U.S. women lose 2-1 to Germany in Fort Lauderdale, home unbeaten streak ends at 71
A near-sellout crowd of 16,917 soccer fans – many of them women and girls – showed up at DRV PNK Stadium in Fort Lauderdale Thursday night to get a preview of two of the favorites for the 2023 Women’s World Cup co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand next summer.
The U.S. national team, ranked No. 1 in the world, lost 2-1 to No. 3 Germany in the friendly match. The Germans’ winning goal came from Paulina Krumbiegel in the 89th minute, four minutes after Megan Rapinoe had scored the tying goal for Team USA off an assist from Alex Morgan.
The loss ended Team USA’s home unbeaten streak at 71 games.
It was the third loss in a row for the U.S. team, after dropping games against England and Spain last month.
“We’re not happy with the result, anytime you don’t win, you can’t be happy,” said U.S. coach Vlatko Andonovski. “But looking at this game there were so many positives. We played a really good game against an incredible opponent, one of the best teams in the world. For 60-65 minutes we did a really good job. We saw what we wanted to see...but obviously we didn’t see the final touch and that’s what we were missing.”
Fans got to see some of the established American stars, such as Morgan, Rapinoe, Rose Lavelle, and Lindsey Horan, as well as younger standouts Mallory Pugh, Sophia Smith, and Trinity Rodman, daughter of former NBA star Dennis Rodman.
Top German players included Alexandra Popp, Svenja Huth, Lina Magull, and Lena Oberdorf.
Both teams missed chances in a scoreless first half. The U.S. took nine shots before intermission and had several close-range near goals in succession but failed to find the back of the net. Pugh’s shot in the 28th minute sailed high. Smith’s shot from the six-yard box was blocked in the 32nd minute.
Two minutes later, Horan’s header from the center of the box missed by inches. Almost immediately after that miss, Horan had an apparent goal clank down off the cross bar. And then, Pugh had a shot saved and Morgan’s shot went high.
Germany finally got on the scoreboard in the 52nd minute on an own goal by U.S. goalkeeper Casey Murphy after Klara Buhl hit the right post with her shot following a German breakaway.
Team USA was eager to play well after back-to-back losses to England and Spain in mid-October. England’s Lionesses beat the U.S. 2-1, before 70,000 fans at Wembley Stadium, then Spain shut out the Americans 2-0 in Pamplona.
It was the first time since 2017 that the Americans lost two games in a row.
Andonovski said he was pleased with the team’s energy and intensity, something that had been missing in the loss to Spain.
“I felt very good about the energy, they were intense, they played hard, they did everything they were supposed to do except putting the ball in the net,” he said. “It’s not like they were shying off from a tackle, or making a recovery run.”
The coach said he has faith in his front line and is not worried about the lack of finishing on Thursday.
“I trust these players, I believe they are capable of scoring goals,” Andonovski said. “In fact, the front line consists of the three best goalscorers eligible to play for this country from NWSL. They’ve proved they can score goals different ways and sometimes it just doesn’t happen. I’m not concerned but I for sure want them to score more goals.”
German coach Martina Voss-Tecklenburg was asked if she sees a difference in this U.S. team compared to the dominant teams of the past. She said: “We see there is a change in the U.S. team. They have a lot of experienced players who played multiple World Cups and Olympics and now they’re getting young players who have to grow into their roles.”
Andonovski agreed that his team is still coming together and its inexperience showed at times.
“It’s a developing process, and I just hope if it had to happen, I’m glad it happened now and not in the World Cup,” he said.
Team USA, aiming for a fifth World Cup title, is in Group E along with Vietnam and the Netherlands and the winner of a playoff.
This story was originally published November 10, 2022 at 9:08 PM.