The victory over the Dutch despite a “bad” first half is a sign of a great team – Equalizer Soccer

Peter van den Berg-Imagn Images

U.S. women’s national team head coach Emma Hayes said she was unhappy with her team’s poor first-half performance against the Netherlands on Tuesday, but said her team’s response was off winning 2-1 in The Hague is the sign of a great team.

The victory came from behind despite the United States outscoring the hosts 22-5 and applying sustained pressure in the first half.

“I thought we started so bad,” Hayes said. “We were second best. And listen, in football you have to get the basics right. Nowhere on the pitch did I have the feeling that we had won our duels.”

Hayes said her team, the world No. 1 and youngest Olympic gold medalists, had been “bullied and harassed, and that frustrated me a little bit.”

Veerle Buurman scored the first goal for the Netherlands with a header from a corner. At halftime the Netherlands had beaten the USA 14-1, but Dutch striker Jill Roord missed several chances and Danielle van De Donk narrowly missed another header from a set-piece.

Shortly before halftime, the USA equalized after a set piece when Buurman accidentally headed the ball into his own goal.

Dutch striker Romée Leuchter consistently beat U.S. fullback Jenn Nighswonger on the U.S. left side, including three times in four minutes, the third of which resulted in the corner that set up the Dutch goal. Hayes pulled Nighswonger at halftime and replaced Emily Sonnett to improve the defender’s leadership, the coach said after the game.

Lynn Williams also came on as a half-time substitute and scored the game-winning goal in the 71st minute.

“I wouldn’t say this was our best football game ever,” Williams said. And sometimes games go like that. But the biggest thing – you can talk about tactics, you can talk about formation and everything, but the biggest thing was adjusting their intensity, coming to the second ball, coming to the first ball, and that was the change that had to happen. And I think that was the intensity that I wanted to bring to the court.”

Hayes experimented with Jaedyn Shaw at number 9, Rose Lavelle wide left and Yazmeen Ryan on the right side of the front line.

The midfield trio of Lindsey Horan, Korbin Albery and Sam Coffey struggled to hold their own in the game as the Dutch won possession high up the pitch in the first half.

The Americans stabilized the game in the second half with six changes over the course of 45 minutes, including midfielder Lily Yohannes coming on in the 67th minute. Yohannes, who recently decided to represent the United States – where she was born – in the Netherlands, was booed by the crowd as she arrived at the ball.

“I think she handled it really well,” Hayes said of Yohannes. She was put in a situation – and I put her in that situation on purpose because I think it will help her later.”

Goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher made several spectacular saves in her final game for the USA before retiring from international play.

The U.S. remains undefeated with Hayes as coach, including in its attempt to win an Olympic gold medal this summer. Hayes has recorded 13 wins and two draws since officially taking over as head coach in June.

The 2-1 win to end 2024 came three days after a goalless draw against England at London’s Wembley Stadium.

“I knew this was going to be the toughest game between the two and it went exactly the way I wanted it to,” Hayes said. “So I’m really pleased with the team’s ability to get a result when we weren’t at our best.”

“I felt like we got stuck on our feet in the second half, which is pretty easy for me, so I’m glad we got that part right. But we also drove it a lot. I’m not going to sit here and say we were the better team, but you can still win football games without playing your best. And I think we showed today that we are a sign that we have a great team by not giving our best both in possession and without possession.”