As is the case with movies, the sequel is almost never as good as the first. From a United States perspective, last night’s second matchup against Japan was very much not a good time compared to that first meeting in the Bay Area. This time around, it was the Asian Cup winners, Japan, who came away with the win in rainy Seattle, evening the overall series and setting up a potentially tasty match three in just a couple of days. Before we get to that though, lets talk about what we learned from the 0-1
loss.
Growing Pains
This was another match where we saw Emma Hayes put out one of the youngest lineups the USWNT has ever seen both in terms of age, and in terms of experience. Nothing helps build character and gets you ready for the bigger matches ahead like being thrown right into the fire and having to learn on the job, and that’s exactly what we saw last night. The youngsters didn’t even necessarily play bad, but it was clear they were facing one of their toughest challenges yet in a Japan side that was disciplined, patient, and hard to breakdown defensively. Something we saw last window from the youngsters, the difficulty in finding a rhythm in attack and struggles finding the back of the net. Further highlighted by the subs made in the 65th minute that saw Sophia Wilson and Trinity Rodman come on, almost immediately opening up the attack and finding a lot more space to create chances with. This is one of those games though, that while difficult to watch, will be exactly what the kids need come qualifiers and 2027, because at the end of the day, they aren’t going anywhere, so you might as well get them used to getting it out the mud now.
Possession without product
One very important lesson that plenty of soccer fans learn early on, possession means nothing if you can’t find the finishing product, and it was one of those nights for USWNT. The United States kept nearly 70% of the possession, but only managed five shots on goal, providing little threat to the opposition and most importantly, not seeing a single one cross the line and find the back of the net. The team did well to look like they were controlling the match, but really they were going nowhere fast for most of the match. It wasn’t until the last 15 minutes where we saw them actually start to break down the Japan defense and find ways to come close to an equalizer. Again, this was one of the youngest, more inexperienced lineups that can be put out, so this is all part of the learning process. These type of matches may work against a Colombia or Paraguay, but against a team like Japan, it’s going to take a lot more than just passing the ball around in the hopes you can tire them out.
Two of the best in the world
If there is one thing we have learned over the course of the last two meetings, and not just from last night, it’s that both of these Nations are absolutely two of the early favorites going into Brazil 2027. Sure, there is a lot of time between now and then, but consider, this is still a Japan team missing a couple key players who are getting healthy and rested and hopefully will be available come the big dance. For the USWNT, they are still a young team learning to not only find that chemistry playing together, but getting valuable match experience against some of the best National teams in the world so that when 2027 rolls around they will be a lot more prepared and a lot more confident. Neither side is their final product, but already both look to be headed for a late-round collision course in Brazil. Before we get too far ahead of ourselves though, we still have the rubber match in a couple of days. Japan will no doubt be looking to come away as series winners in this three match stand against the United States, while USWNT will be looking to close the window on a high note. This will be one of those, you wont want to miss this, type of matches.
There you have it, in the second match of this trilogy we learned that the youngsters, while talented, still have a bit of a ways to go if they want to stand toe-to-toe with some of the better Nations. However, it’s learning moments like this that will help their longterm success. Don’t let pride get in the way of improvement, this is a team that is oozing with talent, and if they want to be at their peak when it matters most, they will need everyone in form in feeling good about themselves when that time comes.
