As fans wondered whether the U.S. women’s national team was ready for the 2024 Olympics after a disastrous World Cup campaign last year, head coach Emma Hayes urged patience as the team overcame growing pains.
The answers came quickly in the U.S. women's national team's opening game at the Olympics in France.
The Americans scored three goals in the first 25 minutes to defeat Zambia 3-0 on Thursday and, despite a quieter second half, were convincing in the win. Trinity Rodman's brilliant turn created space for an eye-catching opening goal before Mallory Swanson scored twice in a minute to punctuate the four-time Olympic gold medalists' strong start.
The U.S. women's team's performance showed a competence it hasn't displayed in recent matches and an intensity rarely seen from the Americans at last year's World Cup. It's exactly the start the Americans needed amid questions about their place among the world's elite after a round-of-16 exit last year, the team's worst World Cup ever.
Yes, Zambia played nearly an hour down, but the U.S. women's team dominated the game, scoring three goals long before Pauline Zulu was sent off for denying her a goal-scoring opportunity. Lindsey Horan nearly scored 30 seconds into the game after defender Emily Fox danced into the box. Rodman hit the crossbar nine minutes into the game, and Swanson did the same five minutes later.
The goal came just as it seemed history was repeating itself after the Americans held their farewell game to a scoreless draw against Costa Rica nine days earlier. The sense of déjà vu was quickly erased in Nice, France, when Sophia Smith moved to the left touchline, tiptoed between the defenders and found Horan, whose pass to Rodman set up the magical opening goal.
This was the attack the Americans hoped to have on the world stage last year, but which never appeared at the World Cup.
Rodman has arguably been the most important player on the U.S. women's national team (certainly on offense) over the past year. Thursday was Rodman's 31st consecutive appearance for the U.S. national team and she is the only player to have appeared in every game since the start of 2023.
Amid the constant changes that have occurred on this transitional U.S. women’s team, Rodman has been the constant, a status she has earned through tireless two-way play on the right wing. Rodman’s opening goal against Zambia, her first in a major tournament, was the climax of that rise.
Swanson’s influence on the court is the other big change from the World Cup. She was arguably the best player in the world at the start of 2023, but a torn patellar tendon three months before the World Cup kept her out of that tournament. Her return to the U.S. women’s national team earlier this year was an immediate reminder of what the team missed from Swanson last year.
Hayes has praised Swanson as a “connector” and someone he has “always admired.” The coach’s recent description of Swanson as “magnetic” might be the most apt: where Swanson goes, so goes America.
On Thursday, as in previous games, Swanson lined up as a left winger on paper, but shifted to the central areas. It was from there that Swanson scored both of his goals on Thursday. “Fluidity” is often the word used to describe the attacking trio of Smith, Swanson and Rodman, and Swanson’s return is critical to ensuring it works.
According to TruMedia, the U.S. women’s team created nearly 5.00 expected goals against Zambia (expected goals, or xG, is a measure of chance creation — the higher the xG, the more dangerous a team was). In 10 combined matches at the 2020 and 2016 Olympics, the U.S. women’s team has never reached even 1.75 xG in a single game, including a 6-1 win over New Zealand in Tokyo (1.70 xG), highlighting just how dominant Thursday’s win over Zambia really was.
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Jeff Kassouf discusses the “solid” performance of the US women's team
Jeff Kassouf breaks down the good and bad of the U.S. women's team's 3-0 win over Zambia.
The U.S. national team was also solid defensively, with center backs Naomi Girma (the lone star of the 2023 World Cup) and Tierna Davidson spearheading the effort. They contained Barbra Banda (whom Hayes recently called the world’s most in-form forward), relegating her to a quiet night that, at one point in the second half, included a desperate shot from 40 yards out.
If there is a trace of disappointment in Thursday's result, it would be that the Americans squandered several opportunities that could have meant a fourth goal and a lead over group mates Germany (who beat Australia 3-0) in the goal difference playoff. The U.S. women's team will regret not being able to score uncontested headers inside the six-yard box from Rodman and Crystal Dunn.
Zambia, a team that conceded 10 goals in a match at the previous Olympics, looked terrible, playing reactionary soccer on defense even before going down to 10 players. But five substitutions and several positional changes also contributed to the Americans being less effective in the second half. It was also the fifth consecutive clean sheet for the U.S. women's team under Hayes, as the Americans did well to contain Zambia's effective forward, Banda.
The disappointment of not scoring more goals is the kind of champagne problem the U.S. women's team can't worry about, a point Hayes has repeatedly emphasized recently while talking about having respect for the rest of the world. The U.S. women's team has been asked incessantly about last year's World Cup and the Americans have repeated ad nauseam that they're over it.
Saying and doing, however, are two different things, and while the most important thing about Thursday's win was securing three points and a healthy goal, it was equally an important part of destroying the persistent narrative of yesteryear.
One game doesn't suddenly make the U.S. women's team the tournament favorite, no matter what the bookmakers' odds say. But Hayes insisted her team couldn't ignore Zambia, and they didn't. They did their job well in the opening game and put themselves in good shape to emerge from a tough group that had mighty Germany awaiting them on Sunday.
This performance is exactly what the U.S. women's team needed, and that's not something that could have been said about any of the team's four games at last year's World Cup.
