USWNT vs. Spain Preview: What the USWNT Can Learn After its Loss to England
After all the anticipation, the USWNT vs. England at Wembley Stadium certainly lived up to the hype. VAR will be one of the major talking points but take nothing away from England and their performance, as they took their chances well, controlled the game flow, and defended like champions. The USWNT is surely disappointed with the defeat, but they didn’t perform that poorly. Vlatko Andonovski gave the younger players a chance and was able to evaluate them further, plus Crystal Dunn made her return while shaking off the rust. Here’s a recap of how it all went down between the USWNT and England and looking ahead to the Americans’ next match: USWNT vs. Spain.
The USWNT’s loss to England – Recap
The USWNT controlled possession to start the match and probed early on to try and strike first. Instead, England was waiting for their opportunity to strike. As soon as the Lionesses saw their chance to go on the counter, that’s exactly what they did. It wasn’t long before a dangerous cross came into the box, and Alana Cook missed it by inches to clear it. That allowed Lauren Hemp to be all alone with Alyssa Naeher and did just enough to slip it past her.
LAUREN HEMP PUTS ENGLAND AHEAD 10 MINUTES IN. 😮
🎥: @FOXSoccer pic.twitter.com/cekzutP109
— Attacking Third (@AttackingThird) October 7, 2022
Despite the early goal allowed, the USWNT pressed on, with England controlling the game’s tempo. Eventually, England would make their lone error of the match, where Lindsey Horan picked Georgia Stanway’s pocket in a dangerous area.
Sophia Smith picked up the ball just outside the box, turned, and didn’t waste any time. She fired the shot past Mary Earps to tie the game.
SOPHIA SMITH EQUALIZES FOR THE USWNT. 💪
🎥: @FOXSoccer pic.twitter.com/yT9BxxzBev
— Attacking Third (@AttackingThird) October 7, 2022
However, five minutes later, England regained the lead with some help from VAR. After the review, it was the right call because the high boot from Hailie Mace was in the box, just unlucky for the United States. The frustrating thing about VAR is how long it takes after the play occurs for it to be looked at again.
Once it happens, most of the time, play resumes, but the review system really needs to be refined when it comes to VAR. Georgia Stanway would atone for her earlier error and slot home the penalty.
Once again, the USWNT did not let up and pushed for another equalizer, and we all thought they had done so. A lovely counter-attacking move was finished by Trinity Rodman and set up perfectly by Megan Rapinoe. Yet a VAR review called it back due to offsides. It’s a tight one, to say the least. Even Alex Morgan wasn’t happy about this call.
The "offside" call……… pic.twitter.com/rOywlghNcp
— Alex Morgan (@alexmorgan13) October 7, 2022
After that, the United States could not create anything concrete. Their sense of urgency didn’t seem to be at its highest when trailing in the second half. England was the better team in the second forty-five. They did a great job of not only defending but keeping possession and forcing the USWNT to defend and sit back rather than go forward and attack as they always do.
Without VAR, this match could have gone a bit differently; who knows where? The match could’ve gone at 2-2, but that’s all speculation. England deserved the win, and the USWNT has some adjustments to make as they prepare for Spain next.
USWNT vs. Spain Preview
Their matchup against Spain is dramatically different from how it was supposed to look a couple of weeks ago. Fifteen players from Spain’s national team wrote a letter to the federation saying they didn’t want to be called up to the team due to a toxic environment created by manager Jorge Vilda. This is a devastating blow for a country that has developed one of the best teams in the world with unreal talent.
Vilda said he would move on anyway. Thanks to this boycott, the current team looks nowhere near as strong as it used to. Spain still managed a draw against Sweden in their last match, needing an equalizer with ten minutes to go. Fifteen players are about 75% of the original team, which is absurd. It is unprecedented for this big of a footballing nation to do this. Yet it’s necessary to try and uncover the abuse and toxicity in the women’s game.
With this turmoil, the USWNT should get back on track with a win against a depleted Spain team. Vlatko Andonosvki might shuffle the Starting XI a little bit. Regardless of who is out there, they’re not going to lose two in a row.
USWNT vs. Spain October 11th, 2:30 PM ET/11:30 AM PT, ESPN2
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