In the 77th minute, Lindsey Horan scored a penalty kick that helped the US come back from behind to beat Japan 2-1 in front of a record-setting crowd on Saturday to open the SheBelieves Cup.
The United States also scored through Jaedyn Shaw in front of 50,644 fans at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. This was the most people who had ever seen a friendly match between the US women on home land. Also, there were more people in the US than at any women’s game since the 1999 World Cup final.
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The game also marked the return of Mallory Swanson and Catarina Macario after being hurt for a long time.
In between games, U.S. coach Twila Kilgore said, “I think the fans had a huge part in the game today.” “All the time you could feel them.”
Japan scored right away in the game. A defender tried to stop Kiko Seike as she ran down the wing, but her shot was too high for U.S. goalie Alyssa Naeher to reach. It was the first time since 2003 that the U.S. gave up a goal in the first minute.
It had been almost a year since Swanson hurt her patellar tendon in a practice game against Ireland. This was her first game back since then. She couldn’t play in the Women’s World Cup last summer because of the injury.
In the 15th minute, Swanson almost scored, but Japan’s goalie cleared the ball off the line. In the 72nd minute, she had another good chance.
He said, “You could tell I was a little excited.” “So get over your nerves and move on to the next one.”
Macario came on as a replacement in the second half. It was her first game with the national team in two years, since she tore her ACL in a game against Lyon.
As a No. 10, Shaw scored a goal through traffic with a shot from outside the penalty box that tied the game.
The 19-year-old Shaw is the first U.S. player to score five goals in five straight games.
Kilgore said of Shaw, “I’d like to point out that not only did she score a great goal, she also helped set up the goal very well, and she did a great job on defense.” “She has taken on a challenge in this area and is continuing to learn more about it. She makes a huge difference for our team.”
Before Shaw’s goal, the United States got hurt when defender Naomi Girma was taken off because she seemed to have hurt her right thigh. There was no better player in the U.S. than Girma last year.
Read More: Spanish-language streaming of U.S. national soccer teams’ matches on Peacock.
Horan’s penalty kick won the game after Sophia Smith was fouled in the box.
After some trouble over social media posts in the past, Korbin Albert came in as a replacement in the second half. Albert, who is 20 years old and plays for Paris Saint-Germain, shared hateful videos on her TikTok account.
Albert said, “Liking and sharing posts that are hurtful, offensive, or insensitive was childish and rude, and that was never my intention.”
In a statement earlier this week, Alex Morgan talked about the problem and said that the team was taking care of it internally.
“We will keep this space safe and respectful, especially since we are LGBTQ+ allies and members of the community.” We never take for granted that this platform gives us a chance to talk about issues that are important to us. “This is still a way for us to bring attention to causes,” Morgan said.
After a 1-1 tie in the late game on Saturday, Canada beat Brazil on penalties. The final of the SheBelieves Cup will take place in Columbus, Ohio, on Tuesday. The United States will play Canada. Japan will play Brazil in the other game.
Teams in the SheBelieves Cup have all made it to the Olympics, which will be held in France this summer. While the U.S. waits for new coach Emma Hayes, who is finishing up the season with Chelsea, Kilgore is teaching in the meantime.
© Provided by The Associated Press – Sports
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