Emma Hayes, USWNT Know How to Earn Redemption in Second Chance Against Spain

In what many considered a preview of the 2027 Women’s World Cup final, the U.S. women’s national team clashed with Spain on Saturday in an international friendly. The world champions defeated the 2024 Olympic-winning Stars and Stripes 2–0 in a performance that was simply not good enough, according to USWNT manager Emma Hayes.

“I’m frustrated. I’m disappointed, but I’m not deterred,” Hayes said post-match in Washington, D.C.

The Americans will feel fortunate for the chance at redemption, heading north to welcome Spain to Philadelphia on Tuesday for a second-consecutive friendly. Hayes has a number of facets in which she wants to see her squad improve.

The No. 2 globally-ranked Americans practically blinked and were down by two goals to No. 1 Spain over the weekend, both of which came within the first 14 minutes. The first—less than three minutes into the match—was a long-distance strike by Spanish midfielder Patri Guijarro from roughly 30 yards out, fired right past Claudia Dickey and into side-netting. The backline had shuffled away from Guijarro in the moments preceding the shot, and the USWNT midfield likewise didn’t step to her.

Although it was a brilliant strike from a challenging distance, the Stars and Stripes were well warned of its possibility pre-match. “[You have to] get pressure on the ball outside of the box,” Hayes said on TNT Sports after the loss. “We warned our team: if you play up, turn it over, don’t get pressure, they finish.”

The second goal was another case of an unmarked player and a lack of communication, seeing Spanish winger Eva Navarro dash freely into the box to get on the end of a lofted cross to the back post. After that moment, the USWNT couldn’t claw back—despite a whopping 10 shots on target, a penalty kick and no shortage of will.

“You can’t afford to go two goals down against the best team in the world, especially the way we conceded the goals,” Hayes shrugged.

The silver lining for Hayes is that everything that went wrong against Spain came down to the fine details, rather anything structural or tactical, meaning quick redemption is firmly within reach.

‘Details’—Hayes Pinpoints Necessary Improvements Ahead of Redemption Match

The last time the USWNT had competed together was back in June, beating Brazil 1–0 in an international friendly. Part of the hurdle for the USWNT over the weekend was simply coming back together and re-experiencing the international stage. The back four of Avery Patterson, Kennedy Wesley, Tierna Davidson and Emily Fox were, in fact, playing together for the first time. Now that they’ve gotten their feet wet, conditions will automatically improve come Tuesday, according to Hayes.

“You can work through all the details at this level, but you have to experience it,” she said.

Defensively, though, the USWNT still needs to be more spatially-aware. Hayes called out Spain’s second goal in particular. “If you are locking up in a man-to-man, you have to be goal side,” she explained. After Davidson was easily beaten in the corner by Salma Paralluelo for the cross, Patterson was left attempting to man-mark two players, while Wesley was stuck in no man’s land.

“The two goals weren't directly off of them playing through us or breaking us down,” USWNT captain Lindsey Heaps analyzed post-match. “They had quality in their finishes, but it was almost due to our lack of not stepping to the ball, or maybe us giving them a transition moment and obviously a back-post cross that maybe we can prevent.”

Offensively, the USWNT was wasteful with its chances. It walked away with zero goals, despite taking 13 total shots and having an 3.0 xG. The Americans continually got in behind the Spanish backline and even dominated long sequences of the game; however, they struggled to execute when it mattered most. Meanwhile, Spain scored twice off of its first two chances and walked away with a solid victory with just a 0.68 xG.

“That’s the efficiency I’m talking about,” Hayes told the press, pointing to Spain’s production. “... Did I think we did enough to score a goal? Of course I did. Did we do enough to score more than one? Absolutely. We just didn’t necessarily make the right decisions and execute the quality.”

USWNT star striker Sophia Wilson even found the back of the net in the 53rd minute before deemed offsides by VAR review. Teammate Trinity Rodman had the ball in front of the goal mouth just five minutes later but clumsily took a shot at the goalkeeper.

“We weren’t clinical at all in the final third,” Rodman said post-match. “I also take accountability for that. I think my touches were not good enough in front of goal.”

When Wilson was taken down in the box in the 67th minute, teammate Lily Yohannes stepped up to take the penalty kick. The midfielder aimed the shot into the center of the net, though, and it was saved by Adriana Nanclares.

“That just sort of felt like it's just not going to go in today,” Hayes said. “But I don't put those things down to poor luck. I put it down to poor execution, including the penalty.”