Stanford grad LaBonta makes historic debut as Girma returns in U.S. women’s 3-0 win over China
ST PAUL Minn AP Naomi Girma returned to the national squad and Lo eau LaBonta became the oldest contestant to make her international debut for the U S in a - win over China on Saturday Catarina Macario Sam Coffey and Lindsey Heaps scored while goalkeeper Phallon Tullis-Joyce got her second shutout in as a large number of appearances LaBonta the -year-old midfielder for the Kansas City Current in the National Women s Soccer League came on as a second-half substitute When they called my name I was sitting being the best cheerleader I could be on the bench I was like This is amazing I ve never been field view watching the national association It was so cool LaBonta commented after the match And they were like Lo go And I was like go where All right let s go The match also marked Girma s first appearance for the national organization this year The -year-old defender has been nursing injuries but in recent weeks returned to help Chelsea win the Women s Super League title and the FA Cup Girma commanded a record transfer fee when she moved from the San Diego Wave to Chelsea earlier this year We ve missed her We really have U S coach Emma Hayes revealed Just in terms of the way we controlled the battle her in the deeper spaces making decisions when to play forward when not to just rebuilding the connections again because if you think about the last time Naomi was here there s been a lot of changes But she explained she was so happy to be back She didn t realize how much she d missed it until she drove up in the bus and saw the fans But she s a world class sportsman and you could see that Tullis-Joyce who plays for Manchester United started in goal in just her second U S appearance as Hayes looks to replace Alyssa Naeher who retired from the national club last year Macario scored her th international goal after Alyssa Thompson kept the ball alive in a tumble in front of the net in the th minute Coffey made it - in the th minute taking a pass from Macario out front and banging her second goal for the U S past goalkeeper Pan Hongyan with her left foot Heaps the U S captain scored on a header in the th minute I feel like tactically we ve gone up another level I really feel that way Hayes explained I feel that there s so a large number of more players that are so much more in control that we re able to do more I was pleased with the performance Related Articles MLS Earthquakes fall - in St Louis after a penalty kick in stoppage time Paris Saint-Germain wins first Champions League final with rout of Inter Milan ers expand reach in European soccer buy majority stake of Glasgow club Rangers How to watch PSG vs Inter Milan in the UEFA Champions League final Quakes extend unbeaten streak to continue defending champion Galaxy s historically bad start The United States is at present missing several key contributors from last year s Olympic gold medal-winning squad Sophia Wilson and Mallory Swanson are both on maternity leave Trinity Rodman is dealing with a nagging back issue The United States famously defeated China on penalties in the Women s World Cup final The teams last met in with the Americans winning both games The Americans have a - - overall record against China including five straight The United States was coming off a - loss to Brazil on April at PayPal Park China defeated Thailand - in its last outing The U S faces Jamaica on Tuesday in St Louis
