In a rematch of the 2024 Olympic Gold final, the United States women’s national team rolled past Brazil 2-0 on Saturday in an international friendly. Trinity Rodman opened her 2025 scoring account for the national team with a goal in the fifth minute of play that was assisted by Alyssa Thompson. From there, the USWNT wouldn’t let up, peppering the Brazil net while Phallon Tullis-Joyce repelled anything that came her way during her USWNT debut.
As Emma Hayes looks to find her next number one, Tullis-Joyce has become the second oldest player to earn their first cap for the national team at 28 years, 168 days old but looked like she’s no stranger to the shirt. At the opposite end of the age spectrum, 17-year-old Lily Yohannes entered in the second half of play, immediately drawing a penalty with her footwork that Lindsey Heaps wouldn’t miss.
It’s a match where the USWNT could’ve run up the score more if not for strong goalkeeping from Brazil but it was also a positive performance for Hayes and the team during the start of this international break without regulars like Naomi Girma. It will be a unique test facing this same Brazil side again on Tuesday but with Hayes looking to experiment with her squad, it’s a good chance to see what they can do while rotating against the same opponent.
Avery Patterson also got her first senior cap coming off the bench to replace Emily Fox in defense as Hayes has was able to make entire line changes with the match out of sight by the 70th minute of play. Only six members of the squad didn’t see the pitch against Brazil and they all could end up in the lineup on Tuesday to give everyone a chance to make a statement. This was Rodman’s first match for the USWNT since the gold medal match versus Brazil and she couldn’t have marked her return in a better way than by scoring a goal.
Thompson shined in front of her home fans in California but alongside her, Tullis-Joyce may have been the star of the show. Alyssa Naeher’s retirement from international play has left a void between the sticks but Hayes could be one step closer to figuring out who the number one is after this performance.
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