Netherlands' tight win sets up showdown with USWNT

AUCKLAND, New Zealand — As much as every player on the United States women's national team knows they could've — and should've — scored more than three goals in Friday's World Cup-opening shutout against heavily overmatched Vietnam, there's no time to look back now.

Now, the USWNT's sole focus is on its next match. That one comes on Wednesday (9 p.m. ET, FOX and the FOX Sports app) against the same Netherlands squad the Americans defeated to win their second straight title four years ago in France.

The U.S. got a good look at the Dutch on Sunday. In its first of the 2023 tournament, the Oranje took an early lead against Portugal and made it stand up for the next 77 minutes, securing a 1-0 win on Stefanie van der Gragt's header.

A draw was the desired result for the USWNT, of course. But while the Netherlands secured all three points and didn't allow a shot on goal until Telma Encarnação's effort late in the second half, it wasn't an overly convincing performance.

That won't matter in the Group E showdown Wednesday. As U.S. co-captain Lindsey Horan said before the Americans' somewhat underwhelming opener, "I think everyone always gives us their best game."

Compared to Vietnam, the Netherlands will be a colossal step up in quality. And if the USWNT is to achieve its initial goal of topping the group and securing the more favorable round of 16 matchup that comes with it, winning this match is imperative. Anything less, and a decisive victory by the Dutch in their first-round finale could relegate the Americans to second place and put a significant dent in their dreams of three-peating.

"We've got to step forward and step up a little bit," Horan said following Friday's victory.  "Netherlands is going to be a really, really difficult team."

Tricky as it is, it's also one that the title favorites relish. 

The USWNT had never faced Vietnam before Friday's contest, but they fully anticipated the slog that transpired against a side content to defend from start to finish. 

Not only did the Vietnamese not take a single shot all game, they didn't really try. Damage control was the objective. And for the most part, if worked. Add in the understandable jitters more than half of coach Vlatko Andonovski's starting lineup surely experienced in making their World Cup debuts, and the U.S. was happy just to get the first game out of the way.

Now the U.S. gets to test itself against a worthy foe that will attempt to actually compete with them.

"We know them very well," Alex Morgan, the other co-captain, said of the Dutch. "They have a couple players that they'll be missing due to injury, but they're a quality opponent."

Even without star forward Vivianne Miedema, who tore her ACL in December, the Netherlands can hurt the U.S. in several ways. "They're dominant in the air. They're very physical," Morgan said.

Still, Andonovski's team is eager to answer the all doubters who were out in full force after their last outing. Having an extra day of rest should help.

"I think that we're going to come out really hungry next game," Morgan added.

The sentiment seems to be unanimous.

"Super excited for that game," veteran forward Megan Rapinoe said.

"It's going to be a whole new game a whole new challenge," added forward Sophia Smith, who scored twice and set up Horan for the other in her first World Cup appearance. "We know it's going to be tough, but those are the games that we love to play."

Still, the U.S. will have to be better. The Americans probably won't enjoy the luxury of squandering prime scoring chances like they did against the Vietnamese. 

Afterward, Andonovski lamented both the misses and some of the passes that led to them, suggesting both could be sharper.

"If there's one thing that we need to do better, besides finishing the opportunities, it's just how can we help the players that are there in a position to finish those opportunities and give them a little better service," he said.

Having Rose Lavelle on the field from the start could go a long way toward solving that problem. The playmaker, who came off the bench Friday for her first minutes since tweaking a knee in April, insisted she's ready to step back into her central midfield spot alongside Horan if called upon by the coach.

"I told him I'm ready and prepared for whatever he needs from me," said Lavelle, who scored the goal that sealed the Americans' 2-0 World Cup-winning triumph over the Netherlands in the 2019 final.

That match is ancient history, of course. The 2023 curtain-raiser might as well be, too. There's no time for looking back. The next game is all that counts.

For the USWNT, it can't come soon enough.

Doug McIntyre is a soccer writer for FOX Sports. Before joining FOX Sports in 2021, he was a staff writer with ESPN and Yahoo Sports and he has covered United States men’s and women’s national teams at multiple FIFA World Cups. Follow him on Twitter @ByDougMcIntyre.