Fans will be slightly less concerned with the United States women's national team after Friday's result, a very comfortable 5-0 win over Guatemala in World Cup qualifying. The home supporters also didn't have to wait nearly as long for a goal as they did in the opener against Trinidad and Tobago two days ago -- the USWNT scored in the 6th minute on this occasion.
3 things we learned from the USWNT’s 5-0 win over Guatemala
Jonathan Daniel
However, the U.S. women will walk away from this match feeling like there’s still plenty of work to do. Two years ago, they defeated this same Guatemala team 13-0.
Tobin Heath, a new addition to the starting lineup, was the scorer of the opener. Ali Kriger set up the goal with a cross from the right wing that was poked forward by Alex Morgan, then finished off by Heath from inside the six-yard box.
The Americans experienced a big setback in the 37th minute when Morgan went down in a tangle with a Guatemala defender, twisting her left ankle badly. She had to be substituted and U.S. soccer say she has a left ankle sprain, though she’s yet to have an MRI and it could end up being more serious.
Her replacement, Christen Press, thought she’d scored just before halftime, but had her headed goal controversially ruled out for offside.
Right out of the gate in the second half, the USWNT were more lively and scored a goal just 30 seconds into the period. The tally came via Carli Lloyd, who scored for the 52nd time in a national team shirt by heading in a cross from the left wing to the back post by Sydney Leroux.
From there, the match was much more comfortable for the U.S., and they started to pour on the goals. Heath notched her second in the 57th minute, flicking in a volley by Lloyd that may or may not have gone in anyway. A minute later, Whitney Engen headed in a set piece by Megan Rapinoe. And not long after that, Rapinoe turned scorer herself with a brilliant curled effort from 20 yards.
At that point, Ellis made an odd experimental sub, bringing on attacker Amy Rodriguez for left back Meghan Klingenberg, moving Heath into defense. Chances were a bit more scarce after that, and the U.S. coasted to victory.
United States: Solo, Klingenberg (Rodriguez 68’), Engen, Sauerbrunn, Krieger (O’Hara 46’), Holiday, Lloyd, Rapinoe, Heath, Morgan (Press 42’), Leroux
Goals: Heath (6’, 57’), Lloyd (46’), Engen (58’), Rapinoe (66’)
Guatemala: Navas, Rivera, C. Monterroso, Aguilar, Barrios, Andrade, Espino, Recinos, M. Monterroso (Barrera 77’), Solorzano (Mayen 70’), De Leon (Argueta 77’)
Goals: None
3 things
1. More Tobin Heath, please - After not playing in the first game, Heath was introduced into the team and started on the left wing. She was the USWNT’s best attacking player, and would have been even if she didn’t score two goals. She was the only player regularly creating dangerous opportunities that weren’t from set pieces. However, strangely, she was moved to left back late in the match.
2. Jill Ellis wants a balanced center forward - When Alex Morgan went down with an ankle injury, target striker Abby Wambach and pure poacher Amy Rodriguez got up. Instead, Morgan was replaced by Christen Press, who’s much closer to a like-for-like replacement than either of the other strikers on the bench would have been. It suggests that Ellis wants a balanced, do-everything type of player up top.
3. We can’t evaluate Engen vs. Rampone yet - Whitney Engen looked better on Friday night than Christie Rampone did on Wednesday (and even scored a goal!), but it’s pretty clear that Rampone played against a higher standard of competition. Don’t treat Engen as a lock for future lineups just yet.
