The U.S. women’s national team enjoyed a stellar night in beating Jamaica, 6-0, qualifying for next year’s World Cup in the process, with Tobin Heath being a large part of the team’s success.
Heath’s second minute goal allowed the team to get started quickly and put pressure on the opposition. It was a goal she also partly created, crossing the ball into the penalty area for Megan Rapinoe’s shot, eventually capitalizing on the rebound. A second came in the 29th minute, as Lindsey Horan played a pass to Heath, who needed only one touch before finishing from close range.
Honorable mentions go to Alex Morgan, who continued her strong run of form with a brace of her own, and Lindsey Horan, whose impressive display in midfield allowed the USWNT to dominate the match.
One reason why it is so difficult to pick a “Woman-of-the-Match” off the USWNT is because so many are playing the best soccer of their lives right now. I think that Jill Ellis had the best 11 players available starting last night. In fact having seen almost every match since 1991, last night’s starting team may very well be the Best Women’s Team ever fielded by the USA.
If the weather had cooperated, the score could have been 2 to 3 goals more.
However, after the first 11, the quality drops off significantly as was evidenced by the 3 early 2nd half subs used by the U. S. Christen Press remained at a “B” level as she couldn’t do anything right last night. Emily Sonnet is a Tenacious defender, but cannot do much in the way of play making on offense. And Morgan Brian continues to look physically incapable of involving herself in any type of physical play. Last night was the 2nd time since she came back where she had to be taken out because of injury from contact. What could happen if she was inserted in a BIG match could end up like what happened last night, where the U S had used all of its subs and had to play the remainder of the match with 10 players. If she is put on the final 23 player roster, she should only be used as a last resort. She will not be helping the team if she plays like she has in 2018.
Assuming the USWNT starts last night’s line-up in the W/C, my choice for the substitutes would come from Carli Lloyd, Madeline Pugh, Sam Mewis, and Meghan Klingenberg and Ali Kreiger if they are healthy. Where the W/C begins in early June, I would hope that the U. S. develops an early line-up of Friendlies so that they can keep the competitive edge they have
developed and that all the team members stay in shape.