3 takeaways from USWNT's hard-fought battle with the Netherlands

The rematch lived up to the hype. In the most anticipated group-stage game of this summer's tournament, the United States battled back to earn a 1-1 draw against the Netherlands in a spirited encore to the 2019 Women's World Cup final. Below, we examine the three biggest takeaways from the entertaining stalemate in Wellington, New Zealand.

U.S. setup exposed

In its opening match of the tournament, an eminently comfortable 3-0 win over a Vietnam team that didn't attempt a single shot, the United States had the luxury of focusing almost exclusively on its attacking structure. Defensive shape, either in transition or in a set block, was largely an afterthought. Full-backs Crystal Dunn and Emily Fox got forward at will, not having to worry about the space behind them, and Andi Sullivan patrolled the "defensive" midfield areas all on her own without issue.

That tactical choice is perfectly acceptable against an overmatched opponent. But the more accomplished, technically proficient Dutch exposed Vlatko Andonovski's decision to adopt the same approach, finding huge amounts of space to exploit. The Americans' midfield trio was outnumbered and consistently overrun in the opening half; forward Lieke Martens dropped deeper to pick up the ball and combine with her teammates, giving the Netherlands a four-on-three numerical advantage in the center of the pitch.

At a certain point, it's just simple math.

Martens helped create Jill Roord's opening goal by doing exactly that, turning her marker in midfield before charging forward into the acres of space afforded to her. The Dutch continued to use their slick passing to slice through the U.S. midfield, and were it not for the outstanding center-back duo of Julie Ertz and Naomi Girma sweeping things up time and again, the U.S. deficit - the team's first in any World Cup game since 2011 - could've been larger.

The foes will only keep getting stronger in the latter stages of the tournament, so the U.S. must make tactical adjustments.

Don't poke the bear

For nearly an hour, the U.S. was a nonfactor as an attacking threat. The team looked flat, lacked sharpness in the final third, and, surprisingly, didn't really react after going behind to Roord's pinpoint low strike. In particular, American captain Lindsey Horan was subdued, the byproduct of her trying to cope with a numerical disadvantage in midfield and being the lone link to the three isolated U.S. forwards. Horan, limited to just three touches inside the Dutch penalty area in the first half, needed a spark.

Her club teammate Danielle van de Donk unwittingly provided it.

The diminutive Lyon midfielder bludgeoned Horan with a hard tackle in the 59th minute, a challenge that infuriated the imposing American superstar and led to a heated exchange between the two prior to an ensuing U.S. corner kick. Horan, clearly fired up by the incident and wisely held back from picking up a yellow card - and subsequent suspension - by Ertz, scored the equalizer from that corner seconds later with an emphatic near-post header.

"I don't think you ever want to get me mad, because I don't react in a good way (for the opposition)," Horan told Meg Linehan of The Athletic, explaining that the forceful challenge gave her extra incentive to change the course of the game. "Usually I just go and I want something more. I want to win more. I want to score more. I want to do more for my team."

Horan and Van de Donk linked up to hug it out and snap a selfie after the match, with the former praising her Lyon teammate's fighting spirit.

"These kind of matches are competitive. There's battles all over the field. And you know, (Danielle) is that type of player that, when she's on my team, it's incredible because she's going to fight to the last second to win a game or go into that last tackle, and that's what she did," Horan added, per Steph Yang of The Athletic.

"And unfortunately, I did not take it in a good way. I got a little heated and she got to hear it. And Julie (Ertz) came up to me in the box, and she was like, 'Linds, please just don't get another yellow card. Just score this goal to shut everyone up.'" Mission accomplished.

Use your subs, Vlatko!

It was no surprise Andonovski opted to field the same starting lineup as the tournament-opening win over Vietnam. This specific XI, after all, simply hasn't played together consistently ahead of the tournament, and the only way to create more cohesion is to do just that.

But it was odd that he only used one of five available substitutions during the contest. Introducing Rose Lavelle in place of Savannah DeMelo to begin the second half did help change the course of the match, to be fair. That said, the star midfielder, on a minutes restriction as she continues to recover from a knee injury, was always going to feature at some point as Andonovski and the staff try to build up her fitness in the hopes of having her at - or near - 100% later in the tournament.

Andonovski suggested after the match that he didn't want to disrupt the rhythm that his team discovered after its second-half equalizer by making further changes to his lineup. In a vacuum, there's merit to that line of thinking. But when you're managing the deepest, most talented squad in the tournament - and fully expecting to play the full complement of seven matches over the course of one jam-packed month - preserving energy levels and freshness within the team is vital.

"I thought we had control of the game, and we were knocking on the door of scoring a goal. … We just didn't want to jeopardize anything because I thought all three of our forwards were very good today, dangerous, created opportunities, and were a handful," Andonovski said, according to Caitlin Murray of ESPN.

Perhaps, but by that same token, wouldn't you benefit from having fresher players on the field to capitalize on those opportunities you're creating? Lynn Williams stands out as the most obvious substitute who could've had a huge impact on the game in the waning minutes. Alyssa Thompson and Megan Rapinoe could have added the energy and guile needed to unlock the Dutch defense and find a winning goal, too.

Andonovski will need to manage his squad in a more sustainable way for the remainder of the tournament.