The United States women's national team's 2023 World Cup introduction was something of a soft launch. They were welcomed to New Zealand by an overmatched, but game, Vietnam team. What resulted was a dominant USWNT win, a 3-0 victory that could, and should, have been a lot heavier.
Their next outing, though, will look different. Their second game isn't against a minnow Vietnam, but rather the team they beat in the World Cup final four years ago in France. Game two comes against the Netherlands, and the U.S. will have to show what this team is and can be at this tournament.
There's no room for error against the Netherlands, a team that will certainly know what they're in for here. This is a new Netherlands team, but also a very new USWNT squad. We got a glimpse of that U.S. team against Vietnam, although the group's true best XI is still a bit of a mystery due to Vlatko Andonovski's rotations.
So how does he line up the USWNT in this one? Were his opening game surprises a sign of things to come or a pre-planned rotation? GOAL takes a look at how the USWNT should line up on Wednesday against the Netherlands...