The U.S. Women’s National Team is preparing to host FIFA Women’s World Cup champions Spain in a friendly double-header, as they continue their preparations for the CONCACAF W Championship – and hopefully – the 2027 World Cup.
Emma Hayes‘ side will first face the reigning champions at Audi Field in Washington, D.C. on Saturday before travelling to Subaru Park in Chester, Pennsylvania for the second leg on Tuesday.
Led by team captain Lindsey Heaps, now of the Denver Summit, Hayes’ side heads into camp with several questions to answer, such as who can step up at center back with Naomi Girma sidelined through injury once more, and can joint-NWSL record goal scorer Ashley Sanchez translate her stunning league form onto the national stage.
Heaps swapped OL Lyonnes for Denver Summit this summer -Credit:Geoff Stellfox/NWSL via Getty Images
Ahead of Saturday’s game, 32-year-old former OL Lyonnes star Heaps gave an insight into what it may take for the USWNT – currently ranked second in the world by FIFA – to defeat the top-ranked Spanish side, led by Sonia Bermúdez.
“I think a lot of people would just look at Spain and say, ‘This is a possession-based team. They just want to have the ball, and that’s how they’re successful,'” Heaps told Ali Krieger on ESPN. “But it’s very interesting if you go and watch their games and see where most of their goals come from is very transitional.”
She went on to explain, “They have some individual players that are obviously some of the best in the world. And not even those few that have won Ballon d’Or’s, but they have such high-quality players.
“And I think it’s very interesting. You look at our team and how it’s progressed over the last few years where maybe we were more transitional in our play, but now the possession that we have, you look at the last three games against Japan, and we had more of the possession in every single game that we played against them, and maybe that wasn’t the case in the past.
“So I think these are gonna be very interesting games to see not just like statistics but how the game momentum goes for the 90 minutes and where the opportunities come from. And also in our defending responsibilities, how we can limit them in their transition and being able to limit them coming into our box.”
To listen to the latest episode of ‘All Out Soccer’ – Lindsey Heaps lays out keys to
When it comes to breaking Spain down, Heaps believes the key from a U.S. perspective will be to take control of the game away from their opponents. “Spain does want the ball, and when they don’t feel like they’re in control, I think it’s a weird place for them to be in,” she said.
“So for us, it’s like making them feel not in control. And us having the ball as much as possible, being patient, being in control, and taking our opportunities when we can.
“But I think being able to frustrate them without the ball is…it’s a hard task to accomplish, but I think we actually can do that. And I think we’ve improved so much over the last few years in that. So I hope that will be the case for us in these upcoming games, but we’ll see.”
Saturday will mark just the fifth meeting between the USWNT and Spain, with the U.S. having their first three matchups between 2019 and 2022, before La Roja claimed the win in their last game in 2022.
Since Hayes’ USWNT claimed gold in the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris against Brazil (where Spain lost the bronze medal match to Germany), the World Champions have lost just twice in their subsequent 27 outings.
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