The USWNT opened up their title defense with a historic win against Thailand. But an unexpected bump in the starting line-up begs us to ask questions.
The U.S. Women’s National Team opened up their World Cup defense with a record-breaking 13-0 victory over group opponents Thailand. Everyone expected an easy victory for the champions, but nothing quite like what we saw on Tuesday.
Fans have been waiting for this match ever since the final whistle blew in Vancouver, Canada four years ago when the U.S. were crowned champions for the third time. So anticipation was through the roof to see the USWNT run out once again in France.
But everyone was taken for a little surprise when the starting line-ups were released ahead of game time. Finding herself in the center-back position was Julie Ertz, usually a midfielder in Jill Ellis’ 4-3-3 setup. Ertz was placed beside Abby Dahlkemper in replacement of veteran Becky Sauerbrunn who was left out of the line-up due to a precautionary quad injury.
Understandably so, the last thing Ellis wants is for her veteran center-back to pick up a more serious injury in a game the United States was expected to dominate from the start.
But nobody expected the amount of domination that would take place. Specifically from North Carolina Courage midfielder Sam Mewis. Mewis, usually not in the starting XI was tossed into the midfield to replace Ertz while Sauerbrunn was away.
In the Send-Off Series, Mewis showed fans how good she is, scoring three goals in two games, but with the amount of talent in the midfield, Ellis had seemingly seen it fit to have Mewis coming off the bench. However, with Sauerbrunn out injured, the door for Mewis to do it again on the world’s biggest stage opened. And she wasted no time in bursting through.
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Mewis earned herself two goals and two assists to help the champions make their mark on the tournament. But her performance only makes Ellis’ job all the more difficult. With Sauerbrunn presumably coming back soon, it puts the coaching staff in an awkward spot: Do you bench Mewis or Ertz or keep Sauerbrunn out of the lineup?
The difficult part of the decision is that each player brings their own unique qualities. Ertz might be considered one of the most important players on the team, winning the ball back with terrific frequency and force, a consistent and powerful presence in the midfield. Meanwhile, Sauerbrunn provides veteran leadership in the center-back pairing of her and Dahlkemper. And then you have Mewis. She is in incredible form, obviously, and can contribute at either end of the pitch, winning duels in the midfield or breaking forward and scoring goals.
Ellis’ job was hard enough. From the vast talent she has available to her, picking just 11 players to start is not easy. But now with Mewis’ performance after a Sauerbrunn injury, it just got even harder.