US ‘Not Good Enough’ in 2-1 loss to Portugal at Subaru Park

US Women’s National Team coach Emma Hayes didn’t mince words after her team dropped a 2-1 game to visiting Portugal in front of 17,297 fans at Subaru Park Thursday night.

“I thought the team was poor tonight, and I said that to the players afterwards,” Hayes said when addressing the media after the game. “I was frustrated because it felt like a game of Whac-A-Mole.”

Playing its first of a two-game set of friendlies against Portugal with a mix of youth and experience, the US opened with a dream start when Rose Lavelle found the back of the net 33 seconds into the game, her 26 th national team goal and the seventh-fastest by a USWNT player.

While teams settled into the game, Lavelle had a another great chance to double the lead in the 9th minute, but Portugal keeper Inês Perieira got enough of her low shot before it trickled off the post.

“It felt like a good, fun start,” Lavelle said after the game. “It’s always good to get an early goal. It helps set the tone, but I don’t think we were able to keep up with it after that.”

After the US’s fast start, Portugal managed to assert themselves more into the game, putting the US squad on their heels on a dangerous free kick in the 24 th minute that foreshadowed what was to come. Portugal midfielder Kika Nazareth battled with Lindsey Heaps all evening, and though the US captain made the 22-year-old Barcelona midfielder earn her time on the ball, it was Nazareth who set up Tatiana Pinto on a give-and-go in the 40 th minute with a lovely scoop over the US backline. Though US keeper Phallon Tullis-Joyce made an aggressive sprawling save, the resulting corner ended up in the back of the US net when Diana Gomes won a free header at the back post to tie the game.

The US battled in the early parts of the second half, earning a wave of momentum with an attacking onslaught by Alyssa Thompson on one side, Michelle Cooper on the other, and Catarina Macario causing fits in the center. But every entry pass felt disjointed and the final decision-making lacked an outcome, something Hayes referenced can be due to the 113-day layoff between games.

“It felt to me like we hadn’t played together for a long time,” Hayes said. “I didn’t recognize us. We rushed everything. We went direct. We didn’t look like a team.”

Some of the rust can be due to the time apart. With a combination of European-based players in the early part of their season and NWSL players nearing their end, the squad had several different layers to solve, and the biggest may have been their improved opponent. Portugal, currently ranked 24 th in the latest FIFA rankings (US-2 nd ), had never scored against the US before Thursday. So it became even more surprising when Portugal found the second in the 72nd minute after Fâtima Pinto was handed a gift off another corner and blasted a low shot through traffic that deflected into the corner. Pinto’s shot had a fortunate bounce, but there was no denying the US players were late to the initial challenge and slow to react.

“I keep teaching our team,” Hayes said, “don’t underestimate European opponents. They play Champions League. They play Nations League. They know how to kill a game. They know how to waste time. They know how to make it difficult in so many different ways.”

Hayes, in her second year with the USWNT following a long and successful tenure with Chelsea, knows the European game as well as anyone, which is why she scheduled so many games this year in a crucial build-up period between the 2024 Olympics and the 2027 World Cup. As she’s often reminded her players about the bigger picture, and that includes experimenting with player combinations, especially the younger players earning more time together.

Thompson, the 20-year-old Chelsea striker, played 90 minutes while Cooper, former Herman Trophy winner now with Kansas City, subbed out in the latter stages. Both gained valuable experience playing alongside Heaps, Lavelle, and Macario, all USWNT regulars who will play major roles over the next several years. One bright spot was the addition of Lyon’s 18-year-old Lily Yohannes in the game’s final 20 minutes, who may be the most-ready of all the US youngsters. Jaedyn Shaw, who broke an NWSL transfer record this year when she joined Gotham FC from North Carolina, also entered in the game’s final minutes. The 20-year-old will likely figure into Hayes’s long-term plans as she seeks to rebuild a squad capable of maintaining its high standards.

Though Hayes expressed disappointment with her team’s performance, it’s not her overall goal.

“Our job is not to be completely polished in things like our set pieces at this stage, it’s to create the momentum built from the first half of the season.” The US has beaten Australia, Brazil, and Canada in 2025 while also losing to Japan and Brazil. “Just because we had a good first half of the year, it’s not a given.”

The US will now travel to Hartford for training before a second game against Portugal on Sunday before the team concludes its friendly schedule against Australia in Kansas City October 29th.

“The lucky part about this,” Lavelle said, “is we have another opportunity to go out and be better, and play more as a team, get on the same page. We’re excited for the opportunity to grow these next three days.”