The U.S. women's national team beat South Korea 3-0 on Tuesday, picking up a win in their final game before new head coach Emma Hayes names the 18-person squad for the Olympic Games in Paris.
The hosts were off to a quick start when Crystal Dunn scored in the 13th minute, registering her first goal since 2018 in her first start as a forward since 2017. South Korea managed to hold the USWNT at bay for much of the first half and the team started brightly in the second half before the substitutes turned things up a notch.
Substitute Sophia Smith scored the second goal in the 67th minute. The play started with fellow substitute Trinity Rodman's ball into the box, which drew goalkeeper Kim Jung-mi out of her goal and allowed Smith to win the ball and work her way around the defenders. Smith was essentially on the touchline but the empty goal meant she was able to score.
Lily Yohannes made the score 3-0 in the 83rd minute, just 10 minutes after coming on for her USWNT debut. Rodman again sent the ball into the penalty area, which worked its way through traffic before finding Yohannes, who finished from close range. She became the third youngest USWNT goal scorer in the process with the 16-year-old Virginia native producing a dream debut.
It marks a perfect start for Hayes, who won both of her opening games after officially starting as the head coach last week.
Dunn made her name as an attacking talent around a decade ago but as her national team career took off, she slotted in at left back and made the position hers. That positional switch has come with plenty of success, chief among them the 2019 Women's World Cup, but the question has always lingered: Have the USWNT ever maximized Dunn's potential?
Hayes inspired some excitement by listing Dunn as a forward on the roster and did onlookers one better on Tuesday, giving her former Chelsea player her first international start in attack since 2017. The results were nearly instant with Dunn's 13th-minute goal.
"I know what Crystal Dunn's all about," Hayes said in her post-match press conference. "She's played for me before and she'll do whatever the team needs so being able to play her out wide -- I have to start thinking about which players might fill multiple positions for the team and of course I've experimented as much as I could do in these two games. I thought Crystal was solid the whole evening in every shape, way and form and I'm happy to be back coaching her."
Her success could shake up the race for different roster spots for the Olympics. Dunn's club and country teammate Jenna Nighswonger now seems like a lock at left back, playing a majority of the minutes in that position this year. Dunn seems like a primary contender for one of the wide forward berths, an incredibly competitive part of the roster. Trinity Rodman started in that role on Saturday, while Jaedyn Shaw can also play in the position.
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While much of the focus is on Hayes' Olympics team, the USWNT have had one eye on the future by inviting 16-year-old Yohannes to her second camp and the head coach finally gave the prospect her first cap on Tuesday. Yohannes wasted no time making her impact, scoring the game's final goal to become the USWNT's third-youngest goalscorer.
"She's a press-resistant player, can get out of pressure," Hayes said about Yohannes' attributes. "It's the weighted pass, the quality of the pass … I think playing in Europe has helped, has accelerated her learning. She plays for a big club in Ajax. She's been playing in Champions League … She's had exposures that many American 16-year-olds have not had and it shows. There's a maturity to it, even at a tender age."
This game could be an important moment as Yohannes decides on her international future. She was born in Virginia to Eritrean parents but moved to the Netherlands at age 10 and is in the process of acquiring Dutch citizenship. She has played for the U.S. at youth levels but has also attended a Dutch U19 camp but has yet to take part in any activities with their senior national team.
Yohannes is not expected to commit to any national team at this time and is exploring her options, but her star is well and truly on the rise on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean.
All in all, that was a successful outing for the USWNT. Things really livened up in the second half, especially with the introduction of the substitutes. It was a very special day for Dunn, who impressed in her first outing as a forward for the national team since 2017 with the opening goal, and for Yohannes, who marked her much awaited debut with a goal in the 83rd minute.
82' Just 10 minutes after coming on for her USWNT debut, Yohannes scores her first international goal. Rodman's ball into the penalty area makes its way through traffic and finds the 16-year-old simply finishes from close range, and is quickly embraced by the whole team -- bench included. She's the third-youngest goalscorer in the USWNT's history.
76' The USWNT subs have injected life into the team's attack and almost help the USWNT make it 3-0, this time with Rodman close to scoring. She expertly hits the ball from distance but it hits the crossbar.
72' Hayes makes her final subs -- Yohannes and Fox come on for Albert and Krueger. This marks the much-anticipated debut for the 16-year-old Yohannes, who is being courted by both the USWNT and the Netherlands after a stellar season with Ajax.
71' Murphy is forced into another big save but handles it with confidence, allowing the USWNT to go straight down the other end of the pitch. Swanson's up to the task and takes a shot from an angle but the ball rolls just wide of the goal.
67' The USWNT finally double their lead, thanks to an absolutely incredible goal from Smith. Rodman ensures the ball ends up in the box and forces Kim out of her goal, allowing Smith to pick up the ball and work her way around the defense. She's basically on the touchline and has a tight angle but because the goal's empty, the tiny sliver of space was enough for her to score.
