The United States women’s soccer team was hoping to get back on track in 2017 after a disappointing exit at the Rio Olympics, a stunning penalty-kick loss to Sweden in the quarterfinals. They’ll have to go a little further into the new year for that turnaround after finishing in last place in March’s second annual SheBelieves Cup, a friendly, four-team tournament the Americans won last year.
From the goalkeeper conundrum to a breakout rookie performance, here are five takeaways from the first three US games of 2017.
Can the US find another Hope Solo?
For the first time since 2005, the US has a legitimate starting goalkeeper battle on its hands. Hope Solo, one of the team’s most recognizable faces of the 21st century, is almost done serving the suggested six months of her latest suspension, but coach Jill Ellis and the national program appeared to have moved on completely.
For all of Solo’s troubling qualities, she was the intimidating presence and shot-stopper the team wanted behind them against top international opponents (according to a poll conducted by FIFPro last Friday, the 35-year-old Solo still is considered the world’s best at the position and was quick to boast about it on her Twitter account). From the little we saw of Alyssa Naeher and Ashlyn Harris over three games, Solo’s eternal backups can’t provide the same security.
Naeher showed promise early on, making a diving fingertips save in the United States’ 1-0 win over No. 2 Germany, its lone victory in the tournament. Harris started the United States’ second game against England and made several key stops, including one in the first half off the foot of forward Nikita Parris from 3 yards out. But she flunked her first test with chaos in the box. Near the end of regulation, Harris dove to her right as an England shot caromed off the crossbar and bounced in front of the goal line. Before Harris could get up and set in time, England’s Ellen White beat everyone to the ball and punched it into the net, sealing a 1-0 win over the US.
In Naeher’s second start, a potential tournament-clinching finale against France, she let her chance to break away from Harris evaporate before 10 minutes had passed.
Sprinting off her line to clear a ball out of the box in the eighth minute, Naeher slide-tackled French forward Eugenie Le Sommer, earning her a yellow card and giving France a penalty kick, which Camile Abily slotted home. Naeher was beat once more each by Le Sommer and Abily, dropping the US to the bottom of the standings with three total points and a negative-three goal differential.
If neither the 28-year-old Naeher nor the 32-year-old Harris is the answer for the US between the posts, could the future have been sitting on the other end of the bench? Jane Campbell, 22, made her second appearance on the senior team roster for the SheBelieves Cup after an All-American career at Stanford and a stellar run through the national ranks that started at age 15. Maybe the team’s upcoming friendlies will be her chance to translate that track record onto the big stage.
What happened to the steady defense?
It’s easy to pick on the goalkeepers when neither has a Solo-like résumé to back up her losing performance. The real problem may lie with Ellis’ new defensive strategy and personnel combinations.
Ellis leaned heavily on Becky Sauerbrunn, Carli Lloyd’s co-captain and a defensive stalwart for the 2015 World Cup champions and 2016 Rio Olympic semifinalists. Sauerbrunn started all three games, but the veteran lacked her usual consistency playing on a three-person backline.
Sauerbrunn looked out of position or slow of foot on each of the four goals the US conceded in the tournament. She let White get free for the game-winning goal in the loss against England; allowed a pass to split her and defender Allie Long on the foul that set up France’s first penalty-kick goal; slipped and watched from her butt as France’s Le Sommer cut to the middle and again beat Naeher; and lost her mark inside the six-yard box as Abily redirected a cross to seal the 3-0 win for France.
It’s possible Sauerbrunn lacked chemistry with defensive newcomers Long and Casey Short, a 26-year-old recent call-up to the national team whom Ellis seems to like out wide. More seasoned defenders, Ali Krieger and Julie Johnston, didn’t see much of the field, only playing a full 90 minutes in the loss to England.
Granted, Ellis was using the friendly tournament to try out new players and schemes, but the outcome makes you wonder why she would choose to ditch the four-back system that anchored the US to a World Cup in 2015.
This rookie is a stud
Jill Ellis did glean one bright spot: 21-year-old Rose Lavelle, a central midfielder out of Wisconsin, who earned her first two caps with the national team two months after going No. 1 overall in the National Women’s Soccer League draft.
“That is a phenomenal answer I got tonight, Rose Lavelle. She was fantastic,” Ellis said after the loss to England, Lavelle’s first game in the red, white and blue. “Five minutes of nerves and then she settled into that game and she was one of the best players in the park.”
If Lavelle were nervous playing in front of a sold-out Red Bull Arena and in a position she’s not used to, she didn’t show it. A natural lefty, Lavelle looked comfortable on that side of the midfield, taking players one-on-one and escaping pressure with cheeky moves reminiscent of Tobin Heath, the Americans’ go-to playmaker.
She provided the US with its best scoring chance against England in the 19th minute. Receiving a pass from Crystal Dunn just outside the 6-yard box, she trapped the ball with her chest and fired a shot at goalkeeper Siobhan Chamberlain, who barely deflected it out of bounds.
Lavelle’s performance earned her a starting nod in the next game against France and, if she keeps it up, for many more games to come.
Who can take the place of Abby Wambach?
Two years after losing the most prolific scorer in US women’s national team history, Abby Wambach (184 career goals), the No. 1 team in the world has yet to find her replacement — and it’s showing.
Carli Lloyd (sixth all-time) and Alex Morgan (eighth) present the biggest scoring threats. Lloyd has said she’s retiring after the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo. Morgan needs to avoid recurring ankle and knee injuries to have a chance at recapturing her 2012 form, when she led the team with 28 goals and 27 assists.
The 27-year-old superstar won the MVP award at last year’s SheBelieves Cup; her 2017 showing was much less promising. Perhaps a short stint with France’s Olympique Lyonnais, considered the best women’s club team in the world, will provide the tune-up she needs for the start of World Cup qualifying games.
The US also was without Megan Rapinoe, the crafty midfielder whom Ellis left off the SheBelieves Cup roster likely for health reasons after she rushed back from an ACL injury for the Rio Olympics. At 31, Rapinoe may have played her last game in a US jersey. If so, Dunn and Heath will have to step up to match Rapinoe’s knack for setting up goals.
Looking further into the future, Ellis has her sights set on 23-year-old forward Lynn Williams, the lone goal scorer for the US in the tournament, who captured the NWSL Golden Boot and MVP awards in her rookie season.
USWNT isn’t alone at the top anymore
One team’s trash may be a whole sport’s treasure.
As much as the tournament exposed Team USA’s weaknesses, the parity gave us a glimpse into the growth of international women’s soccer, an exciting prospect for fans ahead of the 2019 Women’s World Cup and 2020 Olympics.
England, the worst team on paper coming into the tournament, showed they deserve a place among the world’s best, grinding out a win against the No. 1 Americans in between dropping 1-0 nail-biters to France and Germany. Nikita Parris, a 23-year-old forward, represents the future of England’s speedy, high-pressure attack.
“Not many teams come here and win,” England’s coach Mark Sampson said after the last-minute win over the US. “So hopefully this will be the start of a new era for us.”
Although Germany likely left disappointed with a loss, a win and a tie, the US knows better than anyone their rivals will show up when the games become more meaningful.
And tournament winners France emerged as the biggest surprise, led by strikers Le Sommer and Abily, who overpowered the US with their speed and finishing prowess.
“I told the players, overall this is why we’re playing these teams, so we can learn about ourselves and we can test ourselves,” Ellis said after the England game, though she could have been referring to any of their three opponents. “This is a game that will sting for a while, but hopefully it’s a springboard for a commitment to us getting better.”