The prospect of the European champions hosting the Olympic champions induces sufficient intrigue on its own. But add in the triumphant return to Wembley of Emma Hayes, and an England side with plenty to improve on after losing to Germany last time they played at the national stadium, and this is much more than a friendly between the top-ranked sides in the world.
For an England team hoping to retain their title at next summer’s Euros in Switzerland, there is no greater yardstick than to test themselves against the USA, who are ranked No 1 and have appeared fully rejuvenated since Hayes left Chelsea to take charge in May.
“As long as I’ve been an England player, it’s been one of the most exciting games to play in,” the right-back Lucy Bronze said. “There seems to be a rivalry that’s blossomed out of nowhere over the last kind of decades. And we know, no matter what players are on the pitch or who the manager is, it’s a competitive, high-level game.
“It’s a good level because the US just won an Olympic gold medal. It takes a lot to win a tournament – we know that. To win the Olympics you have to be intense, you have to be ruthless, you have to have a crazy mentality, and I think that sums up the USA perfectly, so I think if we can go toe-to-toe with a team like that, see the mentality that it takes, learn from any mistakes that we make in the game, push ourselves and show what we’re capable of as well, show what we can do against a top team like that, it’s going to put us in very good stead for the next eight months.”
The visitors, historically the women’s game’s most successful international side, are unbeaten in their 13 matches under Hayes, winning 12 and drawing 0-0 against Costa Rica in July in a 40-degree heatwave in Washington DC. In the Olympics they saw off Germany twice, as well as Australia, Japan and an improving Brazil side in the final, and Hayes has been all smiles in the buildup.
The England head coach, Sarina Wiegman, spoke about her friendship with Hayes on Friday but the Dutchwoman said: “It’s the same now when we play the USA or the Netherlands: you really want to beat your friends, even more maybe than when it’s not your friends. They’re the No 1 of the world. Emma Hayes, we used to collaborate and now we’re opponents, whilst in the football world we’re actually one family but we’re absolutely competing tomorrow.”
It will not be a full-strength USA side. Owing to small injuries, Hayes did not call-up their formidable front three of Trinity Rodman, Sophia Smith and Mallory Swanson, who nicknamed themselves “Triple Espresso” this year. Caffeinated or not, the USA will have a potent attacking threat whoever lines up, with the NJ/NY Gotham FC forward Lynn Williams among those ready to shine.
England’s forward line will be understrength too. The Manchester City winger Lauren Hemp is absent after knee surgery, while Chelsea’s Lauren James and Manchester United’s Ella Toone are also injured, potentially presenting opportunities to the Manchester City duo Chloe Kelly and Jess Park or the 21-year-old Manchester United player Grace Clinton.
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England will also be without the Manchester United captain Maya Le Tissier, Wiegman saying the defender was going through the concussion protocols and was back on the pitch only for non-contact training. Of the eight players from the two countries nominated this week for the Fifa Best women’s player of 2024 award, a maximum of four will be available, including Bronze.
The former Barcelona defender, asked about the respect England have for the USA, said: “You get that level [of respect] when any two teams or people have got to the highest level and understand what it takes to get there. As an English team we’ve always understood that the US have had to do so much to get to where they are. They’re such a great team both on and off the pitch, that’s something we really admire of them and something they’ve inspired us to do as an England team, after winning the Euros.
“Watching what they did, trying to change women’s soccer in America, we had that opportunity in England as well, and we kind of both now bounce off each other in that respect off the pitch. We’re friends, we’re rivals, we’re a community, but at the same time we still want to beat each other. With England and America it’s always that high level of ‘rivals’ but ‘respect’.”