Meg Oliphant/Getty Images The United States women's national team will kick off their Send-Off Series ahead of the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup when they host South Africa at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, California, on Sunday. The friendly with Banyana Banyana is the first of three warm-up games before the USA kick off their World Cup campaign against Thailand in France on June 11. For South Africa, this will be the first of two friendlies, with another match against Norway scheduled for June 2. Date: Sunday, May 12 Time: 4:30 p.m. ET, 1:30 p.m. PT TV: Fox Live Stream: Fox Videos you might like Jill Ellis' side will be the defending champions in France, having regained their title from Japan at the 2015 World Cup. They are well aware that they will be the team to beat: As Christen Press told soccer reporter Robert Jonas, they will accept nothing less than their fourth World Cup: After scoring 11 combined goals in their friendlies with Australia and Belgium in April, the USWNT will look to continue tuning up after their disappointment in the SheBelieves Cup. The U.S. were unbeaten in the four-team tournament also comprising England, Japan and Brazil but finished as runners-up behind the Lionesses after being held to two draws. Meanwhile, South Africa will be pursuing their first win of 2019, having lost four and drawn three of their seven matches this year. They shared a look at their preparations for Sunday's clash: Their only other meeting with the U.S.—in the run-up to the 2016 Olympics—ended 1-0 to the Americans, who had 18 shots. Ellis will hope her side can be as clinical against South Africa as they were in their most recent outings this time around. If they fail to convince on Sunday, she will have a clearer idea of any areas in need of work ahead of June's showpiece.<doc-sep>It probably wasn't the rout that everyone was expecting, but a 3-0 win over South Africa on Sunday puts the U.S. Women's National Team one game closer to defending their World Cup title in France. Goals from Samantha Mewis and Carli Lloyd ensured a passable win against the World Cup-bound South Africans in Santa Clara, California, but the win didn't come easy as the guests bunkered and frustrated the Americans. The U.S. finally broke the stalemate in the 37th minute on a smart bit of combination play from Rose Lavelle. Mewis collected the ball, took a touch and fired from outside of the box: USA LEADS! 🎯🇺🇸 Sam Mewis gives the USWNT a 1-0 lead vs South Africa with her 10th international goal. pic.twitter.com/kbge9W0NZK — FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) May 12, 2019 The U.S. couldn't score again until the 78th minute, when Mewis pounced on a deflection off a Megan Rapinoe shot: TWO FOR MEWIS! ✌️ The USWNT catches South Africa on a quick free kick and Mewis is at the right place to knock in her 2nd of the game. 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/KUKzOjVyzD — FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) May 12, 2019 The USWNT scored once more in stoppage time in a bit of a scramble in the box. Carli Lloyd did well to pivot and turn a shot, showing why she can be such a potent substitute off the bench. The match seemed to be designed as a confidence booster – after all, the U.S. is ranked No. 1 in the world and South Africa is ranked 49. But the U.S. did not score the sort of goals or look as dangerous as they should have. Here are three takeaways from the lackluster match: The tinkering isn't over yet – unless it's not tinkering and just a lack of depth Sunday's match was one of just three for USWNT before the World Cup begins, and the time to build cohesion is rapidly approaching. Therefore, it seems that experiments and testing various game states should be over in favor of getting players repetitions together. Story continues But notably, Julie Ertz – the team's only true defensive midfielder – was dropped into a center back role at halftime. Ertz has been a regular starter for the USWNT in the central midfield, and for a while it has seemed that any tactical adjustments requiring her move to the backline were just tests in case the U.S. ran out of center backs in a worst-case scenario at the World Cup. But now, at this point, it's worth considering that Ellis fully expects Ertz to play both positions on a regular basis in France. During the broadcast, FOX reported that Ellis wanted Ertz to get minutes as a center back because she may be needed there during the World Cup as a backup. Using a starting midfielder as a second-string center back doesn't seem like the most ideal way to build depth, but it's what Ellis has decided will work best. Similarly, Crystal Dunn was moved around a bunch on Sunday as well. She went from starting at left back, to being moved to right back, to going into the attack as a midfielder. Again, Dunn has been asked to do this before, but maybe we can rule out that it's tinkering – maybe it's just what Ellis plans to do in France. USA midfielder Samantha Mewis (3) scores a goal past South Africa defender Noko Matlou (4) during the first half of Saturday's friendly. (USA Today) USWNT got a test against a bunker, but only barely passed It was a bit of a surprise to see the U.S. take so long to score against a low-ranked team such as South Africa, but the World Cup-bound African side was happy to put just about every player