The U.S. defeated South Africa 3-0 in the first game of their three-match send-off series on Sunday, but it was hardly a vintage performance for Jill Ellis’ side.
South Africa offered almost nothing in the way of goal threats, but the U.S. failed to capitalize on numerous chances and several of the team’s top attackers were uncharacteristically wasteful. Two late goals did add some gloss to the scoreline, but it could have been much more.
Ellis isn’t going to fret too much about Sunday’s game, but she will want to see improvement with just two games remaining before the World Cup kicks off next month.