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USA vs. Japan, Tournament of Nations: Final Score 3-0 as Yanks Finish Tourney Strong

Published

9 years ago

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The United States Women’s National Team finished with its strongest outing in months, defeating FIFA’s No. 6 team, Japan, to close the inaugural Tournament of Nations at the StubHub Center in Carson, CA. Alex Morgan came on in the second half and snapped an eight-game goal-less streak in international play, to go with strikes by Megan Rapinoe and Mallory Pugh in a 3-0 win.

The USWNT improved to 27-1-7 against Japan in the all-time series, and 8-0-4 on home soil. The United States finished second in the tournament after Australia had mauled Brazil earlier in the evening.

Jill Ellis didn’t start Morgan or Ali Krieger of the Pride in her 4-3-3, but did give the nod to all four Chicago Red Stars on the roster. She started Alyssa Naeher in net behind a back four of Casey Short, Becky Sauerbrunn, Abby Dahlkemper, and Kelley O’Hara. The midfield starters were Julie Ertz, Sam Mewis, and Carli Lloyd, with a strike force of Rapinoe, Christen Press, and Pugh.

The Nadeshiko countered with a 3-5-2 formation of goalkeeper Ayaka Yamashita; defenders Miho Manya, Aya Sameshima, and Nana Ichise; midfielders Madoka Haji, Rin Sumida, Rumi Utsugi, Emi Nakajima and Mizuho Sakaguchi — with the latter playing below strikers Yuka Momiki and Mina Tanaka.

Rapinoe was the most dangerous player on the pitch in the game’s opening minutes. She skimmed a shot off the top of the crossbar in the ninth minute and then forced a good save by Yamashita in the 10th. Two minutes later, she scored on the break.

After the U.S. stopped a Japanese counterattack, Press slipped Rapinoe into the box. The Seattle Reign star could have shot first touch but waited while Sameshima slid in front for the block, then let the ball run while the defender got up, clearing space for Rapinoe to shoot. She slotted her shot inside the back post to put the Yanks up 1-0 at the 12-minute mark.

Rapinoe tried to return the favor with a pass to Press two minutes after the opening goal but the shot was blocked. Press then fired wide at the 18-minute mark on a volley of a pass from Short, as the U.S. continued to pressure the Japanese.

After that flurry, the Japanese started creeping more and more into the match. Nakajima fired from outside the box after an initial clearance of a Japan corner, and the shot sent Naeher scrambling to make a diving save in the 23rd minute.

After O’Hara picked up a knock at 30’ and had to come off for Taylor Smith, the Japanese picked up the pressure. The Nadeshiko nearly equalized in the 34th minute on the counter, when two deflected balls fell perfectly for Japan. At the end, Tanaka rounded Naeher and had an empty net in front but Ertz hustled back to deflect the ball behind for a corner.

It was a vital intercession for the defensive midfielder, who ran into the post on the end of the play and had to receive treatment before resuming.

Momiki took a shot from the top of the box in the 38th as Japan kept coming at the U.S., but the striker couldn’t get any power on her shot and it was straight at Naeher. Japan finished off the first half’s chances with a curling effort from Sameshima from the right, which fizzed just wide of the back post in the 44th minute, and the USWNT took a slim 1-0 edge into the break.

The U.S. made an effort to get back on the front foot after the restart. Lloyd did well to take down a long pass and get a shot off just seconds into the second half but her effort was off target. At the 48-minute mark, Pugh found Press at the top of the penalty area. Press dribbled left to open space but missed the net with her left-footed shot.

Japan came back two minutes later with a good buildup that resulted in a shot from halftime sub Yui Hasegawa, who sent Naeher diving to make a save on a shot that was well placed but without much pace on it. Two minutes later, the U.S. turned it over and Japan countered again, with Haji shooting from outside the area but it was an easy fly ball for Naeher.

Ertz had to come off for the U.S. at 54’ with an apparent leg injury after a slide tackle that bumped the same knee that hit the post earlier. Allie Long came on to replace her.

Just when the game started to get a bit sleepy, the USWNT doubled the lead in the 60th minute. Smith sent a gorgeous through ball to Pugh, who accelerated past the defense and slotted her shot between Yamashita and the near post to make it 2-0.

