USWNT falls to Spain 2-0 for second straight loss as European tour concludes

PAMPLONA, Spain – The U.S. Women’s National Team fell to Spain 2-0 in the second international friendly of the team’s European tour.

Played in front of 11,209 fans at El Sadar Stadium, the match set a record for the highest attended Spain Women’s National Team match played in Spain.

Both teams were playing without a multitude of top players, the USA due to injuries and Spain due to the current turmoil within the National Team, but the Spaniards put on a good show for the home fans and the USA could not find a way through the five-back formation that Spain played on defense.

The first half was a narrow back-and-forth contest after an aggressive start from the USA. Despite a handful of quality runs of passing play to break the Spanish defensive lines, including a strong run out of the back from defender Carson Pickett and another dashing run from midfielder Rose Lavelle, the Americans were missing their finishing touch in the attacking third. Spain then scored the opening goal in the 39^th minute after a corner kick resulted in chaos inside the USA box. The ball ultimately landed at the foot of defender and debutant Laia Codina, who finished from about seven yards to give the hosts the lead.

The second half was a similar story with the USA posting seven shots while Spain took four. Neither team landed a shot on target in the opening stages of the half until Spain made its first of the second stanza count in the 72^nd minute. A buildup play up the along right flank concluded with a cross from midfielder Oihane Hernández to find forward Esther Gonzalez inside the box and she finished with a classy first-touch lob toward the back post from 12 yards out to double the lead.

The USA ended the match with nine shots but just two on target and one of its closest chances came in the 87^th minute as forward 17-year-old Alyssa Thompson sent in a cross from the right wing which deflected off a defender towards goal. The ball dipped and bounced off the top of the crossbar and out for a goal kick.

Coming off a 2-1 loss to England at Wembley Stadium on Friday night, the result marked the first time since March of 2017 that the USWNT has lost back-to-back matches, and just the third such instance in the last 20 years. The two other consecutive defeats happened during the 2014 Algarve Cup, when the USA fell to Sweden and Denmark and the 2017 SheBelieves Cup which saw the USWNT lose to England and then France.

The USWNT will close out the 2022 campaign on home soil, hosting Germany during the November FIFA window. The teams will square off on Nov. 10 at DRV PNK Stadium in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. (7 p.m. ET on FS1) and then again on Nov. 13 at Red Bull Arena in Harrison, N.J. (5 p.m. ET on ESPN) in a matchup between the top two teams in the FIFA Rankings. The USA is currently ranked No. 1 in the world while Germany, which defeated France 2-1 in its first match of this October international window, is ranked No. 2.

GOAL SCORING RUNDOWN:

ESP – Laia Codina (Rocío Gálvez), 39th minute – Following a Spain corner from the right, the ball ricocheted off a few players deep inside the USA box and landed at Codina’s feet. She finished from about seven yards out to open the scoring in her debut. USA 0, ESP 1

ESP – Esther Gonzalez (Oihane Hernández), 72nd minute – Spain moved up the field through the right wing with a quality string of passes. Hernández received the ball and sent a cross into the box for Gonzalez, who skillfully one-touched a lobbed ball to the back post for the finish. USA 0, ESP 2

ADDITIONAL NOTES:

• Following their fourth encounter, the USA is now 3-1-0 against Spain all-time. This is Spain’s first ever win in the young series between the teams.

• The USA is now 10-4-4 with a 35-16 goal margin (+19) when playing outside the USA since the start of 2021.

• Andonovski is 41-4-6 in 51 games and went unbeaten (22-0-1) in his first 23 matches in charge of the USWNT, setting a record for the best start for a head coach in USWNT history. The USA opened the Andonovski era on a 16-game winning streak.

• Megan Rapinoe earned her 196^th career cap as she made her third start of 2022 and made back-to-back starts for the first time since the fall of 2021.

• Defender Hailie Mace made her second career start and first since October 7, 2018, as she earned her seventh cap overall.

• Forward Trinity Rodman made her second career start.

– U.S. WOMEN’S NATIONAL TEAM MATCH REPORT –

Match: U.S. Women’s National Team vs. Spain
Date: Oct. 11, 2022
Competition: International Friendly
Venue: El Sadar Stadium; Pamplona, Spain
Attendance: 11,209
Kickoff: 2:30 p.m. ET (8:30 p.m. local)
Weather: 60 degrees; cloudy

Scoring Summary:  1          2          F
USA                            0          0         0
ESP                             1          1          2

ESP – Laia Codina (Rocío Gálvez)                          39^th minute
ESP – Esther González (Oihane Hernandez)           72 

Lineups:

USA: 18-Casey Murphy; 5-Hailie Mace (8-Sofia Huerta, 62), 3-Alana Cook, 4-Becky Sauerbrunn (Capt.), 26-Caron Pickett (19-Crystal Dunn, 62); 17-Andi Sullivan (14-Sam Coffey, 62), 16-Rose Lavelle (13-Alyssa Thompson, 73), 10-Lindsey Horan; 6-Trinity Rodman (7-Ashley Hatch, 46), 11-Sophia Smith, 15-Megan Rapinoe (2-Ashley Sanchez, 64)

Substitutes not used: 1-Alyssa Naeher, 12-Naomi Girma, 20-Jaelin Howell, 21-Aubrey Kingsbury, 22-Kristie Mewis, 25-Savannah DeMelo

Head coach: Vlatko Andonovski

ESP: 23-Misa Rodriguez; 4-Rocío Gálvez, 5-Ivana Andrés, 17-Laia Codina, 2-Oihane Hernández, 19-Olga Carmona; 15-Maite Oroz (16-Ane Azkona, 90), 21-Claudia Zornoza, 6-Maitane López; 11-Alba Redondo (10-Athenea del Castillo, 57), 9-Esther González (Capt.) (18-Marta Cardona, 82)

Substitutes not used: 1-Sun Quiñones, 13-Enith Salon, 3-Teresa Abelleira, 7-Rosa Márquez, 8-Andea Falcón, 12-Lucía Rodríguez, 14-María Méndez, 20-Nuria Rábano, 22-Anna Torrodá

Head coach: Jorge Vilda Rodríguez

Stats Summary: USA / ESP
Shots: 10 / 8
Shots on Goal: 2 / 3
Saves: 1 / 2
Corner Kicks: 7 / 4
Fouls: 15 / 10
Offside: 2 / 0

Misconduct Summary:
USA – Megan Rapinoe (Caution)                             53^rd minute
USA – Alyssa Thompson (Caution)                           74

Officials: 
Referee: Deborah Bianchi (ITA)
AR 1: Veronica Vettorel (ITA)
AR 2: Giulia Tempestilli (ITA)
4th: Stefania Menicucci (ITA