Saturday’s women’s soccer friendly between the U.S. and Brazil was billed as a rematch of last summer’s Olympic final. That was a bit of a misnomer since two-thirds of the women on the 23-player U.S. roster weren’t in Paris last August.
Even the uniforms weren’t the same.
As for the result, only the score was different, with the U.S. riding goals from Trinity Rodman and Lindsey Heaps to a 2-0 win before a crowd of 32,303 at SoFi Stadium.
And all that was fine with coach Emma Hayes, who is using her first full year in charge of the U.S. team to audition a wave of young players ahead of the next major international tournament, the 2027 World Cup.
“What we have been doing is giving opportunities to players,” Hayes said before the first women’s professional sporting event in SoFi’s 4½-year history. “You have to feel your way into that arena. This camp, the next camp, there is going to be experimentation.”
One experiment Saturday involved using Angel City FC winger Alyssa Thompson in more of a play-making role and it worked, with Thompson, who was dangerous in her 84 minutes, setting up the only goal the U.S. needed in the fifth minute.
After taking a one-bounce header from Crystal Dunn at midfield, Thompson weaved through the center of the Brazilian team — deking fullback Mariza so badly she went to the turf — before splitting two defenders with a low through ball that hit Rodman in stride for the easy finish.
“She’s in her best place in terms of her start to the season,” Hayes said of Thompson, who entered the weekend third in the NWSL with two goals. “The development in the [last] six months for her, you can see how much she’s closed the gap.”
The goal by Rodman, who has battled a back injury for the last seven months, was her first for the U.S. since the Olympic quarterfinals. Twelve minutes later the speedy Thompson nearly got a goal of her own, making a run across the top of the box to create space before sending a right-footed shot toward the far corner that Brazilian keeper Lorena Leite barely kept out of the side netting.
Thompson had three even-better looks in the second half, but Leite smothered the first two, then leaped to lift the third try — an athletic shot by Thompson, whose back was to the goal — over the crossbar to keep the game close.
Thompson also showed some veteran moxie in the 62nd minute when Brazilian defender Tarciane tried to move the ball well forward before taking a free kick from deep in her team’s end. But Thompson refused to yield, and Mexican referee Katia García saw it her way, pushing the ball back more than 15 yards.
Minutes later Lily Yohannes was tripped in the box, allowing Heaps to double the U.S. lead on a penalty kick.
Manchester United goalkeeper Phallon Tullis-Joyce also impressed in her first appearance, turning back six shots — and getting some help from the crossbar, which stopped a try from Ludmila seconds after the intermission.