Five minutes after Pugh scored, Lloyd was subbed off for Lindsey Horan. With both Ertz and Lloyd out of the midfield, Japan started to create more problems and get forward again. Haji should have scored at 68’ off a turnover in the defensive half but missed the net by about a foot with her shot. Moments later, Japan nearly got in behind but Dahlkemper made a vital challenge from behind to break up the attack.

Ellis made wholesale changes in the 73rd minute, bringing on Morgan, Sydney Leroux, and Lynn Williams for Press, Rapinoe, and Pugh. The moves energized the U.S. a bit. After Hikaru Hitagawa buzzed a cross into the six that Naeher caught in the 78th minute, the U.S. got onto the front foot, starting with a counter attack ignited by Short that ended up with a long-range effort from Mewis that was saved.

Two minutes later, a Smith cross found Morgan in front of goal and the Pride striker flicked it off the defender and into the net to make it 3-0. It was Morgan’s 74th career international goal.

Leroux nearly made it 4-0 in the 86th with a wonderful move to get around a defender in the box but her point-blank shot was well saved by Yamashita. From that point on, the Yanks saw out the remainder of the clock and celebrated their finest outing of the tournament.

The USWNT will be back in action against New Zealand in a pair of friendlies on Sept. 15 and 19 in Commerce City, CO, and Cincinnati, OH, respectively.

Australia 6, Brazil 1

In the early game, Australia needed just a win or a draw to capture the Tournament of Nations title, and the Matildas were able to cruise to a laugher after falling behind early. The win by the Aussies eliminated the USWNT before the second match even began, rendering it nothing more than an ordinary friendly.

Pride defender Steph Catley started for the Matildas, along with former Orlando players Laura Alleway and Lisa De Vanna. Alanna Kennedy was on the bench. For Brazil, Camila and Monica started, while Marta was out, although she was listed as being available on the bench. The Brazilian star took a bit of a hard knock on the foot against the USWNT on Sunday night.

Camila drew first blood with a goal off a set piece in just the second minute of the game, giving the Canarinhas a 1-0 lead. It was Camila’s second international goal, with both coming in this tournament.

Unfortunately for Brazil, Australia equalized quickly after the Matildas were awarded a penalty. De Vanna had her spot kick stopped but the rebound fell for her to easily finish to level the game five minutes later.

Camila missed the target about 10 minutes later on a Brazil attack and De Vanna had a shot saved on a 1-v-1 against Brazil goalkeeper Dani Neuhaus in the 25th minute.

The Aussies took the lead in the 32nd minute on a Caitlin Foord counter attack goal from a Sam Kerr pass.

Three minutes later, the Matildas put it out of reach on De Vanna’s second of the game — also set up by Kerr. De Vanna was subbed out in the second half as Australia’s all-time goal-scoring leader, with 42.

Midfielder Katrina Gorry, who narrowly missed chipping the goalkeeper for a goal just minutes earlier, made it 4-1 before halftime with a tremendous strike off the back post and in.

Foord got a brace on a goalkeeping error at 68’, as Neuhaus came off her line to try to get to a long ball over the top sent by Tameka Butt. But Foord beat Neuhaus to the ball and easily rounded her to score an empty-net goal to make it 5-1.

Australia subbed Kennedy on in the 72nd minute for Alleway. She may be able to play on Saturday but Catley went the full 90 and will likely be unavailable for Tom Sermanni against the Red Stars. Camila and Monica also went 90 for Brazil.

Kerr made it 6-1 in the 81st minute as her outstanding tournament — and season — continued.

The Matildas saw out the final minutes from there without inflicting any more pain on the Brazilians and celebrated their tournament win.

Congrats to Australia for a deserved result in the first-ever Tournament of Nations, winning all three games by a combined score of 11-4.

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Orlando City

Orlando City vs. San Jose Earthquakes: Preview, How to Watch, TV Info, Live Stream, Lineups, Match Thread, and More

Orlando City restarts its 2026 MLS campaign late tonight out west at San Jose.

Published

2 weeks ago

on

July 22, 2026

By

Image of Braian Ojeda taking a shot in a friendly against FC Dallas.
Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Justin Glatt

Welcome to your match thread for a late night midweek matchup tonight between Orlando City (4-9-2, 14 points) and the San Jose Earthquakes (10-3-2, 32 points) at PayPal Park (10:30 p.m., Apple TV). This is the only scheduled meeting between the teams in 2026 and the first time the teams have met since 2024.

