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The final countdown: USWNT defeats Ireland 1-0 in last friendly ahead of Women’s World Cup

lisa antonucci
·13 min read
7

Update: The USWNT secured a 1-0 victory over Ireland Tuesday, powered by a goal in the 43rd minute by Alana Cook, who also happened to be celebrating her 26th birthday.

The U.S. Women’s National Team is back in action Tuesday night with one final friendly against the Republic of Ireland ahead of the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup. The U.S. women, who notched a 2-0 win over the Irish last Saturday in Austin, Texas, will finish the April International window with a matchup at newly-opened CITYPARK in St. Louis, Mo.

Perhaps the biggest news coming out of the weekend was the injury loss of Mallory Swanson, who suffered a torn patella tendon in her left knee near the end of the first half in the USA’s victory. Head coach Vlatko Andonovski told reporters ahead of Tuesday’s second clash with Ireland that “she’s doing better than I thought.”

“She’s stronger than me, let’s put it that way,” he said, noting he got the chance to talk with her. “Even before we knew what the injury is, when she was walking out, she had this big smile on her face and said, ‘Coach, I’m fine. I’ll be good,'” he added. “When I talked to her after that she was really good and she was very thankful for all the support that she got from the staff, from players in and outside of the environment. She said that all she wants is for the team to be successful, and that she’s gonna be our biggest supporter, so very, very good mindset, very good mentality.”

Swanson was replaced on the roster by 18-year-old forward Alyssa Thompson, who made headlines as the No. 1 pick in the 2023 NWSL Draft by Angel City FC and becoming the youngest draftee in league history. Thompson, who was listed on the “Starting XI” Tuesday, made her USWNT debut last October in front of more than 76,000 fans at Wembley Stadium in London, coming into the match against England in the second half. She also came in off the bench against Spain four days later for her second cap.

“[Thompson] is an exciting player,” Andonovski said. “She has abilities to turn in small areas that not many players have. And it’s not just the turn, but she accelerates with the ball and runs at defenses with confidence. I almost want to say sometimes, for an 18 year old, it’s borderline arrogant when she goes at you.”

Not playing on Tuesday is midfielder Rose Lavelle, who suffered “a little knock” during Saturday’s game. Also not dressing Tuesday are Adrianna Franch and Taylor Kornieck. Andonovski said Monday that sitting Lavelle was a precaution.

“This is not a moment for us to take any chances,” he said. “Even though Rose was not happy with the decision because she felt like she could play, we think that it’s a good opportunity for us to see other players and at the same time be very, very safe.”

Looking to get more minutes Tuesday are two-time World Cup champion Julie Ertz and 2022 BioSteel U.S. Soccer Female Player of the Year and 2022 NWSL MVP Sophia Smith, both of whom made their return to action Saturday after extended absences on the USWNT roster. The 22-year-old Smith, who opened the 2023 NWSL season with four goals and one assist in two games for the Portland Thorns, returned after missing the year’s first two USWNT events due to a foot injury and played the entire game.

The 31-year-old Ertz came into Saturday’s game in the 67th minute, earning her first cap in 611 days and making her first national-team appearance since the bronze-medal match of the Tokyo Olympics. Ertz, who gave birth to her first child — a son — in August 2022, is the 15th woman to play for the USWNT after becoming a mother.

USWNT veteran Becky Sauerbrunn, a St. Louis native, will be honored Tuesday evening for earning her 200th cap, which came in the first match of the 2022 SheBelieves Cup more than a year ago in Carson, California. The match in St. Louis will be the USA’s 10th in Missouri and sixth in St. Louis. Of note, it marks the first game for the USWNT at the home of the newest franchise in MLS — St. Louis CITY SC, which is the first female majority-owned team in the league. Previously, the U.S. women played at Busch Stadium in their lead-up to both the 2015 and 2019 World Cups.

Tuesday’s game will be the final match for the USWNT in before Andonovski selects the 23-player roster for the World Cup, where the four-time champions will kick off their 2023 campaign in just 100 days in New Zealand, taking on Vietnam in its opening match of the group stage.

ALSO FROM ON HER TURF: USWNT World Cup 2023 kit — New uniforms to debut in USA vs. Ireland match-up

How to watch the USWNT vs. Republic of Ireland friendlies

Saturday, April 8, at Q2 Stadium in Austin, Texas

Tuesday, April 11, at CITYPARK in St. Louis, Mo.

