The U.S. women's national team tied 0-0 with Colombia on Thursday at America First Field, as their indifferent form continued. This time it was Alex Morgan's first-half penalty miss that loomed large over the result.
The four-time Women's World Cup winners started the game slowly. Still, the story of the first half eventually became about their attacking effort, frequently stymied by an organized Colombia defense. The USWNT struggled to find the space to make meaningful attacking plays, but got close in the 25th minute when Lindsey Horan combined with Morgan, whose shot from close range was easily handled by goalkeeper Natalia Giraldo.
The USWNT's best chance of the game came just before halftime when Daniela Arias was called for a foul for grabbing Lynn Williams in the box, conceding a penalty. Morgan stepped up to take the shot, but sent the ball to the post and then missed the rebound. Her goalless streak in a USWNT jersey has now hit 10 games, with her last goal for the national team coming in February of this year.
The hosts put plenty of pressure on Colombia's defense to start the second half and earned a bunch of set pieces to back it up, but between shots in open play and those on freekicks and corners, they had little to show for it. USWNT interim head coach Twila Kilgore made several attacking substitutes in order to find a goal, including Sophia Smith, but the game winner never came.
The USWNT return to the pitch on Sunday, when they face Colombia again at San Diego's Snapdragon Stadium.
Here's some takeaways from the match:
Stagnant form continues
Going up against World Cup quarterfinalist Colombia wouldn't be a cakewalk for the USWNT. The group was coming off two wins against South Africa, and interim manager Kilgore said during pregame the group would be more focused on being clinical in the final third.
Kilgore took over the team in August and wanted the group to build on their final World Cup game against Sweden. The ultimate match featured the USWNT in a 4-2-3-1, with dual defensive midfielders in a pivot, with better opportunities to progress the ball. We saw a repeat performance against Colombia, with minor changes to the lineup after the retirements of Megan Rapinoe and Julie Ertz.
The end product against Colombia was more lackluster than the September wins. The game was mostly even in possession and overall attack. It left more questions around the stagnant form of the team, hardly testing the Colombia defense, level with Las Cafeteras with two shots on target.
With the head coaching search ongoing and the Olympics around the corner, there will likely be little changes – or new ideas – to close out the calendar year.
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Morgan still snakebit, Shaw makes debut
A penalty awarded to USNWT late in the first half was the first clear chance on goal for the team, but Morgan's attempt was off the post, adding to her scoreless drought with the team since February. She recently broke her streak for club (since June) with San Diego Wave FC, but that luck didn't follow her to the national team.
Her NWSL teammate, Jaedyn Shaw, made her national team debut. The 18-year-old has had a productive 2023 NWSL season, with six goals and an even better ability to connect attackers with a final pass. She played four minutes in her national team debut.
Sauerbrunn returns, Smith builds minutes
Other silver linings for the team as they're nine months out from the Olympics with no head coach were the return of Becky Sauerbrunn and Sophia Smith. Both are back in the mix after dealing with lower leg injuries.
Smith is still building her minutes back up from a mild MCL sprain but subbed in with 15 minutes of regulation and nearly executed a game-winning opportunity late in the game.
Sauerbrunn subbed in at halftime and contributed to the team's more urgent play out of the gate in the second half. The longtime veteran provided a more positive spin forward for the team on Sunday, touching on the ongoing coaching search.
"I've been around. I've been playing for this team for about 13 years now. So I've seen a lot of things, and I think as you transition to a new coach with new tactics, it might be good to have someone veteran, who's been through a coaching change before," she said after the game.
"You can kind of settle some nerves, and really, like this is an exciting time for players. They shouldn't see it as a looming thing on the horizon. It should be a chance to be like, 'Hey, we're all being evaluated at ground zero now and everyone's getting a free chance' is actually a really exciting time."
