- USWNT held to a 1-1 draw
- Coach defended the lack of substitutions
- Revealed Lynn Williams was considered
WHAT HAPPENED? The defending champions conceded in the 17th minute after Jill Roord scored for the Dutch. However, Lindsey Horan cancelled out the opener after scoring from a corner swung in by Rose Lavelle. Despite the lack of goals, Andonovski made just a single change when he brought on Lavelle in place of Savannah DeMelo at half-time.
However, the manager of the U.S. women's national team claimed it was a strategic decision not to make any substitutions. He believed his team were in control of the game and, as they were creating scoring opportunities, he did not want to tinker with the rhythm of the team.
WHAT THEY SAID: "I thought we had control of the game and we were knocking on the door of scoring a goal. Our players played well. We were around the goal the whole time, and I just didn't want to disrupt the rhythm at that point because sometimes a substitute comes in and it might take a minute or two to get into a rhythm. We just didn't want to jeopardize anything because I thought all three of our forwards were very good today, dangerous, created opportunities, and were a handful," he reasoned.
THE BIGGER PICTURE: Winger Lynn Williams spent another game on the bench in the World Cup and is yet to play a single minute at the marquee tournament. When Andonovski was asked if he considered bringing on Williams at any point he informed that she was in his plans.
"Yes, we of course talked about substitutes and Lynn was probably one of the first that would've been on the field if we needed to change something," he said.
IN TWO PHOTOS:
WHAT NEXT? The USWNT will look to return to winning ways when they take the pitch in their final group game against World Cup debutants Portugal.