62' Rotation is the name of the game for Hayes, who lines up for changes with about a half-hour to go -- Swanson, Smith, Coffey and Rodman come on, Lavelle, Morgan, Horan and Nighswonger come off. Dunn takes the armband with Horan off the field and moves back to left back with Nighswonger done for the night.
53' The USWNT are looking for goal to start the second half, with a shot from Shaw sailing over the bar and the team unable to do much with a corner. The hosts still just have the one shot on target despite taking eight shots so far.
There are no substitutes to start the second half for the USWNT.
The USWNT are in charge, both in terms of the scoreline and possession. They are not exactly finding it as easy to break down South Korea's defense as they did on Saturday, which is to the visitors' credit as the likes of Ji and Phair work on a way to leave their mark on the game. It has not exactly been a bad half from the USWNT, though, though they still need to find a way to unlock their offense.
40' Horan sends a curling ball into the penalty area and Staab is there to pounce on it, hoping to mark her first start with a goal. Kim is able to meet the ball, though, and forces the ball out for a corner.
40' Play's been pretty even for the last few minutes, with South Korea finding a way to work through midfield and force some work out of the USWNT's defense, including Murphy. The USWNT seem to have survived it, though, but still have not found a way to break down the opponent's defense.
30' Korea earn a freekick yards from the penalty area, which Ji takes perfectly with a curling shot to Murphy's left. The goalkeeper is very much up for the task, though, and matches the strike with an accurate safe to send the ball out for a corner.
26' The USWNT is controlling possession in a big way, which comes as little surprise, but it's also the only thing they can really do right now. Korea's low block means the USWNT's big challenge will be to break that up -- something they had to deal with early on in Saturday's 4-0 win. They have taken just one shot since Dunn's early goal as a result -- another play started by Horan that finished with Dunn taking a shot, but her strike from an angle goes over the crossbar.
13' The USWNT take the lead early, courtesy of Dunn. This goal is a nice showcase for Dunn's attacking ability -- after Horan wins the ball, she makes a lengthy run up the pitch and finds herself in the right place at the right time in front of goal and makes no mistake from there. It's her first goal for the national team since 2018 in her first start as a forward since 2017.
8' This one has been off to a mild start but the USWNT earn a freekick yards from the penalty area, which Lavelle takes. She hits a nice cross that almost troubles South Korea, but the ball rolls just past Morgan and out of bounds for a goal kick. Set pieces are an area of focus for Hayes early on in her spell, with the payoff coming in the first game, when Davidson scored twice off corners.
The consistent rain has been at it for about an hour now. The pitch is feeling it and has impacted the ball a bit in trajectory and in some dead spots on the pitch. A couple of players have mistimed playing a ball because of it, and some have slipped at times here in the opening 10 minutes. Both teams trying to establish tempo.
The teams have officially kicked things off in a rainy St. Paul, the last time the USWNT will play before Emma Hayes names the Olympics roster.
After causing fanfare by calling up the versatile Crystal Dunn as a forward, Emma Hayes starts her former Chelsea player as a right winger. It marks the first time that she will play an advanced role in national team colors since 2017, but it is far from an unfamiliar position for her -- Dunn made her name in the NWSL as an attacker and has primarily played in the midfield or the forward line during the last several years in the league. That includes her current situation at Gotham, where she also chiefly plays on the wing -- in front of club and country teammate Jenna Nighswonger, who is one of two players to start both of Hayes' games and may have a lock on the position after a breakout 2024 for the USWNT.
Hello from Minnesota! Clouds have rolled in and brought some rain, but the Allianz Field is still filling up and the players have officially taken the pitch for warm-ups. There's no official update on any delay, but U.S. Soccer stated earlier today that they're monitoring the weather. Only way this gets delayed is if there's some lightning in the area so hopefully these clouds keep rolling!
Hayes goes with nine changes to the team that started on Saturday, as promised. Here's a look at the lineup.
USWNT lineup: Murphy; Staab, Nighswonger, Albert, Shaw, Horan (Capt.), Morgan, Sonnett, Lavelle, Dunn, Krueger
Available Subs: Kingsbury, Campbell, Girma, Yohannes, Macario, Swanson, Smith, Davidson, Hershfelt, Coffey, Rodman, Fox
After Emma Hayes began her tenure as the USWNT head coach with a lopsided victory, the team return to the pitch for one final match before the Olympics roster is dropped. Hayes plans to make some changes to the team selection as she whittles down her list to 18, so expect another game full of valuable lessons with Paris just weeks away. Stick around for pre-game analysis and then updates once the match kicks off, including insight from Sandra Herrera on the ground in St. Paul.
