left some big gaps, especially down the Americans’ right side. But when the chances came, the hosts couldn’t do enough with them. Yohannes shot wide, Sophia Wilson’s big hit was denied by Spain goalkeeper Adriana Nanclares, and later Wilson put a shot narrowly past the far post.
Hayes made her first substitution at halftime, withdrawing left back Avery Patterson for Gisele Thompson. Patterson had been overmatched, including being right in the middle of both goals. Spain manager Sonia Bermúdez withdrew Guijarro at the same time, and that also impacted the contest.
There were a few grumbles in the 51st when Yohannes hit a superb cross-field pass to Alyssa Thompson, who cut in well from the left but did not shoot. And there were a lot more grumbles two minutes later when Wilson finally put the ball in the net on a breakaway, only to be caught offside by a video review.
In the 58th minute, Thompson centered for Rodman, who scuffed it from an ideal spot. In the 63rd, there was an almost comical moment when Heaps and Rose Lavelle were sprung forward together, but neither could get a good shot off.
Rodman and Heaps were among the players who spoke with the media afterward, and both took responsibility for their misses.
“I’ll speak for myself, I think I could have put one in the back of the net there,” Heaps said. “I think it’s maybe the decision-making, but also just the quality in that final action. We know we’re better than that, and we know we have to own it, and we know we have another opportunity to come Tuesday. So that’s a good thing.”
Rodman compared it to the U.S. team’s visit this past June to Brazil, next year’s World Cup hosts. The home team won that opener, 2-1, then the visitors won, 1-0.
“I think you take what you can from this game and go on to the next game with an even better mindset, and so much to be able to work off of,” she said.
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Hayes summoned a triple substitution in the 66th: Hutton for Heaps, Ashley Sanchez for Alyssa Thompson, and Mallory Swanson for Lavelle.
“Coming in, Emma just told me, ‘When we get our chances, we need to take them,’” Swanson said, simply enough.
The newcomers got right to work, and on the first surge forward Wilson drew a penalty kick. But Yohannes, a crowd favorite being from nearby northern Virginia, shot down the middle and Nanclares punched it away.
Hayes threw another attacking weapon for the last 10 minutes, subbing in winger forward Michelle Cooper for outside back Emily Fox.
Spain made its own long list of substitutions, and one of them didn’t last long. Athenea del Castillo was ejected seconds after entering in the 88th when a video review caught her grabbing Cooper’s hair in a challenge.
By the time del Castillo departed, the four minutes of stoppage time had just kicked off. That was never going to be enough time to turn the result around.
Now the teams head north to meet again on Tuesday at Subaru Park (7 p.m., TNT, Universo). For all the intrigue the series had before it started, the second game now looks set to have even more.
“They’re a very tough opponent,” Spain manager Sonia Bermúdez said. “We knew full well that on every turnover they would punish us in transition, and that’s exactly what happened. We were lucky they weren’t effective in front of the goal.”
