CHESTER, Pa. – For almost its entire existence, the USA has been the envy of the world of women’s soccer. From unparalleled success and a wealth of talent to fan support and cultural influence, the Americans have set the standard for the sport, collecting World Cup trophies and Olympic gold medals along the way as coaches pick up the pin after practice.
But as soccer’s early adopters, especially in Europe, began to invest in the women’s game, Americans rarely found hunters instead of the hunted.
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Such is the case with reigning world champions and FIFA’s top-ranked Spain, who beat No. 2 USA 2-0 in Washington on Saturday. They will face off in another friendly on Tuesday night at Subaru Park.
Make no mistake: Americans remain elite. They are defending Olympic champions. They haven’t lost back-to-back matches in four years and haven’t stumbled at home since 2017.
But after Saturday’s game, head coach Emma Hayes said her team was “closer. [Spain] more than three years ago.”
Indeed, with the World Cup less than a year away, the US is chasing Spain. (European champions England are also in this ultra-elite mix.)
United States coach Emma Hayes believes her team can close the gap on top-placed Spain despite a 2-0 defeat in Washington on Saturday.
(Brad Smith/ISI Photos via Getty Images)
The margin is not insurmountable and one Hayes will aim to narrow by next summer’s tournament in Brazil.
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“Well, what’s the gap?” Hayes said Monday. “You can define and say finish or block goals. Yes, that’s part of it, but when you analyze it, when you analyze the game with our lens and what we know is true to influence the result, I know what it looks like in 2023 and what it looks like now, and Spain and USA are side by side. respect.”
Spain took control of Saturday’s match by effectively converting early opportunities. The USA found their way into the match, especially in an encouraging second half, but squandered chance after chance, including Lily Johannes’ missed penalty kick.
“We want to stay at a high standard and keep moving forward,” captain Lindsey Heaps said. “You look at the game and you sit there and say how many chances you’ve created, and if we’re going to be first in the World Cup, we’ve got those chances to score. We know at this point we’re going to create them – and we’re creating them against the best teams in the world.”
Apart from the goals, Spain were better with the ball – that’s the Spanish way for men and women. Still, the Americans had enough to at least draw.
“There were times when we had really good control and created great opportunities,” center back Tierna Davidson said. “Now we make sure we take those opportunities and be clinical in those positions. On the other hand, for an attacking team like that, we limited them to less quality scoring chances than they’re used to getting.”
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But after 14 minutes there was enough to create a two-goal difference. Both goals ended in quality, but in both cases, fragile US defense opened the door to opportunities.
Even after a rare multi-goal loss, the Americans were feeling pretty good on Monday. They talked about fine-tuning “small edges and details” and being both more engaged from the start and sharper in the final third of the field.
Without goals, of course, the U.S. won’t beat anyone, let alone a Spanish side that hasn’t lost in regular time since the 2024 Olympics, except for two away missteps against England. (In the June international window, Spain beat England 4-0 and beat Iceland 6-1.)
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Scoring has been slow for the USA, who have scored two goals in their last three matches and have scored a total of 11 goals in nine outings since March 1.
Hayes is enjoying another crack at Spain.
“You play the same opponent twice and there are things you can do a little bit better,” he said. “Our team has a really good habit to bring [those] the second game has everything, but we have to do these things. You can avoid cases against weaker opposition. You just can’t [Spain]and so I shall look for us to apply this detail to the work we are doing.”
Regardless of the outcome on Tuesday, Hayes said his team will benefit from the best game in a long time.
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“If I’m just here to maintain a winning record, I’ll pick fewer opponents,” he said. “I’m not here to do that. I’m here to see how close the gap is with them and how far we’ve come from it. [The U.S. will] keep working for it because [Spain is] the best team in the world for a reason.”