behind the ball and defend. It didn't make for the most thrilling soccer as the U.S. team struggled for stretches, but it did provide a useful test. The Americans will likely face a bunker or two during the World Cup, particularly as Thailand and Chile in the group stage may focus primarily on avoiding a blowout to keep their goal differential viable to advance. It was only three years ago the Americans went up against a bunker from Sweden at the Rio Olympics and struggled to break it down, which was ultimately their downfall. After a quarterfinal exit by Sweden, the USWNT suffered its worst finish in a major tournament ever, and Ellis has focused heavily on not allowing that to happen again. The concern may be that the U.S. wasn't proactive enough in finding or creating space to work with, hence the struggles to find goals. The USWNT just looked a bit too static and lacked urgency at times to break South Africa's lines. But it's better to spot those issues now than in France. USWNT's varied attacking threats look promising, assuming they will click Sunday wasn't the finest display of the USWNT's attacking prowess. But there were glimmers of how dangerous the USWNT can be in France. Take, for instance, the return of Kelley O'Hara. She was a constant threat from the right back position and managed to break South Africa's lines over and over again. If she is fully healthy and capable of playing 90 minutes in France, she will be a nice fullback complement to Dunn on the other side so they can switch off in bombing forward. Lavelle was the USWNT's best attacking player, mainly because of her vision and her ability to feed the ball into space and combine where many of her teammates looked stuck. She was only slated to get 60 minutes as she's also returning from a spate of injuries, but she could be the key to unlocking defenses in France. If players like O'Hara, Dunn and Lavelle are doing their parts, then players like Alex Morgan, Tobin Heath and Megan Rapinoe should get the service they need to score plenty of goals. Caitlin Murray is a contributor to Yahoo Sports and her book about the U.S. women’s national team, “The National Team: The Inside Story of the Women Who Changed Soccer,” is out now.<doc-sep>Starting XI: Christen Press, Alex Morgan, Tobin Heath, Sam Mewis, Julie Ertz, Rose Lavelle, Crystal Dunn, Becky Sauerbrunn, Abby Dahlkemper, Kelley O’Hara, Alyssa Naeher It was a slow-ish start for the United States as they took on South Africa in the first friendly since the World Cup roster was announced. There were some changes to the expected starting XI; Lindsey Horan sat on the bench with an injury, although the broadcast noted that she did practice with the team the day before the game and was available as a sub. But Christen Press and Sam Mewis were in the lineup instead of usual starters Horan and Megan Rapinoe, to varying levels of effectiveness. The US tried to jump start the game with an immediate high-pressure attack, but subsided after a few minutes and looked to beat pressure with off-the-ball runs and short passing to break lines. Rose Lavelle was particularly adept at slipping balls through, often picking up pressure in the midfield and then finding the seam for the runner, usually Kelley O’Hara, who over- and under-lapped freely all half long. Unfortunately, Press, Morgan, and Heath weren’t quite on the same page, which, combined with South Africa staying disciplined on the back line to drop with them on the US attack, really stifled a lot of chances in the box. Press and Heath also had some trouble connecting, with crosses coming ahead of or behind Heath but not to her feet in front of goal. South Africa also man-marked tightly on Alex Morgan, not giving her much of a peek to run in behind, and staying glued to her if she dropped into space. The opening goal came in the 37’ as Lavelle once again received the ball in midfield and drew three players’ attention. Sam Mewis dropped a little bit between the lines and received Lavelle’s line-beating pass, took a move to shift the ball to her right foot, and shot low and hard to score and make it 1-0 for the US. Lavelle and Mewis were the real movers and shakers for the US, with O’Hara as their pass outlet as she pushed high. Press was also a flank threat, but either she would choose unselfishly not to shoot, or her pass would be awry. Heath was less of a factor, either not moving into space well or making bad passes, including a head-scratcher late in the half that literally ricocheted at close range off of Julie Ertz’s leg. Overall, it was a bit of a sluggish first half, with pulses of energy from Lavelle, Mewis, and Ertz, although Ertz spent a large chunk of the half simply trying not to bleed on her jersey due to a mysterious mouth injury she picked up early on. Julie Ertz is currently playing with a giant wad of gauze in her mouth to keep from bleeding all over her uniform due to a mouth injury so...there's that #USAvRSA pic.twitter.com/sEyLbIlX0r — Stars and Stripes FC (@StarsStripesFC) May 12, 2019 The second half started with a trio of subs for the United States. Megan Rapinoe, Allie Long, and Tierna Davidson went on, while Tobin Heath, Abby Dahlkemper, and Kelley O’Hara came off. Ellis kept the 4-3-3 and had Rapinoe go into her usual left forward spot, which shifted Press right; Allie Long went in at DM and dropped Ertz to CB; and Davidson went in at left back while