USA women fight back to beat the Netherlands in Naeher’s final outing

Lynn Williams scored the go-ahead goal in the 71st minute and Alyssa Naeher made six saves in her final match as the U.S. women’s national team defeated the Netherlands 2-1 in The Hague on Tuesday.

Williams, coming on at the start of the second half, made a well-timed run to hit Yazmeen Ryan’s cross into the center of the penalty area to break the 1–1 draw.

Her 21st international goal came two minutes after Naeher made a brilliant save from Danielle van de Donk with her right leg.

Despite being outscored 23-5, the USA finished 2024 with an 18-1-4 record and a 20-match undefeated streak.

Emma Hayes has coached the last 15 (13-0-2) since her debut in June, including winning the gold medal match at the Paris Olympics.

The US had no business drawing 1-1 at half-time after being thoroughly outplayed, with the Netherlands having the advantages in possession (62%), shots (14-1) and shots on target (3-1).

It was the most shots the U.S. has faced in a half since France had 14 in the second half of the 2019 World Cup quarterfinal.

But in a strange first half, 18-year-old Dutch centre-back Veerle Buurman scored her first international goal in the 15th minute, before scoring an own goal for the American equalizer in the 44th minute.

The Netherlands, number 11 in the world, had three early chances before Buurman got her head after a corner from Jill Roord.

With the equalizer, Tierna Davidson sent a long free kick into the center of the penalty area and the ball went off the back of Buurman’s head.

It was the last international match for Naeher, who wore the captain’s armband during her 115th appearance. She made her debut on December 18, 2014 against Argentina.

She is a two-time World Cup winner (2015 and 2019) and 2024 Olympic gold medalist. She defeated the Netherlands in the final of the 2019 Women’s World Cup.