It wasn't the statement some hoped for. But in their final game in Europe before they open World Cup play on June 11 in France, the U.S. women came up with a response.
Beaten and outplayed by France three days earlier, the United States moved south and beat host Spain 1-0 on Tuesday in Alicante in the first meeting between the two teams.
The U.S. women hadn't lost their opening two games in any year since 1992. The last time the team failed to win at least one of its first two games was 2007, when they opened with draws against Germany and China. Either unwanted distinction seemed a possibility against a rapidly improving Spanish team that cruised through World Cup qualification.
The result, decided by a Christen Press goal in the 54th minute, at least averted those fates. Spain dominated possession in the first half but produced little in the way of danger for U.S. goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher. With most of their likely World Cup starting lineup restored after five players sat out with injury or illness Saturday against France, the U.S. women grew into Tuesday's game.
If not quite in control before the second-half goal, the Americans at least looked like a team with the pieces to control such a game by summer.
Yet the U.S. women come home after four consecutive games abroad -- the two most recent games and matches in Portugal and Scotland that closed their 2018 schedule -- without a convincing road performance. The team's most notable results outside U.S. borders since the 2015 World Cup are an Olympic win against France in Brazil and road wins in Norway, Spain and Sweden. All four wins were by 1-0 margins.
In fact, since their unforgettable win in the World Cup final four years ago, the U.S. women have just one victory by multiple goals beyond their country's borders. That was a 2-0 win against New Zealand in the Olympics.
The United States has eight more games to play this spring but all at home. The team leaves Spain with signs of progress but no way to prove it can export success until June.
Meanwhile, three players stood out against Spain for various reasons.
The impressive one
The goal was enough of a highlight, with Press taking a short pass from Rose Lavelle in her own half and needing five or six touches to blow past the Spanish defense and get off a tight-angle shot that left Spain's Irene Paredes in an impossible position as she helped the ball into the net. That moment won the day and put Spain on the back foot.
Press' performance after coming on at halftime might have been among her most important since the Olympics. Her pace and, just as importantly, her aggressiveness tilted the field to the left side that she charged down again and again.
Even after a slip in the final minute denied her a chance for a second goal, Press immediately won the ball back for the United States with aggressive defending on the sideline.
One of the reasons Press is so successful in pro settings might be her ability to blend elegant style with athletic gifts. She can blow by people, but she has the skill, touch and IQ to set up chances and score from beyond 18 yards.
U.S. coach Jill Ellis seems to want less scalpel and more sledgehammer from Press. The United States wants her getting to the end line to deliver crosses or hunting goals in the box.
Press did that Tuesday and changed the look of the game as a substitute.
The indispensable one
Who can the U.S. women least afford to be without come this summer? The front three -- Alex Morgan, Tobin Heath and Megan Rapinoe -- could all make a strong case, with midfielders Lindsey Horan and Lavelle also rapidly nearing that status.
But defensive midfielder Julie Ertz looked the choice when she launched herself into a tackle midway through the first half Tuesday, breaking up another procession of Spanish passes and freeing Rapinoe for a counter.
Even though Tuesday's result was better, the game against Spain was similar to the game against France in that the United States looked like a team just out of preseason against a team whose players are in the middle of club seasons. The Americans looked half a step off the beat at times. Yet with Ertz on the field, there was at least a spark that offered hopes of catching. (Granted, Spain only wishes it had the finishing edge of France's Eugenie Le Sommer or even Kadidiatou Diani.)
Until U.S. midfielder McCall Zerboni is back to full speed, there simply isn't anyone else like Ertz -- who sat out the game against France -- on the roster.
The intriguing one
Putting the best players on the field, sometimes at the expense of comfort or familiarity, is among Ellis' more consistent philosophical traits. She didn't think there was a place for Crystal Dunn as a starter in a top line that included Heath, Morgan, Mallory Pugh and Rapinoe. But the United States is better with Dunn somewhere on the field than in limiting itself to full-time outside backs. The same is true of the 4-3-3 formation. It is the best way to get the most talent on the field.
With that in mind, and given the depth issues at the position, it was intriguing to watch Ellis experiment with Tierna Davidson as an outside back alongside Abby Dahlkemper and Becky Sauerbrunn. Coming on as a substitute, Davidson played much of the second half against Spain as a left back next to Sauerbrunn, while Dunn switched from the left side in the first half to right back for much of the second half.
It isn't a new position for Davidson; Ellis first looked at her for the national team as an outside back candidate well before Davidson established herself as a center back early last year. But asked in the past about experimenting with Davidson in that role, Ellis said she preferred to let her build into one role. It probably isn't the role Davidson will play with the Chicago Red Stars in her NWSL rookie season.
Given how much Ellis has said that she likes the chemistry Dunn, Rapinoe and Horan have on the left side, it seems an unlikely long-term move.
But if the United States has three defenders it likes in Dahlkemper, Davidson and Sauerbrunn, and one of them can play outside back, it wouldn't exactly be precedent-shattering for Ellis to try it.