The USWNT took a surprising 2-1 loss against Portugal on the night the team honored the career of Alex Morgan in Chester, Pennsylvania on Thursday. Prior to the game, there were questions about the experience of the lineup and it was difficult to predict how the team would gel against Portugal. The answer came in the form of two goals conceded off of set pieces, a telling sign of defensive disorganization. This was the second straight meeting between the countries where Portugal has gotten a surprising result.
In the 2023 World Cup the USA drew 0-0 in the group stage and that continued in this most recent meeting.
In the loss, the USA was missing key defensive players as Naomi Girma is not on the roster. That speaks to the nature of this friendly window. The USWNT is trying to evaluate depth and give young players a chance to show they should be competing for callups in the future. That is coming at the expense of the performance the team showed. In the second match, the team needs to show that it can bounce back from a poor match and play with more organization and cohesion.
The team has until Sunday to do that and make adjustments to places the team struggled in the loss. Portugal was very effective in breaking up the Americans’ possession in midfield. The visitors used a diamond formation and the veteran midfield could not adjust and create effective possession to create a second goal in the match. It will be critical that the USA is able to exert control on the match Sunday. While there are new players on the field, the team is more talented than their opponents. Using that talent in a cohesive way will determine if Emma Hayes’ team can notch a win on Sunday.
As for Portugal, the team will be elated by the result. The away side kept most of the possession in the game, barely, with 51% of the ball. They effectively controlled the wings and stopped the Americans from breaking them down. While the USA managed 16 shots, 5 were on goal and the attack never looked cohesive.
If the first match was unpredictable, the second will carry that forward. Hayes used a lineup featuring Lindsey Heaps, Rose Lavelle, and Emily Sonnet. It’s likely that the more inexperienced players will give the veterans a break in the next two matches and how those players fare will determine the outcome of the game. At this point, there are more questions than answers in this friendly window and a good showing will begin to resolve some of the uncertainty around the team before the final match against New Zealand.
