USWNT: U.S. Women Sail Past Aussies with 4-0 Win

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(October 20, 2013)-Coming off a six-week break it would be understood if the players of the U.S. Women's national team were a little sluggish in their first game together since September. It didn't show with a 4-0 route against the Australian Women's national team in front of just under 20,000 fans in San Antonio, TX. 

For coach Tom Sermanni who took over the American team this past January it was a game with mixed emotions. Sermanni served as the coach of the Matildas for over eleven years with this game being the first time that he had faced the Aussie squad in his young tenure as the U.S. coach. Sermanni is credited for raising their level of play and for helping the team reach 8th in the FIFA world rankings.

Today however the young team with an average age of 20 years old was no match for the endless talent that the U.S. is currently enjoying, as they were never seriously challenged throughout today’s friendly.  

The U.S. women struck early with Lauren Holiday grabbing an early goal in the 6th minute. Followed by another quick strike from Carli Lloyd and the squad was up 2-0 before the fifteen-minute mark. Lloyd also added an assist in the second half when she drove a ball through the defense to a scrambling Abby Wambach who was able to give it a strong nudge to the corner of the net and record her 162nd international goal. Christen Press topped off the win with the final goal in stoppage time.

Hope Solo kept the shutout intact by holding off several challenges from Lisa De Vanna who forced Solo to make a couple big saves and showed why even with several weeks off she continues to be the best goalkeeper in the world right now.

Sermanni used a lineup filled with veterans as well as some of the younger players that he clearly sees as the future of the national team. Both Crystal Dunn and Morgan Brian were pulled from their collegiate duties to play today with Dunn earning the start and Brian coming in during the second half.

Sermanni also seemed to be looking for a way to incorporate Sydney Leroux without taking out his all-star top line of Wambach and Alex Morgan. Leroux got the start in the midfield in an effort to give his "super-sub" more playing time. However it is hard to imagine that Leroux is being transitioned to a midfielder considering the overabundance at the position. Both Tobin Heath and Megan Rapinoe were absent for this game as they were playing for their respective French club teams this past week and it doubtful they would find themselves out of the starting lineup in a meaningful game. Yet Sermanni is finding that it is a hard task to keep a player as talented as Leroux on the bench.

Perhaps the weakness that this game highlighted the most was the inconsistency of the back line. Dunn, Becky Sauerbrunn, Whitney Engen and Meghan Klingenberg started on defense and there was a clear lack of cohesion throughout the game. Dunn looked overmatched several times by De Vanna and the absence of Christie Rampone who is recovering from a minor knee surgery was obvious. Ali Krieger who arrived from her Swedish club team three days ago did not play although she was listed as available for the match. 

The team will have another few weeks together as they have three more matches before closing out their 2013 season. They will take on New Zealand on October 27th in San Francisco and also on October 30th in Columbus. The final game of the season will be November 10th in Orlando against Brazil.

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