Here’s what you need to know ahead of tonight’s match.

History

Orlando City is 3-1-3 in the previous seven MLS meetings with the Quakes since the club joined Major League Soccer in 2015. The Lions got their only away win in the series in the last meeting and enter tonight 1-1-2 on the road against San Jose.

The teams last met on May 18, 2024, with Jack Lynn coming off the bench to score the game’s only goal. Lynn’s strike in the 89th minute broke the scoreless deadlock and lifted the Lions to a 1-0 victory.

The teams met in Orlando most recently way back on June 22, 2021, with the Lions beating the Quakes down, 5-0. Orlando got things started with an early penalty kick goal by Nani, followed by braces from Benji Michel and Daryl Dike to easily put the game away. The lasting memory from the game is Michel’s celebratory dance wearing a cowboy hat that came out of the stands.

Prior to that Orlando City romp, the last time the teams met was on Aug. 31, 2019 when the Lions got freight trained 3-0 at Avaya Stadium, giving the Quakes their first win in the series. San Jose’s offense came via a Chris Wondolowski brace and an early opening goal by Magnus Eriksson. Orlando looked flat and weary out of the gate.

The Lions were victorious in Exploria Stadium in the 2018 meeting on April 21, a 3-2 Orlando win. It was the first win in the series for either side after three straight draws. Chris Mueller, Sacha Kljestan, and Dom Dwyer gave the Lions a 3-0 lead before Florian Jungwirth pulled two back in the game’s late stages.

The Lions led all of the first three matches in the second half only to see San Jose pull level, with two of those tying goals coming late. In the 2017 meeting, Carlos Rivas finally broke the scoreless tie and gave Orlando City the lead in the 81st minute, but Wondolowski spoiled the Lions’ night with an equalizer two minutes later as the teams drew at Avaya Stadium, 1-1.

In 2016, the Lions were gut-punched in the 94th minute in an emotional match that ended in a 2-2 draw. It was the first home match following the Pulse nightclub tragedy and what appeared to be a storybook ending to a cathartic win turned sour on a last-gasp equalizer by Shea Salinas. Seb Hines — now the Orlando Pride’s head coach — opened the scoring for Orlando, only to see Chad Barrett tie it up. Julio Baptista restored the lead in stoppage time, but Salinas ruined everything.

The two teams also drew in the first meeting, a 1-1 affair at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, with the Lions down to 10 men after Brek Shea was sent off in the first half. Kaká and Wondolowski each scored from the penalty spot four minutes apart in that initial meeting.

Overview

The teams meet tonight to get their post-World Cup portion of the season started. Orlando City has been terrible on the road all season long, keeping only one MLS opponent under two goals all year away from home and allowing five goals twice (at New York City FC and Nashville) and six goals twice (at LAFC and in the team’s most recent match away at FC Cincinnati just before the break).

Orlando City is a putrid 1-6-1 on the road this season, and now the Lions must face the Western Conference co-leaders tonight before coming home to face Supporters’ Shield-leading Nashville SC at home on Saturday. They’ll have to play at least tonight’s game without Martin Ojeda, who is out with a thigh injury sustained some time between his first-half goal a week ago in a friendly against FC Dallas and the time the availability report dropped on Tuesday.

But it isn’t all bad news for the Lions, who should have both Antoine Griezmann and Dike in the lineup. Griezmann was the club’s highly prized and widely publicized summer Designated Player signing, while Dike’s return to Orlando came together more recently, following his departure from West Bromwich Albion. They’ll help the club’s offense, but the attack hasn’t been the issue in 2026 — it’s been the historically porous defense, which is on pace to shatter the MLS record for goals conceded.

Meanwhile, San Jose is one of the first half of the season’s biggest surprises, as the Quakes have been outstanding in 2026. Scoring 34 goals while conceding just 15, San Jose is among the league leaders in goals scored (tied for third), goals conceded (third), and goal differential (+19, third).

