Photo: Matt Krohn-Imagn Images.
The United States women’s national team cruised to a 3-0 win over China on Saturday at Allianz Field in the first of two friendlies during this window. With a young and inexperienced roster, including 15 players who had fewer than 20 career international appearances heading into this game, it was another opportunity for the USWNT to test out new combinations of players and on-field strategies.
And that they did. Head coach Emma Hayes made five changes to the lineup that most recently suited up against Brazil in April. Most notably, this game saw the return of Phallon Tullis-Joyce in goal, with center back Naomi Girma and full back Crystal Dunn back in their rightful places in the backline. Defensive midfielder Sam Coffey and No. 10 Lindsey Heaps also made their returns to the midfield, supplementing the starting XI with some veteran talent.
Despite the lineup changes, there were so many positive takeaways from this game that it was difficult to tell that this group of players have not had many repetitions together.
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