Photo Credit: Jamie LeBlanc-Imagn Images
WASHINGTON — In a clash between two soccer powerhouses, the U.S. women’s national team came up well short. Spain proved why they are the No. 1 team in the world as the defending World Cup champions outclassed the United States in an international friendly.
The U.S. failed to overcome a nightmarish start in which they conceded two goals in the opening 15 minutes. Though the U.S. appeared more threatening in the second half, the game was won and lost in the opening 45 minutes, as the 2-0 scoreline reflects.
Spain’s forward line of Salma Paralluelo, Edna Imade and Alexia Putellas sparkled with incisive one-touch passing, fluid movement and clinical finishing. The U.S. could not break through Spain’s first line of pressure and played directly into Spain’s hands.
The United States’ left side was defensively problematic, which Spain exploited for the first goal. A mysteriously unmarked Patri Guijarro further bolstered her case as the best active midfielder in the world as she dispatched a sumptuous strike in the third minute.
Patri would later describe her early goal as being like a “bucket of cold water” for the U.S.
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