There were highs and lows in the U.S. women’s national team‘s friendly against Mexico at a packed Red Bull Arena. In front of a crowd of 26,376 in New Jersey on Saturday night the team earned a 1-0 win over their Concacaf foe thanks to forward Sophia Smith. She found the net in the 64th minute to break the deadlock after some close calls on defense that gave the USWNT room for continued progress less than two weeks out from their Olympic opener against Zambia on July 25.
Head Coach Emma Hayes was looking at this match for markers of progress from the team and seems to have seen them. In a post-game interview, Lindsey Horan, who spoke earlier this week about the USWNT’s gold medal standard, acknowledged that there are still a “few little things we need to clean up.” Hayes seemed inclined to agree, saying that she saw many positives on Saturday but they still need to work on execution.
“I think the first half, we started the game really well,” Hayes said in a press conference after the match. “It was a good intensity, great chances. I think we rushed our play a little. Intention is good, so I can’t fault or criticize the players for that, but it’s teaching them the right moments when to progress, when not to progress and then in and around the penalty box, how to access the right spaces in the right moments in the right time.
“That’s going to take a little bit of time, but we made an adjustment at half-time. I thought the team adapted really well to that really quickly considering we’ve only just implemented structural principles.”
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It was the starters on the front line that brought the most intensity to the match. Trinity Rodman, Mallory Swanson and Sophia Smith got the initial nods, while veterans Horan and Rose Lavelle shored up the midfield alongside Sam Coffey. Emily Fox, Naomi Girma, Tierna Davidson and Jenna Nighswonger (who has the fewest caps on the 18-player Olympic roster with just nine international appearances) started on defense. Alyssa Naeher wore the captain’s armband in net for the second time as her 100th cap was celebrated.
Now with three games under her belt leading the USWNT, Hayes did not hold back on substitutes as her roster experimentation continued.
The squad looked a bit out of form from time to time, but an aggressive attack led by Rodman, Smith and Swanson set the tone for what was to come. The dynamic trio—which Hayes kept in tact until the 75th minute—put continued pressure on Mexico’s defense, chomping at the bit to find the back of the net until Smith finally did the second half.
Rodman spoke earlier this week about the importance of the forward line getting reps together as they continue to build their chemistry and learn from one another. Their momentum against Mexico this time around provides promise heading into the Olympics.
“They’re extremely dynamic,” Hayes said of the Smith-Swanson-Rodman line. “When we attack, it can be done really quickly, but it can’t be just that. There’s going to be moments we can’t, and we have to be a little more indirect, switch the pitch a little more and recognize moments when we get locked into one side. There’s no denying when the game opens up, we thrive. My goal is to thrive in all moments, so we still have a lot of learning to do with that as a team, as a collective. But if we use March as a reference point, I think it’s fair to say this game was much more measured, much more controlled.”
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The former Chelsea coach toyed with her roster options a bit earlier in the second half when it came to the midfield and defense, which found themselves seemingly flustered by a threatening attack from Mexico.
The team that handed the USWNT its lone defeat of 2024, earlier this year during the group stage of the Concacaf W Gold Cup, kept the match close. They tested some of the defensive and transitional improvements Hayes said earlier this week she was looking for in these final friendlies.
Hayes brought in Dunn, who was named to the roster as a forward but has historically spent her career as a defender, for Nighswonger in the backline as her first tactical change in the 65th minute. Horan and Fox also found themselves on the sideline after Hayes’ first set of changes.
Emily Sonnett, Korbin Albert and Jaedyn Shaw all also saw the pitch amid Hayes’ mid and backfield swaps. Lynn Williams—recently promoted to the Olympic 18 after the withdrawal of Catarino Macario due to injury—and Olympic team alternate Croix Bethune subbed in up front. The match marked Bethune’s first appearance for the senior national team.
One of two final friendlies the team will play before Paris, the squad now travel to Washington, D.C.’s Audi Field to play the second on Tuesday, July 16 against Costa Rica.