Who’s playing for the USWNT vs. Republic of Ireland

Vlatko Andonovski named a 26-player roster on March 28 for the USA’s BioSteel Training Camp ahead of the April friendlies vs. the Republic of Ireland. Andonovski will name 23 players to suit up for each match. The USWNT roster by position (includes current club, caps/goals):

GOALKEEPERS (3):

DEFENDERS (10):

  • Alana Cook (OL Reign; 23/0)

  • Tierna Davidson (Chicago Red Stars; 48/1)

  • Emily Fox (North Carolina Courage; 28/1)

  • Crystal Dunn (Portland Thorns FC; 131/24)

  • Naomi Girma (San Diego Wave FC; 15/0)

  • Sofia Huerta (OL Reign; 28/0)

  • Casey Krueger (Chicago Red Stars; 37/0)

  • Kelley O’Hara (NJ/NY Gotham FC; 156/3)

  • Becky Sauerbrunn (Portland Thorns FC; 215/0)

  • Emily Sonnett (OL Reign; 74/1)

MIDFIELDERS (7):

  • Julie Ertz (Unattached; 116/20)

  • Lindsey Horan (Olympique Lyon, FRA; 127/27)

  • Taylor Kornieck (San Diego Wave FC; 12/2)

  • Rose Lavelle (OL Reign; 88/24)

  • Kristie Mewis (NJ/NY Gotham FC; 50/7)

  • Ashley Sanchez (Washington Spirit; 23/3)

  • Andi Sullivan (Washington Spirit; 43/3)

FORWARDS (6):

Julie Ertz, Sophia Smith address return ahead of friendlies vs. Ireland

Julie Ertz told media last week that she began exploring a return to the USWNT this past winter, participating in private workouts with a high-performance coach and training sessions with an MLS academy team, which led to what she calls a “refreshed love for the game.”

“I don’t want to go back and be the player that I was because I want to be better,” said Ertz, who will be honored before Saturday’s game for earning her 100th cap, a milestone she actually achieved in March 2020, just before the onset of the global pandemic. “I know it seems weird being out (for so) long, but …I don’t feel like I’ve been gone as long as I have. I feel good, and I love the sport differently than I did (before) and I thought I loved it then. But taking a step away and kind of having a new perspective has given me kind of like a new drive.”

As for her expected playing time in the friendlies, USWNT head coach Vlatko Andonovski confirmed she’ll see action, but how much remains to be seen: “We’ll certainly see her on the field, but as everyone else, she will have to earn some minutes. Nothing is going to be given.”

Also top of mind for Ertz is signing with a club team. She hasn’t played for an NWSL team since the 2021 season with the Chicago Red Stars and admitted: “I’m trying to stay focused on the games coming up, but also knowing that I need a club team.”

For Sophia Smith, missing the first two national team camps was difficult, but she found a silver lining in the experience: “I think during that time, I learned a lot about myself. I learned how to be patient. I put things in perspective and realized how big a year this was. So it was important for me to take the time I needed to get healthy, to address all the things I I didn’t have time to address last year, and get that all right before I started again, because I knew once I started again, we won’t stop for a very long time.

“I obviously paid a lot of attention to how I was training, when I wasn’t in camp so that when I got back to camp, it feels natural, it feels smooth. And then with the Thorns, I mean, I just feel like I haven’t let my confidence drop, even being injured and being out. So I think that’s a big thing. And just training with the with the team and having preseason games to build I think allowed me to come out in the first game of the season feeling pretty good about where I was.”

More on the USWNT roster: Emily Fox scores first international goal

Defender Emily Fox got the scoring started on Saturday, recording her first career international goal and in what was her 28th cap. She was one of five players who entered the match looking for their first international goal. According to the USWNT media, Fox is now the 116th player all-time to score for the USWNT as well as the seventh different player and first defender to do so in 2023. Of note, Fox leads the U.S. women in total minutes played in 2023 with 495 minutes of action, and she was the only U.S. player to play the full 270 minutes at the 2023 SheBelieves Cup. Since the October 2021 FIFA window, Fox has played in 24 of the USA’s 28 matches, making 12 starts.

For midfielder Lindsey Horan, the converted penalty kick marked her 27th international goal and first of 2023. Providing the assist was midfielder Andi Sullivan, who recorded her fifth career assist and first in 2023.

