With New Zealand in front for most of the second half and growing more confident the longer they held the lead, Alex Morgan popped up with an 89th-minute equaliser and a winner in the fourth minute of injury time to break Kiwi hearts.
Both goals had an air of contention about them. New Zealand players were adamant Morgan’s first strike did not fully cross the line after hitting the post while her second came after the allotted three minutes of stoppage time had passed.
But New Zealand coach Tony Readings preferred to focus on the positives of his side’s performance in a game designed to provide him with a yardstick against the current Olympic champions.
“I’ll have to review the footage before I can know for sure about the equaliser,” Readings said. “But the players’ reaction on the pitch suggests it was a brave call to make at the very least.
“We said before that this game was about getting a benchmark in the build up to the Olympics. Finding out where we could hurt the best teams and what things we need to work on and I don’t think we could’ve asked for a game that gave us more.
“Being one-nil up after 88 minutes shows we can compete against these teams but we found it hard to hold on in that last ten minutes and that’s a very valuable lesson.
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We’ve taken a huge step today. It was a good performance in front a sell out crowd but the key now is to keep putting in that level of performance, no matter who we play. The more we can do that between now and the Olympics the better space we’ll be in for London.”
Hannah Wilkinson had fired New Zealand into an unlikely 49th-minute lead against the triple Olympic gold medallists and two-time World Cup winners when she pounced on a Kelly O’Hara backpass and lofted substitute goalkeeper Nicole Barnhart.
It was meant to be a baptism of fire for Readings in his first match as head coach and the smart money would have been on the USA to continue the form that saw them breeze through Olympic qualification with a combined goals tally of 38-0 in their five-game campaign.
Indeed, New Zealand were under immense pressure for much of the first half with the pace of Morgan the Ferns main cause for concern.
Ali Riley, who shone out in a solid team defensive effort, was forced to bring Morgan down for a penalty after just nine minutes but Abby Wambach’s spot kick hit the post.
In the counter attack that followed, Wilkinson reciprocated the let-off by firing over when one-on-one with American goalkeeper Hope Solo.
But Wilkinson’s well-taken goal in the second half, and positive substitutions from Readings, spurred the Ferns to their best passage of the game as they forced the home side into nervous mistakes.
But just as it looked like New Zealand could close the match out and become the first team to beat the US on their turf since 2004, Morgan’s double prompted a collective sigh of relief from the crowd of 20,667.
The Football Ferns’ next matches are at the Cyprus Cup beginning February 28. They meet Northern Ireland, South Africa and South Korea at the 12-nation tournament before the last stage of Olympic qualifying sees them face an as-yet-undetermined Oceania nation home and away in March and April for the final berth in London.
International friendly
USA 2 (Alex MORGAN 89’, 90+4)
New Zealand 1 (Hannah WILKINSON 49’)
Halftime: 0-0
FC Dallas Stadium, Frisco, USA
New Zealand: 1-Jenny BINDON (GK), 2-Ria PERCIVAL, 4-Katie HOYLE, 5-Abby ERCEG, 6-Rebecca SMITH (c), 7-Ali RILEY, 8-Hayley MOORWOOD (12-Betsy HASSETT 60’), 9-Amber HEARN, 10-Sarah GREGORIUS, 11-Kirsty YALLOP, 17-Hannah WILKINSON (13-Rosie WHITE 74’).
Substitutes not used: 3-Anna GREEN, 14-Holly PATTERSON, 16-Annalie LONGO, 19-Kristy HILL, 21-Erin NAYLER (RGK).
Coach: Tony READINGS
USA: 1-Hope SOLO (GK / 18-Nicole BARNHART 46’), 3-Christie RAMPONE (c), 5-Kelley O’HARA (11-Sydney LEROUX 80’), 6-Amy LEPEILBET, 7-Shannon BOXX, 9-Heather O’REILLY (8-Amy RODRIGUEZ 46’), 10-Carli LLOYD (15-Megan RAPINOE 62’), 12-Lauren CHENEY (16-Lori LINDSEY 80’), 13-Alex MORGAN, 19-Rachel BUEHLER, 20-Abby WAMBACH.
Substitutes not used: 4-Becky SAUERBRUNN, 17-Tobin HEATH.
Coach: Pia SUNDHAGE
Cautions: Shannon BOXX 78’
Story courtesy of New Zealand Football.
For more on New Zealand football go to www.nzfootball.co.nz