The U.S. ladies’s nationwide staff’s repute of historic success precedes them however earlier than they landed in France final month, there was a stunning factor lacking from the 2024 Olympics squad — not a single member of the staff had gained a gold medal, a obtrusive omission from their résumés as the frustration of final yr’s early exit from the Girls’s World Cup loomed over them. It didn’t assist that their new head coach Emma Hayes would have simply 4 video games to work together with her squad earlier than touring to the Olympics, forcing many to mood their expectations.
That baggage was hardly a deterrent. After six video games in 17 days throughout France, the USWNT grew to become Olympic gold medalists for the primary time in 12 years, beating Brazil 1-0 at Paris’ Parc des Princes on Saturday and finishing the redemption arc in file time. It was the results of a number of large bets paying off for the reason that disappointment in Melbourne, answering a collection of unknowns that lingered over the USWNT over the last yr.
Inside a matter of weeks, U.S. Soccer’s selection to rent Hayes proved to be a wise one regardless of the downsides of the quick window of time between her first recreation in early June and their Olympics opener in late July. The gold medal additionally validates the method led by assistant coach Twila Kilgore in Hayes’ absence, providing sufficient pictures to younger gamers to permit Hayes to roll with a youthful model of the USWNT in Paris and reap the rewards. The attacking trio of Mallory Swanson, Sophia Smith and Trinity Rodman made a reputation for themselves on the worldwide stage by scoring three objectives every, whereas Swanson added yet another with the lone purpose within the gold medal match.
This feat is all of the extra spectacular, although, contemplating how a lot work continues to be to be achieved. A bunch stage marketing campaign by which the USWNT outscored the opposition 9-1 felt like a reintroduction to a nationwide staff with a historical past of overpowering their rivals, but it surely gave approach for a way more timid knockout stage. The U.S. didn’t concede a single purpose in that point, a continuation of the robust defensive type they have been in on the Girls’s World Cup final yr. In addition they scored simply three objectives en path to the gold medal, requiring two durations of additional time to get there. In opposition to Brazil, they have been unquestionably the more severe facet till Swanson’s purpose disrupted the momentum of the sport, at occasions fortunate to outlive their opponent’s attacking performs within the first half.
Hayes inadvertently alluded to the hardships of their preparation for the Olympics all through. She has taken a essential function at occasions as a newcomer to the staff, admitting pre-tournament that the USWNT have traditionally most well-liked veterans over up-and-coming abilities and unintentionally hindering their very own evolution consequently. Whereas Hayes was daring sufficient to exclude Alex Morgan from the squad, selecting youthful and extra in-form gamers as an alternative, she then caught to her weapons upon arriving in France. She rotated sometimes each in lineup selections and substitutions, forcing gamers to push by way of fatigue as she desperately sought to construct chemistry.
Her strategy typically felt like a hindrance. Hayes clearly determined that fostering connections was paramount, even when it felt like contemporary legs at earlier phases of the match could have prevented slog-like finishes to video games. Her place nonetheless feels prefer it was pressured by the quick interval of preparation coming into the Olympics, and he or she’s probably proper to really feel vindicated that it paid off with a gold medal.
But, this feels extra like the start of a brand new chapter quite than a fortunately ever after, largely due to the imperfections on show in France. Whereas Swanson, Smith and Rodman have been in a position to put the staff on their shoulders on a number of events and veteran goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher turned up large on a number of events, the USWNT have a number of areas of enchancment.
Chief amongst them is the midfield imbalance that has existed since Sam Mewis was pressured out of the staff after the Tokyo Olympics with accidents that later led to her 2024 retirement. Hayes appears to acknowledge that, too, slipping in some large selections regardless of establishing a brand new established order on the Olympics. Korbin Albert began the gold medal match over Rose Lavelle, whereas Lindsey Horan moved to an attacking function that fits her higher than the deeper function she normally performs with Lavelle on the sector. The trio of Albert, Horan and Sam Coffey nonetheless didn’t strike the proper steadiness, confirming that this can be a long-term mission that will require Hayes to make some robust calls sooner or later.
There’s plenty of time on the clock earlier than their subsequent main worldwide match, the 2027 Girls’s World Cup in Brazil, ought to they qualify. The post-Olympics interval will permit Hayes to actually showcase her true plans for the nationwide staff since staying atop of the ladies’s soccer panorama is a a lot more durable job in an more and more aggressive sport.
Whereas Hayes works on the tangibles for the following a number of years, she has impressively restored a few of the intangibles in file time. Regardless of their noticeable imperfections in opposition to Brazil, Hayes and firm have restored that feeling of inevitability that has outlined the USWNT for many years. Triumph continues to be a part of the material of the staff, despite the fact that this squad was stuffed with gamers who had not but skilled it on the worldwide degree. These with out the expertise of profitable, although, wasted little time of their quest to lastly attain the rostrum.
There’s nonetheless a lot to study this model of the USWNT, in addition to their new head coach as they intention to stay as much as the billing after a robust begin to the Hayes period. So far as first impressions go, although, Hayes and firm have achieved nicely to make a robust one.