— Belfast
The stats
Though they trailed at the half to the Steel Roses (who are ranked 15th in the world by FIFA), the stuttering states of America (who are ranked third) closed out the year with a 2-1 win against China.
As yet more proof that stats can be misleading, the win marks the end of an undefeated year for the USA (their fifth undefeated year in history).
What’s more: they set a bunch of defensive records. For example the US allowed the fewest goals per match in team history, as the opposition scored just 3 goals in 18 games. That achievement arrives tied to the fact that the US only gave up 24 shots on goal in 2023. While the final third sure flummoxed them in the southern hemisphere this summer, they allowed just measly two shots on target during the World Cup, and outscored opponents 36-3 all year.
Undefeated, you say? Despite flailing out of the World Cup at the earliest stage ever? Yes. Technically that penalty loss to Sweden which ended 0-0 after extra time goes down as a draw.
The first friendly against China this month (who the US has played the second most all-time, trailing only Canada in number of meetings) came on Saturday in Fort Lauderdale. I will remember it best for how empty it was, and how much fun Trinity Rodman was having as she scored once and assisted twice in the 3-0 win. In a stat that still startles me, Mallory Swanson (injured in April) ends the year as the team’s top scorer with seven goals. But Rodman wasn’t far behind. She ended the year with five goals, and tops the charts for total goal contributions with five assists to go alongside.
Launching us into a festive December, Rodman celebrated Smith’s ninth minute opening goal in Florida with mimed mistletoe. The goal was Sophia Smith’s 15th career goal in her 37th cap, and her third in 2023. Lindsey Horan - among the only players capable of scoring at the World Cup- netted the other goal, also ending the year with five to tie Rodman in second place behind Swanson.
Last evening in Frisco (or in the wee hours of the morning, should you be in Belfast like I am) the US dominated the ball, eclipsed China’s shot tally 24 to 4, managed to trail 0-1 at the half complements of a set piece, then salvaged victory thanks to goals from World-Cup-snubbed Sam Coffey (her first for the USA) and ascendant rookie, Jaedyn Shaw (who scored the match-winner in her hometown).
Jaedyn Shaw is now the third-youngest USWNT player to score in her first start, and the first to do so since Heather O’Reilly in 2003. She’s also the third teenager to score twice in her first four appearances for the USWNT.
The manager
I suppose in some ways the Emma Hayes era is here. Physically, she’s in London. Though she did fly across the sea to meet her new team in person for a few days last week. The subsequent aura of new beginnings was infectious, evident in many of the players as they spoke to the press.
Technically, Twila Kilgore is in charge. Kilgore emphasized her role as interim boss is “managing the day to day” until Hayes is physically at the helm next summer. In the meantime, Hayes will observe from far off and consult Kilgore, though her present focus and commitment remains ye olde Chelsea Football Club.
Signs of a new time did emerge. Hayes’ mark was perhaps most apparent in the roster itself, which prioritized trialing new talent over giving time to longtime stars.
18-year-old Olivia Moultrie, NWSL Rookie of the Year Jenna Nighswonger, and 20-year-old PSG midfielder Korbin Albert all clocked their national team debuts in this camp. That marks seven debuts in 2023, with six of them arriving post-World Cup.
The witching hour
Fresh off watching a 6-1 victory for Ireland against Northern Ireland at Windsor Park in Belfast (then watching Team GB’s Olympic hopes falter at a nearby pub), I had the fitting pleasure of watching this year’s closing bout for the US national teams at 1 a.m local time.
Given the year this has been, I can imagine no hour more fitting to say so long to whatever this was than the midnight hour, the witching hour, the dark dead of night.
With half my World Cup spectated from far-off (and an amass of Major League Soccer, NWSL, and National Team matches consumed via VPNs on a laptop in the middle of the night while overseas) it seems the witching hour has somehow become my default time to watch soccer.
And so it ends, this strange year of striking stats masking a torrid story at 3 am across a wide weary sea.
To next year.
(I realize I never fully explained why I was in Budapest. I’ll soon find time to explain both this and that)