Emma Hayes will have some impossible choices this summer. The U.S. women's national team's attack simply has too many superstars, with veterans like Alex Morgan, rising stars like Sophia Smith and Trinity Rodman, returning difference-makers like Catarina Macario and Mallory Swanson... how in the world can she expect to pick between them?!
Yet, that group's youngest player has emerged as the standout, and is perhaps the only undroppable name of them all. Yes, that's the level that Jaedyn Shaw is approaching. At just 19, it's almost unfathomable to think of a USWNT without her leading the charge now.
That's what she did once again on Saturday: lead the charge. With her side down 1-0 thanks to a goal 30 seconds in from Japan's Kiko Seike, Shaw scored a stunning strike, making it five goals in her last five international starts. A penalty from Lindsey Horan in the second half sealed the 2-1 win, and a spot in the SheBelieves Cup final against Canada or Brazil, but, make no mistake, Shaw was the talking point once again.
Shaw continues to get better and better every time we see her. Entering the year, the question was whether she'd make the Olympic squad -hat is no longer the question - instead, we're now asking who will be around her, the centerpiece of this U.S. attack.
Macario and Swanson will have their say, as both are making up for lost time, having just returned from injury, but Swanson, in particular, made her case. In her return to the starting XI, she looked like a player that hasn't missed a beat. Macario's appearance, meanwhile, was more brief, but an important step nonetheless.
Hayes will have been watching, and she'll have liked what she saw. This was a complete USWNT performance, probably their best of the year so far despite the mishap 30 seconds in. For the next 89 minutes or so, the U.S. looked like a top team, one that's only getting better thanks to the rise of their 19-year-old superstar.
GOAL rates the USWNT players from Mercedes-Benz Stadium...