The Earthquakes are 4-2-1 at home and are coming off a 3-1 road win at Portland in their last game prior to the World Cup break. San Jose boasts Golden Boot challenger Preston Judd, who leads the Quakes with 11 goals, adding two assists in his 15 appearances. Ousseni Bouda has chipped in five goals and three assists. Niko Tsakiris leads the team with seven assists to go along with his two goals, but he’s still recovering from a lower body injury and is not available tonight. However, the arrival of Timo Werner (four goals and five assists in just seven games) has truly elevated Bruce Arena’s Quakes, and he’ll need to be one of the main focal points for the Orlando defense.

To have any shot at taking something from this game, the Lions will need to play better road defense than they have all season. Orlando can score goals, but with Ojeda out, Griezmann will need to adapt quickly, and someone other than the team’s leading scorer will need to find the net.

The Lions will play without Ojeda (thigh), Joran Gerbet (knee), Nolan Miller (knee), Colin Guske (international duty), and Clovis Archage (international duty). In addition, Marco Pasalic may or may not have returned to the team after the World Cup. He was not in training Monday, although interim head coach Martin Perelman said he expected the Croatian back soon. The Earthquakes will be without Nonso Adimabua (lower body), former Lion Earl Edwards Jr. (lower body), DeJuan Jones (lower body), and Tsakiris (you guessed it, lower body…come on, San Jose).

Match Content

Official Lineups:

Orlando City (4-4-2)

Goalkeeper: Maxime Crepeau.

Defenders: Adrian Marin, David Brekalo, Robin Jansson, Griffin Dorsey.

Midfielders: Ivan Angulo, Braian Ojeda, Eduard Atuesta, Tiago.

Forwards: Justin Ellis, Antoine Griezmann.

Bench: Javier Otero, Bernardo Rhein, Tahir Reid-Brown, Zakaria Taifi, Iago, Wilder Cartagena, Luis Otavio, Harvey Sarajian, Tyrese Spicer

San Jose Earthquakes (4-2-3-1)

Goalkeeper: Angus Gunn.

Defenders: Jamar Ricketts, Reid Roberts, Daniel Munie, Benjamin Kikanovic.

Defensive Midfielders: Beau Lerouox, Ronaldo Vieira.

Attacking Midfielders: Timo Werner, Nick Fernandez, Ousseni Bouda.

Forwards: Preston Judd.

Bench: Jonathan Gonzalez, Dave Romney, Paul Marie, Jack Skahan, Jack Jasinski, Ian Harkes, Francesco Montali, Max Floriani, Darius Johnson.

Referees

REF: Elijio Arreguin.
AR1: Adam Wienckowski.
AR2: Mike Nickerson.
4TH: Timothy Ford.
VAR: Jose Carlos Rivero.
AVAR: TJ Zablocki.

How to Watch

Match Time: 10:30 p.m.

Venue: PayPal Park — San Jose, CA.

TV/Live Stream: Apple TV.

Radio: AM 810 FOX Sports Radio Orlando (English), Mega 97.1 FM (Spanish), Nossa Rádio 1160 AM-WRLZ (Portuguese).

Social Media: For rapid reaction and live updates, follow us on Bluesky Social at @themaneland.bsky.social or follow Orlando City’s official Twitter (@OrlandoCitySC) or Bluesky (@OrlandoCitySC) feed.

Enjoy the match. Go City!

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Podcasts

PawedCast Episode 542: Tampa Bay Friendly, McGuire Traded, OCB Beats Cincinnati, and More

Lions maul the Rowdies in friendly action, OCB wins on the road, and it’s transfer season.

Published

3 weeks ago

on

July 14, 2026

By

Image of Antoine Griezmann and Ivan Angulo celebrating a goal in a friendly against the Tampa Bay Rowdies.
Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

Orlando City welcomed I-4 Derby rival Tampa Bay to Inter&Co Stadium for a friendly match on Wednesday and then proceeded to bludgeon the Rowdies with a couple of hammers named Antoine Griezmann and Justin Ellis. The two attackers combined for a goal and four assists in a 6-0 beatdown of the team from the Gulf Coast, with five different Lions scoring and Griffin Dorsey forcing an own goal. We discuss Griezmann’s first minutes with Orlando City, what the team showed in its formation, and how good Justin Ellis’ vision is.

