Alyssa Thompson scored a late game-winning goal and the U.S. women’s national team beat Colombia 1-0 to win its eighth SheBelieves Cup title over the weekend.
The USWNT faced Argentina, Canada and Colombia over the course of seven days and shut out all three opponents on their way to hoisting that trophy. The U.S. was extra motivated entering this tournament after losing to Japan last year.
“I’m so proud of the way we’ve grown up this tournament,” U.S. manager Emma Hayes said in reference to how the team had to find different ways to win against three challenging opponents.
“We’ve shown we can win when we’re not at our best, we’ve shown our depth, we’ve shown our maturity.”
Four different players – captain Lindsey Heaps, Jaedyn Shaw, Ally Sentnor and Thompson – scored goals, while goalkeepers Phallon Tullis-Joyce and Claudia Dickey kept clean sheets. The roster Hayes called in for this camp was more in line with the “core group” she has in mind when it comes to preparing for World Cup qualifying later this year. Of course, there were still some key players out – Mallory Swanson, Sophia Smith, Catarina Macario and Tierna Davidson – but Hayes was pleased with the group’s overall performance.
Here are takeaways from this year’s SheBelieves Cup:
1. Alyssa Thompson’s growth
(Photo by Brad Smith/ISI Photos/USSF/Getty Images)
Let’s start with Thompson, who was named MVP of the tournament. The 21-year-old winger is unstoppable and should be on the field at all times. Thompson left the NWSL and Angel City last September for the Women’s Super League and Chelsea, where she leads the team with six goals this season. She’s the worst kind of player for defenses to face with her combination of speed on and off the dribble as well as beating teams in transition.
Thompson burst onto the senior national team scene just before the 2023 World Cup. She was young and inexperienced, but was part of that roster in Australia and New Zealand. Then she fell out of the team for a bit, due in part to injury. Since Hayes took over, she’s been on another level. Her goal against Colombia was an example of the kind of threat she is from anywhere on the pitch.
“It’s been a tremendous year for Alyssa, for both club and country,” Hayes said after the Colombia match. “The consistency in her play is standout for me in terms of being able to do things over 90 minutes and do it game after game. That clutch moment she had today, she’s been doing that for Chelsea all year.”
2. “This team has endless depth”
(Photo by Michael Miller/ISI Photos/ISI Photos via Getty Images)
That will be the question, especially once players like Swanson, Smith, Davidson, Macario, etc. are back with the team.
When they get to qualifying in the fall, or even the World Cup next summer, what will the starting lineup look like? Will the front line be all Triple Espresso? What would that mean for the likes of Thompson or Macario or Shaw?
Rather than view this as a problem, having a deep roster allows Hayes to give opponents different looks. Like in the Colombia match when Heaps, Shaw, Sears, Tara Rudd, Olivia Moultrie and Jameese Joseph all came on in the second half.
“It’s not like the game needed changing, it’s not like we were losing,” Hayes said. “But I wanted to keep offering another version of ourselves and I think if people understand their roles and responsibilities and there’s clarity, it shouldn’t matter who comes in.”
Hayes continued: “The difference now [versus when she was first hired ahead of the Olympics] is you can bring in Emma Sears and it will add value and quality. I’m really proud of our players. And I’m proud of the system. I’m proud of the development from our youth national teams into the U23 transitions and here [with the senior team].”
4. Developing the No. 9
(Photo by Roger Wimmer/ISI Photos/ISI Photos via Getty Images)
