As the U.S. Women’s National Team progressed in the Olympics, their performances under head coach Emma Hayes have brought consistency, creativity and most importantly, much needed results.
MARSEILLE, FRANCE – JULY 30: Emma Hayes of the USWNT watches her team during training in Marseille, … [+] France. (Photo by Brad Smith/ISI/Getty Images).
When Hayes was appointed as the coach in Nov. 2023 following the USA’s earliest exit from the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup, it was going to be a heavy load to lift as Hayes finally arrived and coached her first game to a 4-0 win against South Korea in June 2024.
Trinity Rodman Secures Semifinal Slot
Although the World Cup performance lacked several key factors such as goals and substitutes, the roster of young players with an eloquent frontline of chemistry from Trinity Rodman, Sophia Smith, and Mallory Swanson has allowed the USA to position themselves with quality runs and finishes in the box.
“We’re all best friends off the field, so, we naturally have that chemistry,” said Smith. “I think we have recently finally gotten to play together, Trin and I last year and we lost Mal, but now that we’re back together, we’re just building off that chemistry that we already had and getting more games and minutes together. We all have fun off the field and I think that just translates to on the field.”
Although the history between the USA and Japan runs deep from World Cup meetings, Rodman secured a late goal in overtime to lock in their semi-final booking. The game-winning goal from Rodman also marked her third goal of the tournament and it officially marked the U.S. winning all five games against Japan at the Olympics, making it the most wins ever against one opponent at the Olympic games.
MARSEILLE, FRANCE – JULY 28: Lynn Williams #8 of Team United States celebrates with teammate Mallory … [+] Swanson #9 after scoring her team’s fourth goal during the Women’s group B match between United States and Germany during the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at Stade de Marseille on July 28, 2024 in Marseille, France. (Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images)
Despite the goal, the fatigue of the tournament play looked like it had taken a toll on the USA. With the Olympic games, Hayes has been consistent in her starting lineups with the exception of Saturday’s match as Korbin Albert started in place of Sam Coffey due to her yellow card suspension.
With the same starting lineup and the short corners played by the USA in their recent 1-0 win against Japan, they’ll be facing another hurdle as they’re set to take on Germany in the semi-finals tomorrow morning.
“Even if you play the same opponent a week apart, they’re always two very, very different games,” Hayes said. “Our shot conversion was high in the first game. This is a tight match-up, but one we’ll prepare for a little bit today. We’ve been doing stuff yesterday, too, so we’ll be ready. I’m having to accelerate everything, hence the reason why I don’t make many changes.”
In their second game of the tournament, the USA defeated Germany 4-1 with a brace from Swanson in order to advance to the quarterfinals. Now as the USA are approaching their fifth game of the tournament, they’ve scored 10 goals while only conceding two goals.
USA Face A Familiar Opponent
With the high stakes, the USA and Germany are two of the only three countries to win both the FIFA Women’s World Cup and Olympic gold. However Germany is also entering the match from a 4-2 win in penalty kicks against Canada.
With Coffey’s return from her suspension and the availability of forward Jaedyn Shaw, the USA may be able to lean back into their high rhythm of play.
So far, the USA is unbeaten under Hayes (7W-0L-1D) in her first eight matches. Hayes is the eighth head coach to lead the USWNT at a major tournament and the first to win his or her first major tournament match by a margin of three or more goals.
The winner from this game will advance to meet the winner of Brazil-Spain in the Gold Medal match on Aug. 10 at Parc des Princes in Paris.
