Noelia Bermudez made 12 saves for Costa Rica in a historic 0-0 tie with the U.S. women’s national team on Tuesday night in Washington.
It was not the send-off the U.S. wanted in its final match before the Paris Olympics even though it was in complete control of the contest. The Americans had 26 of the 28 shots in the match, recorded all 12 shots on target, had a 16-0 advantage in corner kicks and maintained 79.7 percent of the possession.
The U.S. had won the previous 17 meetings between the teams by a combined 90-2 score.
The match gave new coach Emma Hayes one more look at the 18-player roster, plus four alternates, although the competition in the team’s two most recent matches made it hard to make true evaluations.
Similar to Saturday, when the U.S. defeated Mexico 1-0 on a Sophia Smith goal, it was a one-sided match on Tuesday, with the Americans still having trouble finishing. Neither Mexico nor Costa Rica qualified for the Paris Olympics.
That didn’t matter to the crowd of nearly 20,000 that braved temperatures in the upper 90s.
The best opportunity for the United States came in the 37th minute when Lindsey Horan got on the end of a cross by Sam Coffey by stretching to get her right foot on the ball, which hit the base of the right post.
Horan had four shots and three chances created in the first half.
Trinity Rodman tried to break the deadlock with a rising strike in the 79th minute and a header from the middle of the box in the 81st, but Bermudez did not waver, and on the last play of the match, Rodman sent a shot from distance over the bar.
Hayes had won her previous three matches since joining the USWNT in May after departing English club Chelsea.
The U.S. opens Olympic group play against Zambia on July 25, followed by matches against Germany (July 28) and Australia (July 31).
–Field Level Media
