USWNT falls to Brazil, but Emma Hayes focuses on ‘playing the long game’

SAN JOSE — Emma Hayes is as competitive as they come. Losing grates on her. The sounds of opponents celebrating nearby — as Brazil did in PayPal Park’s center circle Tuesday night after a 2-1 victory over the U.S. women’s national soccer team — are not soon forgotten.

But the London-born coach also understands the importance of strengthening the sport’s preeminent program. It will not always be perfect. Tossing inexperienced players onto the pitch against an elite foe comes with short-term risk and potentially long-term reward.

“We mustn’t always measure progress by outcome,” Hayes said after her team conceded the winning goal in second-half stoppage time. “I’m playing the long game with this, and I feel we’re much better off for it.”

It was, after all, a friendly, which offers opportunity without consequence. With the Olympic gold medal behind her and the World Cup more than two years away, Hayes sees a window to experiment. She did it, to some extent, during the 2-0 victory over Brazil on Saturday in Southern California and more so Tuesday before a sellout crowd of 18,000 in Northern California.

The U.S. lineup was the least experienced in 24 years. Seven starters had five or fewer prior appearances. Left back Avery Patterson and forward Michelle Cooper, both 22, made their first starts and 19-year-old midfielder Claire Hutton played the entire match. Right back Gisele Thompson, 19, also went the distance and Lily Yohannes, a 17-year-old midfielder from Springfield, Virginia, played the first half.

“As I kept saying to the team, I want to put players in the frying pan and I want you to feel the heat,” Hayes said. “This camp was always about expanding and experimenting that player pool. I really feel like it is becoming so clear to me which players are really ready for us right now and which ones are not.”

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Over the two matches, 18 players started and four others entered as subs only. (Two remained on the bench.) Just four players started both games. Defender Emily Sonnett and midfielder Korbin Albert were the only starters Tuesday who started against Brazil in the Olympic final.

Hayes also tried less-seasoned players in three SheBelieves Cup matches in February.

“She’s giving youngins like me more experience,” said Hutton, a second-year pro with the NWSL’s Kansas City Current. “We’re going to have games like this — new groups of players, different chemistry on the field. Just to have the opportunity to be out there and play against a world-class opponent like Brazil is amazing. And to go out there and have her trust in us is something I just am so grateful for.”

Hayes was particularly impressed by Hutton, saying, “She is ready to progress with us.”

Thompson’s sister Alyssa, a 20-year-old winger, was electric and elusive in the first half. Hayes said the elder Thompson has “taken another step” after making the 2023 World Cup team but being left off the Olympic squad last year.

Alyssa Thompson’s swift dash led to the U.S. goal 34 seconds into the match, scored by Catarina Macario, the Brazilian-born forward whose U.S. career has been hampered by knee injuries for much of three years. It was the seventh-fastest goal in program history.

It quickly became clear this match, between teams that love to attack, was going to accelerate into a blinding back-and-forth affair bursting with dynamic runs and glorious opportunities. The top-ranked Americans, however, wasted several other chances during a wild first half. Eighth-ranked Brazil drew even on Kerolin’s lovely goal in the 24th minute.

The remainder of the half was bonkers: near misses, bad misses, mad scrambles and the elder Thompson dashing down the left flank like an Olympic sprinter.

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The second half was a different story.

“Maybe that [first half] was quite a big effort for a lot of players — mentally, physically — but I felt we started the second half so flat and never recovered,” Hayes said.

Through grit and grace, Brazil controlled the second half. The U.S. attack fell silent. Mandy McGlynn, in her third start, made two terrific saves in the dying moments.

In the fifth of seven additional minutes, Brazil got what it deserved. A booming clearance launched a counterattack. Luany, a sub, crossed perfectly to Amanda Gutierres, another sub, for an easy finish and Brazil’s first victory over the United States since 2014.

“It’s okay to go for the winner, but I want us to have a more ruthless mentality to say, ‘If we cannot win, we do not lose,‘” Hayes said. “I felt the way we conceded the goal was really poor from us.”

The last U.S. gasp was Ally Sentnor driving a nine-yard shot over the crossbar.

“You have to go through this stage of development to make progress for the next level,” Hayes said. “I genuinely think in this camp, we’ve seen so many good things to know we’re heading in the right direction. Just the result sucks, and it’s okay to feel that, but we will get better in the end.”

Notes: Washington Spirit star Trinity Rodman, who scored the opening goal Saturday, was not in uniform. Given Rodman’s injury history, Hayes planned all along to limit her playing time in this camp. … The U.S. team will next face No. 17 China on May 31 in St. Paul, Minnesota, and June 3 in St. Louis.