Lo'eau LaBonta makes historic debut as USA women ease past China in friendly
Naomi Girma returned to the national team and Lo'eau LaBonta became the oldest player to make her international debut for the US in a 3-0 win over China on Saturday.
Catarina Macario, Sam Coffey and Lindsey Heaps scored while goalkeeper Phallon Tullis-Joyce got her second shutout in as many appearances.
LaBonta, the 32-year-old midfielder for the Kansas City Current in the National Women's Soccer League, came on as a second-half substitute.
The match also marked Girma's first appearance for the national team this year. The 24-year-old defender has been nursing injuries but recently returned to help Chelsea win the Women's Super League title and the FA Cup.
Girma commanded a record $1.1 transfer fee when she moved from the San Diego Wave to Chelsea earlier this year.
Tullis-Joyce, who plays for Manchester United, started in goal in just her second US appearance as coach Emma Hayes looks to replace goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher, who retired from the national team last year.
Macario scored her 11th international goal after Alyssa Thompson kept the ball alive in a tumble in front of the net in the 28th minute.
Coffey made it 2-0 in the 35th minute, taking a pass from Macario out front and banging her second goal for the US past goalkeeper Pan Hongyan with her left foot.
Heaps, the US captain, scored on a header in the 54th minute.
The United States are currently missing several key contributors from last year's Olympic gold medal-winning squad. Sophia Wilson and Mallory Swanson are both on maternity leave. Trinity Rodman is dealing with a nagging back issue.
The United States famously defeated China on penalties in the 1999 Women's World Cup final. The teams last met in 2023, with the Americans winning both games.
The Americans have a 39-9-13 overall record against China, including five straight.
The United States was coming off a 2-1 loss to Brazil on 8 April. China defeated Thailand 5-1 in their last outing.
The US face Jamaica on Tuesday in St Louis.
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One click, and there was my biological father's face. Overwhelmed with everything I'd discovered, I closed the page. For my own sanity I needed to catch my breath. At risk of accidental incest I should have been pleased. The DCUK support group was full of stories of people searching for years without any answers, or whose newly discovered relatives refused to see them. On paper this was the best possible outcome. But without the distraction of waiting for my DNA results, the shred of hope that it hadn't been true, it all hit me. Dad wasn't my biological father – and with that certainty some part of my identity fell away. When I tried to talk to Mum about what I had discovered, she simply ended the call. In frustration I sent her a picture of the donor, despite knowing that to see the face of the stranger who fathered her own child would be hard. I was furious at her denial at what was happening to me. I struggled to sleep or eat and couldn't concentrate at work. I would walk down the street, scanning stranger's faces; wondering if they were my biological relatives. By keeping my conception a secret, I had been at risk of accidental incest. The thought made me shudder. My grief for Dad returned in waves, followed by a question of whether I should even be grieving when he wasn't my biological father. Then I felt guilty that I had even thought that, and realised how much emotional turmoil I was in. The DCUK community saved me with both their online forums and their help in accessing counselling. In those sessions I realised I was allowed to be angry at both my parents for keeping my conception a secret. If I had been told as a child, if it had been normalised as part of my developing identity, maybe I wouldn't be struggling so badly now. Meeting my relations Counselling also helped me see that I wanted to meet my new relatives, despite my fear of rejection. Which is how I found myself sitting in a coffee shop with Hannah. Her genuine joy calmed my nerves, and for two hours we talked. She spoke about Robert, how he had donated as a medical student to help couples. Now happily married, he had chosen not to have children of his own. Hearing her sisterly pride, clearly wanting me to feel the same, I guiltily thought of Dad. Would he have minded me looking through Hannah's family photos, seeing a nose or brow she thought I shared? When Hannah spoke about how clever Robert was, I thought of my own childhood nickname, 'the clever one'. Did Dad know it was a doctor who had fathered me? I felt a rush of confusion and sadness to think I had never know the answers. A month later I was hugging Joanne, who had received my text asking if we could meet and immediately invited me to stay. That made me smile, as it was exactly how I would have responded. I didn't see a physical resemblance, but when I told her I was starting an assessment for ADHD she said that her daughter was neurodiverse. With each new meet-up, text or chat, our bond grew, and I felt my shattered identity piecing back together. Moving forward I would love to say that a year on from our dinner, my relationship with Mum has healed. Sadly, that hasn't happened. I suspect that it was fear that made her keep my donor conception a secret in my childhood, and fear that prevents her speaking openly about it now. And as long as she continues to do that, it's impossible for us to move forward. My feelings for Robert remain complicated. He isn't my father, and I don't want or expect anything from him. But when Hannah told me that he's visiting the UK later this year, it did make me wonder. Would I want to meet him? I'm trying not to put too much pressure on myself to decide anything right now, while he is considering whether or not he wants to meet us. As for Dad, I no longer scour my memories for clues to a mystery that will never be solved. I will never know how he felt about my conception, or how he would react to my knowing about it now. But I can finally think of that little girl fishing with her dad and smile. I've found peace in the knowledge that love can be based on something stronger than biology. Whatever my DNA results page says, he will always be my dad.
