The US women’s team stumbled Thursday in their first game since July, allowing a goal in each half that sent Portugal to its first win against the Americans, 2-1 on a night two-time World Cup winner Alex Morgan was feted with a star-studded farewell.
Portugal not only beat the US for the first time in 12 matches, they scored their first goals against the Americans in international play.
US coach Emma Hayes said she could tell at practice ahead of the match the nearly four-month layoff could affect the team.
“It felt to me like we just hadn’t played together for a long time,” Hayes said. “I just didn’t recognize us.”
Rose Lavelle scored only 33 seconds into the friendly for the Americans, only for Inês Pereira to shut them down the rest of the game.
Lavelle electrified the crowd that included retired Eagles great Jason Kelce inside Subaru Park – the home field for the MLS’ Philadelphia Union – when she scored before many of the more than 17,000 fans had even settled into their seats following a pregame ceremony for Morgan.
“Sometimes, you can start the game like that and you think to yourself, I hope we don’t sit back and be passive,” Hayes said. “That’s what we did.”
Portugal’s Diana Gomes scored her eighth international goal when she got a header past Phallon Tullis-Joyce that tied the game 1-all in the first half. Portugal had been outscored 40-0 by the United States in the previous 11 matches between them, plus Lavelle’s goal.
Fatima Pinto scored her fifth international goal from atop the box through traffic late in the second half for the winner that gave Portugal their landmark victory.
“There is a standard of winning, and it kind of exceeds all those things, whether it’s the time apart or the age of the team or experience. We have a choice now of how we respond,” midfielder Sam Coffey said.
The U.S women returned after a 113-day layoff for the start of a true ramp-up toward World Cup qualifications. There’s another match scheduled against Portugal and one against New Zealand to close out the three-match window at the end of the month.
The team needs the work before the results truly matter.
“We didn’t look like the team that we’ve been working on but that’s what happens when you’ve got 113 days apart,” Hayes said.
With Morgan in the house, the stadium underwent a makeover in honor of her big night.
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Her greatest moments (such as her four-goal game for the U-20 women’s World Cup team) were recognized in stand-up cutouts that lined outside the stadium. Girls lined up at the Alex Morgan pre-wrap station to get their hair “game-day ready” and T-shirts and banners with her name on them were the hot items at merch stores. Fans everywhere raised signs showing Morgan love in her national team send-off.
Even national team members who couldn’t take the field wouldn’t miss Morgan’s night. The 36-year-old Morgan retired from soccer last year when she became pregnant with her second child.
American forward Trinity Rodman was on hand for Morgan’s celebration but did not play as she recovers from a knee injury. Rodman has only played for the Americans once since they won the 2024 Olympic gold medal in France. Abby Wambach, Kelley O’Hara and Megan Rapinoe also attended the game.
Besides World Cup titles in 2015 and 2019, Morgan also won an Olympic gold medal in 2012. She played in 224 matches for the US – and was honored with a framed jersey with that total as the number – with 123 goals and 53 assists. She was chosen the US Soccer Player of the Year in 2012 and 2018.
Morgan also played in 150 NWSL matches over her career, which included stints with the Portland Thorns and the Orlando Pride. She rejoined the Wave in May as a minority stakeholder.
Hayes only had Morgan for one game during her tenure. But the former Chelsea coach has been around the sport long enough to appreciate Morgan’s impact on the game – and for her to be feted at the same stadium where she scored her first national team goal in 2010.
“There was nothing she didn’t achieve,” Hayes said a day earlier. “She was a player that epitomized everything this program is about. She’s an unbelievable credit to her family because her drive, her desire, her determination to prove herself at the highest level is second to none.
“You can’t go anywhere in this country without them talking about Alex Morgan, and I think the sport should show a lot of gratitude to that, because it’s important for our players to be recognizable. And she is, without question, in recent times, one of the most recognizable faces in our sport.”