With the Olympics a test of the entire program, the U.S. women’s national team played its first two games with an vigor that suggested a terrible 2023 World Cup was a thing of the past.
The U.S. faced Germany in their second group stage match on Sunday afternoon and had a far from perfect performance.
But in what was expected to be the toughest match of the group, the U.S. Women’s National Team did more than enough to win 4-1 and move into the lead in Group B with a win or draw against Australia on Wednesday.
This wasn’t the kind of easy win that previous generations of this program have enjoyed regularly, even against the best teams in the world. There were periods of sloppy play and moments of good fortune that punctuated wins that looked easier on the scoreboard than they actually were.
Still, the U.S. capitalized on the opportunities they had in the game, and two goals from Sophia Smith erased any worries.
Right winger Trinity Rodman opened the scoring by breaking through the German defense, racing down the channel and drawing a defender and setting Smith free for an easy goal just 10 minutes into the game.
Twelve minutes later, adversity struck for the U.S. when Germany right back Julia Gwinn tied the game with a perfect shot into the left corner from well outside the penalty area, a play that earned Sam Coffey a yellow card, compounding the Americans’ misery.
In fact, this was not the first moment the result had looked in doubt under new manager Emma Hayes.
2024 Paris Olympics
It was the first time the U.S. had conceded a goal in Hayes’ sixth game under the helm.
In any case, it took just four minutes for the combination of Smith and Mallory Swanson to restore the lead, with Swanson smashing in a rebound from Smith’s shot after German goalkeeper Anne-Katrin Berger neatly deflected it away.
Just before half-time, Smith got another lucky shot to extend the lead to 3-1 when a shot from outside the penalty area bounced off a defender, off the goalpost and into the net.
The Rorschach test of the game continued as the U.S. spent much of the final 45 minutes on the defensive but never managed to break through, until a late counterattack by Rodman allowed Lynn Williams to score for a 4-1 lead.
Against stronger opposition, on a night when some crucial bounces did not work in their favour, a performance like Sunday’s might have been a cause for concern.
A year ago in Australia and New Zealand, the collective mentality of the teams just wasn’t enough to get them through matches like this one.
But even after the World Cup victory there was an overwhelming atmosphere of anxiety and yet nothing of the sort happened on Sunday.
Instead, it was a bit like business as usual.
