Compared to the bright, breezy environment of SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles for game one, the United States women’s national team’s (USWNT) swift rematch with Brazil at San Jose’s PayPal Park carried an inverted energy, atmospherically and competitively.
The latter ended in a 2-1 defeat for the U.S. before a packed house of 18,000 in California’s Bay Area on Tuesday night, the booming, sold-out crowd competing with the periodic sound of planes touching down at the nearby airport. The first, in the sunshine of Saturday afternoon, brought 32,303 people to a venue that holds 70,000 to see what turned out to be a secure 2-0 win for the hosts.
Match two also embodied the classic traits of a return fixture against the same opponent, with noticeable changes to the previous lineup. But as U.S. head coach Emma Hayes has reiterated throughout this window, experimentation was going to be the prevailing theme of these two fixtures. She is working toward identifying a core group of players by the end of June who will eventually compete in the 2027 World Cup finals.
“I wanna put players in the frying pan and I want you to feel the heat,” Hayes said in her post-game news conference late Tuesday night. “This camp was always about expanding and experimenting (with) that player pool….