A few more roster notes about the USWNT ahead of its series vs. Ireland:

  • The U.S. roster features six players with 100 caps or more: Becky Sauerbrunn (215), Alex Morgan (205), Kelley O’Hara (156), Crystal Dunn (131), Lindsey Horan (127) and Julie Ertz (117).

  • Players with less than 20 caps include Trinity Rodman (16), Naomi Girma (15), Casey Murphy (13), Taylor Kornieck (12), Adrianna Franch (10) and Alyssa Thompson (2).

  • Morgan leads all scorers on the U.S. roster with 121 career goals — good for fifth in U.S. history. Horan has 27, Dunn and Lavelle each have 24 and Ertz has 20.

  • In what is an unofficial record, the USWNT has five mothers in camp ahead of the final friendlies: Ertz, Franch, Morgan, Krueger and Dunn.

  • Back on the roster — but did not suit up on Saturday — are Olympian Casey Krueger, who gave birth to her first child (a boy) in July 2022 and is in her first USWNT camp since October 2021; veteran defender Kelley O’Hara, a two-time World Cup winner who is returning from injury and has not played for the U.S. since last summer, and fellow World Cup champion defender Tierna Davidson, who trained with the USWNT before the 2023 SheBelieves Cup but has yet to see action since recovering from ACL surgery. If she does, it will be her first appearance for the U.S. since the 2022 SheBelieves Cup.

Who’s NOT playing: Forward Megan Rapinoe, who has 199 caps, was ruled out of the April friendlies as she recovers from a lower leg (calf) injury. Additionally, Catarina Macario, who suffered an ACL injury last June, remains out.

“I think she’s supposed to be on the field sometime beginning of next month,” said Andonovski, who noted that Macario has the same evaluation process as everyone else via professional games over the next two months.

Republic of Ireland preps for its FIFA World Cup debut

Ireland, which will make its World Cup debut this summer, qualified for the 2023 tournament in dramatic fashion: After finishing second in UEFA Women’s World Cup Qualifying Group A behind Sweden, Ireland faced Scotland in a one-game playoff at the famed Hampden Park in Glasgow, which drew more than 10,000 fans. Irish forward Amber Barrett scored in the 72nd minute to give “The Girls in Green” a 1-0 win and send them to their first World Cup.

For the matches vs. the USWNT, Ireland head coach Vera Pauw has called up a 27-player roster that includes eight players who saw action in the decisive matchup against Scotland. Midfielders Denise O’Sullivan and Katie McCabe are the leading scorers on the roster with 18 international goals each. Defender Áine O’Gorman is the most experienced player of the group with 115 caps, followed by fellow defender Louise Quinn with 101 caps. O’Sullivan will hit the 100-cap milestone in the first matchup against the U.S.

“Ireland is a highly motivated, hard-working team that has talented players with big hearts who I know are really excited to be representing their country in a World Cup,” Andonovski said recently. “The two games will be a great test at a crucial time in our team’s run to the World Cup. While there will be plenty of league games for us to watch after April, these will be the final matches for our players with the National Team before we have to pick the World Cup roster, so they will carry that importance.”

Additional notes ahead of USWNT-Republic of Ireland friendlies

  • The USWNT has played Ireland 14 times and won every match.

  • Alex Morgan has scored in all three of her previous appearances against Ireland, recording five goals total and featuring a hat trick in her first match against the Irish in 2012. Julie Ertz, Lindsey Horan and Mallory Swanson have all also scored in previous meetings with Ireland.

  • The match in Austin marked the USWNT’s 32nd match in Texas, where it has never lost. The USWNT played the first-ever match at Q2 Stadium (home of Major League Soccer club Austin FC) on June 16, 2021, defeating Nigeria 2-0 in front of a sold-out crowd. The April 8 matchup marked USA’s first match at Q2 since that night, which featured goals by Christen Press and Lynn Williams in the U.S. victory.

  • At the upcoming World Cup, Ireland will play in Group B, which also includes Canada, Nigeria and co-host Australia. Ireland will face Australia on July 20 in the second match of the tournament and the first in Australia, where they’ll play at the 82,000-seat Stadium Australia.

  • The U.S. team will play in Group E at the 2023 World Cup, where they’ll face Vietnam, Netherlands and playoff-winner Portugal.

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The final countdown: USWNT defeats Ireland 1-0 in last friendly ahead of Women’s World Cup originally appeared on NBCSports.com