Long, U.S. women knock heads with Germans in win
CHESTER >> The tagline is about inclusion, but Jill Ellis brought the U.S. women’s national team to Chester Wednesday night for the purposes of drawing conclusions.
With games against three of the world’s top teams (albeit minus some stars) looming in a week, how would some of the promising talents on paper put their skills into practice in the first game of 2017?
The answer across the board was fairly promising for the first installment.
Lynn Williams scored the only goal for the U.S., as the reigning World Cup champions beat Olympic champs Germany, 1-0, in the first of three games of the SheBelieves Cup.
“You’ve got to test your processes, so as we’re starting to emphasize certain things, you can see them,” Ellis said. “… To now see the same things, it helps create that buy-in to your process; 2019 is the end point, so it’s now, how good can we be in these pieces as we start to build?”
Of the prominent Americans tested in Ellis’ lineup, most came through with flying colors, starting with the goalscorer. Williams, the winner of NWSL’s Golden Boot with champions Western New York last season, showed that prowess translates to the international game, burying a rebound in the 56th minute.
It’s Williams’ second international goal in her fifth cap.
The play was precipitated by a Christen Press interception. The forward then cut inside and struck the crossbar from the right side of the box, and a followup shot by Tobin Heath was blocked before Williams found the ball in her path in the box.
“I think it just gives me confidence,” Williams said. “Every single time you come to this team you have to be on your A game, and it’s about consistency and trying to perform at your highest and your best all the time. Being able to come in, and they are such a quality side, knowing I can do that, it allows me to know I can do this, to keep going and keep learning.”
“Overall, we talked at halftime about being more confident going one-v-one,” Ellis said of Williams. “I think you saw that in the second half. Overall, for a first game, against such a quality defensive team, I thought she did really well, good balance of behind the line and in front of the line.”
Williams later airmailed a chance at a brace in all alone on the goalie after a superb turn around a defender, but both sides of the goal she did score drew praise, in particular the defensive effort of Press. Though the veteran is one of only two players to have played in all 25 games last season for the national team, she’s still vying for time with Alex Morgan in her preferred No. 9 position.
“Christen and I had a conversation and playing here in a pure 9 is probably her most natural position,” Ellis said of Press, who saw a four-game scoring streak snapped. “But just her commitment in terms of pressing the ball and physically challenging for the ball, we can use her. We wanted to press, and we need a forward who can physically commit to that on both sides of the ball.”
Williams wasn’t the only one to impress before the crowd of 16,318. Chicago’s Casey Short, earning her sixth cap, looked confident in the left-center back role of the 3-5-2 that has become Ellis’ favored formation. Some kinks remain to be worked out, but the wingback pairing of Heath and Crystal Dunn remain dangerous going forward and sturdy in defense, as the U.S. controlled possession in pressing a short-handed Germany.
Alyssa Naeher, making her bid for the full-time goalkeeper’s gloves, stopped four shots to come her way, including a sterling denial at full stretch on Sara Dabritz in the first half. Ellis Tuesday had committed to getting games for both Naeher and Ashlyn Harris, who both have 11 career caps, in the tournament.
Carli Lloyd, playing near home fans, was active in midfield, denied a chance to score in stoppage time by German goalie Almuth Schult.
Germany, without several regular, created precious little in the first game under coach Steffi Jones.
The opener was an entertaining affair, with France beating England, 2-1, on a last-second goal from Wendie Renard in the fifth minute of stoppage time. The defender headed home a corner kick from Amel Majri to complete a comeback by Les Bleues.
Marie-Laure Delie evened the game in the 80th minute off a feed from Elodie Thomis. England took the lead after 32 minutes courtesy of Jordan Nobbs. Jill Scott assisted on that tally in a game played before an early-arriving crowd of some 8,000 people who braved spotty showers.
The U.S. plays England at Red Bull Arena Saturday and France at RFK Stadium next Wednesday in the round-robin format.