Dunn shifted right. Lavelle was right back at it, attacking the space in front of the back line and putting Rapinoe in along the flank, but the cross wasn’t on target. Crystal Dunn also added on the opposite flank, engaing more than she did in the first half, when it seemed Ellis was reluctant to have both her fullbacks press up at the same time. But despite great individual movement from Lavelle and Mewis, attempts to play in the forwards were lacking. The US made another sub in the 60’ with Carli Lloyd on for Alex Mogan and Emily Sonnett on for Rose Lavelle. Lloyd took up the center forward mantle and Sonnett went to right back, pushing Dunn up into the midfield for a Dunn - Long - Mewis central line. Dunn was certainly more involved in that midfield role; while not exactly similar to what she does for the North Carolina Courage as a take-no-prisoners 10, she was able to start combining more with Rapinoei to move the ball into the attack. South Africa attempted to break out of their own half a few times, but Tierna Davidson was often there to win whatever hopeful ball forward got sent up. Lloyd also kept up a tide of relentless pressure, winning back balls she lost and making sure defenders had to stay with her in front of goal. Ertz also continued to help play out of the back, insofar as the United States really had a “back,” as high as they were able to push up for most of the game. Long might have been nominally the central holding mid, but she was often a covering defender as Ertz continued to be Ertz and press high, sometimes springing Sonnett into the flank. The last US sub was in the 76’ as Mal Pugh came on for Christen Press in a like-for-like sub. Mewis scored a couple of minutes later as Rapinoe curled a ball through the defensive line and hit Mewis nearly in stride; Mewis somehow got the ball into the net with the goalkeeper sliding into her feet. Mewis nearly got a hat trick near the end of the game, with Lloyd continuing to fight like hell for possession and Pugh backing her up in the box. Pugh couldn’t find an open channel and decided to put the ball into space for a late-arriving Mewis, whose hard shot was blocked. The US added some late pressure through set pieces, but the final goal fo the night came from Carli Lloyd in stoppage. That’s a double nutmeg, as Lloyd managed to sneak it in through both a defender and a goalkeeper. It was, overall, not an exciting game.<doc-sep>The U.S. women's national team debuts at the World Cup on June 11, but before this team aims to retain its title it has three tune-up games. The first one was on Sunday, and it was Sam Mewis' two goals that helped the Red, White and Blue to a 3-0 victory over South Africa. The United States had 20 shots to South Africa's five, and the U.S. had 71 percent of the possession in what ended up being a walk in the park. Mewis scored the winner 37 minutes in before getting her second in the 78th minute, and veteran Carli Lloyd scored the third in the 92nd minute. Here's the winning goal, which came with a lovely little cut from Mewis and an even better shot: A fine result for the United States, but the result hardly matters. These are tune-up games for the team to work on things, build chemistry, confidence and more. While getting the victory is nice, it will provide the coaches with some film to work with as they aim to fine tune things before the opener against Thailand. The United States' remaining two friendlies are against New Zealand on Thursday and Mexico on Sunday. You can watch this summer's World Cup on fuboTV (Try for free).<doc-sep>
We’re just moments away from the United States Women’s National Team beginning their final preparations for the World Cup with a friendly against South Africa in Santa Clara, California. The Americans are the top-ranked team in the world and one of the favorites to lift the World Cup this summer. Their opponents are also competing in the tournament, but are ranked 49th and are massive longshots to contend. Nevertheless, this will be a good test for the U.S. as they look to go to France in their best possible form. USWNT vs South Africa Date: Sunday, May 12 Time: 4:30 PM ET TV Channel: FOX Live Stream: fuboTV ( watch for free ) Jill Ellis finalized her 23-player roster for the World Cup last week. It featured a few surprises and dons eight players making their debuts in this prestigious tournament. All of the big stars are fit and ready to go. These final three warm-up friendlies are all about putting the final touches on what many hope will be a championship game plan. This is a group of players very familiar with each other. Seven players on the final roster will be attending at least their third World Cup with veteran Carli Lloyd leading the way for a remarkable fourth time. The U.S. is the defending champions, but haven’t been in the greatest of form to start 2019. They lost to World Cup hosts France in January and drew against Japan and England at the SheBelieves Cup in March. Domination is usually the goal for the USWNT, but perhaps they’ll need to find another recipe for success if a repeat is on the cards. The road to France is at the homestretch with both of these teams gearing up. We should get a great look at what they have planned for this summer. We recommend interesting sports viewing and streaming opportunities. If you sign up to a service by clicking one of the links, we may earn a referral fee.