Trinity Rodman, third from proper, celebrates with U.S. gamers after scoring in a 2-0 win over Brazil in a global pleasant at SoFi Stadium on Saturday. (Jae C. Hong / Related Press)
Saturday’s girls’s soccer pleasant between the and Brazil was billed as a rematch of . That was a little bit of a misnomer since two-thirds of the ladies on the 23-player U.S. roster weren’t in Paris final August.
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Even the uniforms weren’t the identical.
As for the consequence, solely the rating was totally different, with the U.S. using targets from and to a 2-0 win earlier than a crowd of 32,303 at SoFi Stadium.
And all that was advantageous with , who’s utilizing her first full yr in control of the U.S. group to audition a wave of younger gamers forward of the following main worldwide event, the 2027 World Cup.
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“What we’ve been doing is giving alternatives to gamers,” Hayes stated earlier than the primary girls’s skilled sporting occasion in SoFi’s 4½-year historical past. “You must really feel your means into that enviornment. This camp, the following camp, there may be going to be experimentation.”
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One experiment Saturday concerned utilizing Angel Metropolis FC winger Alyssa Thompson in additional of a play-making function and it labored, with Thompson, who was harmful in her 84 minutes, establishing the one objective the U.S. wanted within the fifth minute.
After taking a one-bounce header from Crystal Dunn at midfield, Thompson weaved via the middle of the Brazilian group — deking fullback Mariza so badly she went to the turf — earlier than splitting two defenders with a low via ball that hit Rodman in stride for the simple end.
“She’s in her finest place when it comes to her begin to the season,” Hayes stated of Thompson, who entered the weekend third within the NWSL with two targets. “The event within the [last] six months for her, you may see how a lot she’s closed the hole.”
U.S. ahead Alyssa Thompson controls the ball throughout a 2-0 win over Brazil at SoFi Stadium on Saturday. (Kevork Djansezian / Getty Pictures for USSF)
The objective by Rodman, who has battled a again harm for the final seven months, was her first for the U.S. because the Olympic quarterfinals. Twelve minutes later the speedy Thompson almost obtained a objective of her personal, making a run throughout the highest of the field to create house earlier than sending a right-footed shot towards the far nook that Brazilian keeper Lorena Leite barely saved out of the aspect netting.
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Thompson had three even-better seems to be within the second half, however Leite smothered the primary two, then leaped to elevate the third strive — an athletic shot by Thompson, whose again was to the objective — over the crossbar to maintain the sport shut.
Thompson additionally confirmed some veteran moxie within the 62nd minute when Brazilian defender Tarciane tried to maneuver the ball properly ahead earlier than taking a free kick from deep in her group’s finish. However Thompson refused to yield, and Mexican referee Katia García noticed it her means, pushing the ball again greater than 15 yards.
Minutes later Lily Yohannes was tripped within the field, permitting Heaps to double the U.S. lead on a penalty kick.
Manchester United goalkeeper Phallon Tullis-Joyce additionally impressed in her first look, turning again six photographs — and getting some assist from the crossbar, which stopped a strive from Ludmila seconds after the intermission.
This story initially appeared in .
