The United States women’s national team secured their place in the final of the SheBelieves Cup with a 2-1 victory over Japan at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. Lindsey Horan’s 77th-minute penalty kick proved to be the decisive goal, sending the home side into Tuesday’s final where they will face either Brazil or Canada.
Despite a shock early goal from Kiko Seike, the USA fought back and equalized through Jaedyn Shaw in the first half. The game drew a crowd of 50,644, the largest for the USA women’s team on home soil since they won the 1999 World Cup final. The tournament consists of four teams and four games, with the semi-finals played in a double-header format.
Line-ups
USA
The United States started with a 4-2-3-1 formation. Naeher was the goalkeeper, with Fox, Girma, Davidson, and Nighswonger in defense. Shaw, Coffey, and Horan played in midfield, while Rodman played behind Morgan up front. The substitutes for the USA were Dahlkemper, Moultrie, Gaetino, Macário, Smith, Sonnett, Albert, Yohannes, Murphy, Dunn, Krueger, and Campbell.
Japan
Japan also started with a 4-2-3-1 formation. Yamashita was the goalkeeper, with Shimizu, Kumagai, Minami, and Moriya in defense. Tanikawa, Nagano, and Seike played in midfield, while Hasegawa played behind Ueki up front. The substitutes for Japan were Sugita, Miyazawa, Ueno, Tanaka, Ishikawa, Kitagawa, Hayashi, Hirao, Koga, Ohba, and Hamano.
Myriam Marcotte was the referee for the match, which was played in front of a record crowd of 50,644.
Live Text
The match between USA and Japan has ended with a final score of USA 2, Japan 1. The second half of the match also ended with the same score. The Japanese team tried to equalize the score in the last few minutes, but their attempts were saved by the American goalkeeper.
In the 80th minute, Saki Kumagai of Japan attempted a header from the center of the box, but it was saved by the American goalkeeper in the bottom left corner. A few minutes later, Mina Tanaka of Japan attempted a header from the center of the box, but it was saved in the bottom right corner by the American goalkeeper.
Throughout the match, both teams committed fouls and won free kicks. Lindsey Horan of the USA won a free kick in the attacking half, while Hinata Miyazawa of Japan won a free kick in the defensive half. Catarina Macário of the USA was penalized for dangerous play, and Toko Koga of Japan won a free kick in the defensive half.
There were also several substitutions made during the match. Hinata Miyazawa replaced Aoba Fujino for Japan, while Crystal Dunn replaced Mallory Swanson for the USA.
Overall, it was an intense match with both teams giving their best efforts. The American team emerged victorious with a final score of 2-1.