At the SheBelieves Cup, the U.S. women's national team had its first taste of defeat during this new Emma Hayes era. Everything had been sunshine and rainbows until that point. With an Olympic gold in hand, the USWNT was only moving upwards, but that was until Japan sent something of a reminder.
As good as this USWNT group is, there still progress to be made. The next opportunity comes in two upcoming friendlies against Brazil - April 5 in Los Angeles, and then April 8 in San Jose.
In some ways, Hayes will likely love what happened in the SheBelieves Cup. It was a perfect reset point, a perfect opportunity to message to her team that things need to keep moving forward on a collective and individual level. It was a warning to veterans that they aren't locked in, and a reminder to newcomers that they haven't yet arrived.
“Sometimes we just assume that everybody knows what the demands or the standards are for a U.S. Women's national team player,” Hayes said. “But as I've mentioned, we've got a lot of new players that lack a lot of experience. We have to transfer that, and we have to transfer it in the right way. Some of that, for me, comes in the non-negotiables in the on-field performance, regardless of results.”
The USWNT's next chance at results comes against Brazil, who will be out for redemption after last summer's Olympics. They'll face a very good, but not quite full-strength, USWNT group. Hayes' 23-player roster was announced on Tuesday and, while many familiar names were in it, several major ones were left out. That opened the door for some on the fringes, while exposing which parts of the depth chart still needs work. GOAL breaks down the winners and losers from the USWNT's latest squad reveal.