April 10 – Having opened her tenure as head coach of the US Women’s national team with 17 straight wins and an Olympic Gold medal, Emma Hayes looked like she could do no wrong.
But football can be a cruel master and Hayes has lost two of her last three matches, the latest against Brazil 2-1 who scored in the fifth minute of second-half added time at PayPal Park in San Jose, California.
The two-game series against the Brazilians – the US had won the first game at the SoFi Stadium in LA 2-0 – was a rematch of the Paris Olympic final last Summer.
Hayes made seven changes from the team that beat Brazil in the first game, opting for a line-up that focussed on giving youth and previously untried players an opportunity. From a team that 18 months ago was staffed by a number of players who had more than 100 caps each, the team that started at PayPal Park had an average of fewer that 18 caps per player.
After just 34 seconds it looked like they had grasped that opportunity with Catarina Macario putting the US ahead. Brazil equalised through Kerolin on 24 minutes.
A scrappy second half saw Hayes rotate her bench, bringing on a number of senior players and pushing for a win. But it was Brazilian substitute Amanda Gutierres, brought on in added time herself, who scored on the counter-attack.
“If we cannot win it, do not lose,” Hayes said. “And some of those cute little things you have to require at the top level to not lose gives me an opportunity to remind us of what that looks like in the 93rd minute to ensure that it doesn’t happen. Most importantly, we’re not getting eliminated from a World Cup today.”
With one eye on the 2027 World Cup in Brazil, the US has upcoming games against Ireland and China this summer, though are currently short on fixtures against the world’s top 10 ranked teams. A trip to Brazil is in planning for next year.
“You have to go through this stage of development to make progress for the next level, and I genuinely think in this camp we’ve seen so many good things to know we’re heading in the right direction,” Hayes said.
“The result sucks, and it’s ok to feel that, but we will get better.” It wouldn’t be wise to bet against that.
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