WASHINGTON, D.C. — When you face the No. 1-ranked team in any sport, you have to make your opportunities count. For the U.S. Women’s National Team, it did not do that and ultimately wound up on the losing end of things. Saturday’s 2-0 friendly loss to Spain at Audi Field provided a good example that Emma Hayes’ squad still has work to do to reclaim the top spot in FIFA’s Rankings. First-half goals from Spain’s Patri Guijarro and Eva Navarro propelled the visitors into an early lead after 15 minutes before goalkeeper Adriana Nanclares made nine saves en route to a shutout result. However, given the atmosphere and energy circling the Nation’s Capital, you would have thought the USWNT were leading by two goals for most of the match. Majority of the 19,220 fans in attendance were loud and supportive towards the Americans, urging them forward, even though they played catch-up for most of the match.Hayes agreed that the slim margins made a vital difference in the final scoreline, voicing her disappointment in the result despite her team’s positive performance overall.“I’m disappointed for us today,” Hayes said postmatch. “I’m frustrated because I feel like we didn’t deserve to lose 2-0 today…but if you don’t take care of those details you don’t deserve anything.“You can’t afford to go 2-0 down against the best team in the world, especially the way we conceded those goals. That’s the learning,” she added. “We had plenty of them chances today, let me be clear. They were efficient, we weren’t.”Spain registered just three shots on target in the match but made two of those count, with Guijarro and Navrarro registering clinical finishes past veteran goalkeeper Claudia Dickey. Outside of those two goals though, the USWNT owned majority of the possession, coming close on several occasions to find the back of the net, and potentially even win the match on home soil.Alyssa Thompson, Sophia Wilson, Lindsey Heaps, and Rose Lavelle all had chances saved by the aforementioned Nanclares while Lily Yohannes had a penalty kick denied by the 24-year-old in the second half. The USWNT are trying to take positives from Saturday’s match though, knowing losing in a friendly to the reigning Women’s World Cup champions now is better off than suffering elimination to them in next year’s tournament. “I do think the gap between Spain and us, from three or four years ago, has closed,” Hayes said. “If we want to be the best, we need to be more clinical.” “There’s going to be games like that, and I’m happy it’s not the World Cup right now,” USWNT forward Trinity Rodman said postmatch. “You take what you can from this game and go into the next game.”Fortunately for the USWNT, they have another crack at Spain on Tuesday in Chester, Pennsylvania, a golden opportunity to rebound from Saturday’s lackluster showing. Hayes could potentially rotate her squad to try something new or give Saturday’s starters a chance to make amends for their missed opportunities. Wilson isn’t thinking too negative about the recent loss, admitting that the USWNT will use it as a learning lesson.“I think there were a lot of good parts today, and Emma pointed those out to me. You can’t focus too much on the end result,” Wilson said postmatch. “Obviously, we want to beat them come the World Cup. These [the friendlies] are another good opportunity to grow and it’s just fine-tuning the little pieces. I think we’re going to take what we can from this game, but be also be positive what we did do well.”Saturday marked only the USWNT’s sixth loss during Hayes’ reign as head coach, but with three of those occurring this year.