Oh, and it’s also transfer season now. Duncan McGuire is on his way out and Marco Pasalic reportedly will follow soon, while a new left back may be headed from Spain to Orlando.

Following all of that, we discuss Maxime Crepeau being added to the MLS All-Star Team and the announcement that he’ll participate in the 2026 MLS All-Star Skills Challenge.

Our mailbagbox asked us about which World Cup semifinalist players we’d want to join Orlando this season (if we could only pick one), and more. Remember, if there’s anything — and we do mean anything — you want us to address on the show, just ask us by tweeting it to us at @TheManeLand with the hashtag #AskTMLPC, or hitting us up on Bluesky Social with that same hashtag.

After the mailbagbox, we dive into OCB’s 2-1 road win at FC Cincinnati 2. It wasn’t the prettiest game by the Young Lions, but they managed to do enough to earn three points on the road, where they’ll stay to face Chattanooga on Saturday. We briefly preview that game.

Finally, Orlando City will be in Dallas Wednesday for the second of two friendlies leading up to the restart of the MLS season. It’s unlikely we’ll get a lot of details about that one, but we’ll see what happens. Maybe the FC Dallas folks will help us out.

Be sure to rate and review our show wherever you get your podcasts. Remember, we’ll read any five-star reviews we get on Apple Podcasts on the next show.

If you’d like to support our independent writing and podcasting efforts, we’d love to have you as a subscriber or donor over at our Buy Me a Coffee site.

Here’s how No. 542 went down:

0:15 – Orlando City crushed the Rowdies, the transfer season is in full swing, plus: hey now, Crepeau’s an all-star.

28:50 – The mailbagbox is always good for a hypothetical scenario.

36:54 – The Young Lions slipped past Cincy and head to Chattanooga, while the senior Lions head to Dallas.

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Podcasts

SkoPurp Soccer Episode 119: International Break, USWNT, Louisville Preview, and More

The Pride return from a long international break looking to get their first-ever road win against Racing Louisville.

Published

3 months ago

on

April 22, 2026

By

Image of Haley McCutcheon scoring the opening goal in Orlando's home playoff win over Seattle.
Image courtesy of Orlando Pride / Jeremy Reper

It feels like months since the Orlando Pride last took the field, but the calendar says otherwise. If you believe calendars, it’s only been a little less than three weeks, but time moves strangely in the post-pandemic apocalyptic world.

Anyway, we don’t have a match to recap, so we touched on a couple of Pride players putting the ball in the net during the international break and chat a bit about the United States Women’s National Team’s three-game friendly series against Japan. Emma Hayes used a lot of players, and the team looked solid for two of the three matches, but the rotated middle game seemed a bit disjointed. Hayes has greatly expanded the player pool and will have plenty of options when the World Cup approaches.

Our mailbagbox had questions about a potential change in the NWSL schedule, as the league explores adopting the fall-to-spring slate, and opposition own goals. Remember, you can ask us anything by hitting us up on Twitter at either @TheManeLand or @SkoPurpSoccer and using the hashtag #AskSkoPurp. You can use that same hashtag and hit @TheManeLand.bsky.social up on Bluesky. Or you can visit our show page, scroll down, and fill out the handy form. We’d also appreciate any ratings or reviews you can leave wherever you get your podcasts, and if you do that on Apple Podcasts, we’ll find them easily and read them on the show.

After the mailbagbox, we turned our attention toward Friday’s late afternoon tussle with Racing Louisville in Kentucky. The Pride have never won on the road against Louisville, and it’s about high time they did. This match begins a congested push to the June World Cup break, and although Friday’s hosts aren’t high in the table, the Pride must be at their best to get a road result in this fixture. We look back at the series history, compare the two sides, provide our key matchups in the game, and make our final score predictions.

If you’d like to support our independent writing and podcasting efforts, we’d love to have you as a subscriber or donor over at our Buy Me a Coffee site.

Here’s how Episode 119 went down:

0:15 – We open the show with a little banter about the Pride in the international break and the USWNT’s series vs. Japan.

9:03 – The mailbagbox features questions via both eletronic mail and social media. We welcome all modes of delivery.

19:59 – The Pride travel to Louisville to face Racing. They’ve never won in Kentucky, but we inform them how to do so.

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