Maybe not to press it, but to look at it – to acknowledge that it’s within reach.
asserted
it → press → reach
A listless, shorthanded US women’s national team were struggling against Spain, down 2-0, and facing the ignominy of two straight decisive losses at home after Saturday’s 3-0 drubbing in Washington DC.
asserted
team → struggle → DC
Then two players who had just returned to the team after long absences turned the tide.
asserted
who → return → tide
Ashley Sanchez and Mallory Swanson, after international scoring droughts of 1,648 days and 801 days, respectively, each scored in the second half to earn a 2-2 draw with the defending World Cup winners.
asserted
each → score → winners
The result may have avoided the worst-case scenario, but the way it unfolded will give US fans pause.
uncertain
it → avoid → pause
Just 255 days from the 2027 World Cup, the results raise fresh questions ahead of the side’s return to World Cup qualification in late November.
asserted
results → raise → November
Both teams were missing key players, with the World Cup still 10 months away there’s plenty of time to course-correct.
asserted
teams → miss → time
Rather, the matches served as a helpful reminder to what many – including USWNT head coach Emma Hayes – already knew ahead of them: Spain, the top-ranked team in the world, are the first team in decades that can legitimately outclass the US women, who have long been the international standard bearers for the sport.
Hayes made four changes from the starting lineup she rolled out against Spain on Saturday, handing Manchester United goalkeeper Phallon Tullis-Joyce the start in goal, tapping Ashley Sanchez and Claire Hutton in midfield and attempting to shore up her backline with Angel City fullback Gisele Thompson.
The US fared better in the game’s opening 10 minutes than they did for much of Saturday’s decisive loss, but were once again nearly undone by an early defensive lapse around the 15 minute mark.
asserted
they → serve → mark
Spain attacker Clara Pinedo easily split US defenders Emily Fox and Kennedy Wesley with a perfectly timed run, and her driven, close-range effort from the far side of the box challenged Tullis-Joyce but did not find the back of the net.
asserted
effort → split → net
Spain’s pair of goals came 15 minutes later, on opposite sides of the half hour mark.
asserted
pair → come → mark
The first came courtesy of two-time Ballon D’Or winner Alexia Putellas, who made easy work of a close-range tap-in at the near post.
asserted
who → come → post
The ball arrived at her feet after a lovely, patient nine-pass sequence by the Spaniards; Barcelona midfielder Clara Serrajordi’s ensuing cross traversed the six-yard box, was deftly stepped over by Spanish midfielder Clara Pinedo and found Putellas alone to finish her 43rd international goal.
asserted
cross → arrive → goal
Six minutes later, the US handed Spain another.
asserted
US → hand → another
Under duress, Tullis-Joyce played a pass through her own central defenders and directly towards Putellas, who strode forward and threaded an angle ball through to OL Lyonnes midfielder Salma Paraluello, who smashed her effort off the underside of the crossbar and into goal, silencing the 18,648 in attendance in Chester, Pennsylvania.
asserted
who → play → Chester
Once again missing center back Naomi Girma and midfielder Sam Coffey, the US were exposed badly in central defense; Spain, despite missing two-time Ballon D’Or winner Aitana Bonmatí and a host of others, were rarely challenged – at least not until the games reached its closing stages, and introductions from the bench turned the tide.
asserted
introductions → miss → tide
The US finally found the back of the net at the 50th minute on the counterattack.
asserted
US → find → counterattack
Midfielder Lindsey Heaps collected the ball in the US box and played it upfield to Portland Thorns forward Sofia Wilson, who did well to fight off a defender and sprint upfield, eventually playing across to Sanchez, who rounded her defender and struck an inch-perfect finish past Spain keeper Misa Rodríguez and into the far-side netting.
asserted
who → collect → netting
The US finally managed to seize a bit of control in the dying moments of the match, after both teams made wholesale changes, with the US equalizer once again coming on the counterattack.
asserted
equalizer → manage → counterattack
US debutant Kate Del Fava did well to gain possession in her own half and found Kansas City Current forward Michelle Cooper with a 40-yard, lofted ball.
asserted
Fava → do → ball
Cooper ran into its path, found Chicago Stars forward Mal Swanson with a cross and Swanson did well to finish from the top of the area.
asserted
Swanson → run → area
Improbably, US midfielder Lily Yohannes very nearly won the game for the US in the final minute of stoppage time, with her effort parried just wide by Rodríguez.
asserted
effort → win → Rodríguez
The USWNT have faced a host of elite opponents this year and experienced varying results against top-10 competition like Japan, Brazil and Canada, yet they continue to struggle against Spain, winless against La Roja six years.
asserted
they → face → Roja
In the interim, Spain have emerged as a dominant force, sharing the same possession-based, positional-play style the Spanish men have employed for decades.
asserted
men → emerge → decades
Spanish clubs have been rapidly professionalized over the last decade and those same clubs have pumped millions into youth development, populating the Spanish women with a steady stream of young prospects.
asserted
clubs → professionalize → prospects
The US women will look ahead now to a match against a much lesser opponent, albeit one with much higher stakes: they’ll meet El Salvador in the quarter-finals of the Concacaf W Championship with direct qualification to the 2027 World Cup at stake on 27 November in Mansfield, Texas.
asserted
they → look → Mansfield
The Aporia
