The United States women’s national team defeated Ireland 1-0 in a friendly Tuesday at CityPark in St. Louis. Here’s what you need to know:
- Defender Alana Cook scored the lone goal of the game two minutes before halftime.
- Alyssa Thompson earned her first start, and at 18 years, five months and four days old, she is the youngest player to start for the USWNT since 2016.
- Team USA recorded a 2-0 win over Ireland in a preceding friendly Saturday.
- The Americans were without forward Mallory Swanson, who underwent successful surgery Tuesday to repair a torn patella tendon in her left knee.
The Athletic’s instant analysis:
Scoring without Swanson
The USWNT has picked up goals from two unlikely sources in these two matches against Ireland: first, outside back Emily Fox scored her first international goal in Austin; on Tuesday, it was Cook’s turn from distance to pick up her first USWNT goal (on her 26th birthday).
With the team’s leading goal-scorer Swanson now out to recover from her torn patellar tendon, some further distribution of scoring contributions won’t hurt the USWNT at least. But Fox and Cook providing two goals in a window where they were hard to come by thanks to Ireland’s low block won’t exactly help answer any questions about why the USWNT’s goalscoring…
