The USWNT has had a lot to answer to in the last few years. They didn’t perform well at all under the reign of the last coach, Andonovski, and the stale style of play and poor performances called for both coaching and roster changes. The new manager, Emma Hayes, is a breath of fresh air. She was fantastic at Chelsea in the FA WSL, having won numerous championships and domestic trophies.
Now, she is the new USWNT coach and has brought in a fantastic squad to, hopefully, dominate at the Olympics. She has given younger players a chance at making the roster and given other players who were previously snubbed the time to shine. But, will the USWNT make it through to the knockout stages, quarterfinals, semifinals, and finals of the Olympics? Only time will tell. However, the first game’s results do look promising.
USWNT Beats Zambia 3-0
The USWNT came out strong in their Olympics showing and beat Zambia by three goals to nil yesterday. After a disappointing Women’s World Cup in Australia last year that saw them fail to exit the group stage — and even leave New Zealand to get to Australia — they had a lot to prove. Since they are consistently ranked in the top two or three women’s teams in the world, they needed to uphold that standard.
And with their showing yesterday, it seems as if they are back to winning ways. The USWNT had a great first half against Zambia, with the attackers showing why they were so prolific in the first place. Trinity Rodman opened the scoring for her team, giving every player on the pitch ample energy and more confidence in the next few minutes. Then, Mal Swanson did what she does best — she scored twice within two minutes. She is a prolific goal scorer and great team player who suffered a horrible patella injury last season, seeing her out for the World Cup. Now, she’s back and seemingly better than ever.
But, many fans and critics are wondering if the USWNT played well enough. Zambia got a red card in the second half, but the U.S. team failed to score against a 10-man side in the entire 45 minutes afterward. Does this show a lack of finesse in front of the goal, or does it show that the U.S. was practicing game management and not pushing for another goal? Only the coach, Hayes, will know the answer to that. The only thing we know for certain is that the USWNT plays Germany next, which will be an even harder game than their first match in France.
Germany is one of the best teams in Europe, and the world, and features big-name players like Alexandra Popp, the striker for Wolfsburg, Schuller, the prolific goal scorer for Bayern Munich, Brand, the creative midfielder for Wolfsburg, and Gwinn, the stalwart defender who is a standout at Munich in Germany.
USWNT vs. Germany
For the USWNT, it will be interesting to see if the lineup is the same as it was for the Zambia game headed into the next match. Hayes included Girma as one of the center backs, someone who commands the back line and has taken on the role of Becky Sauerbrunn as the voice of maturity and composure in the defensive third.
In the midfield, Hayes chose Horan, the captain, along with Lavelle and Coffey to string together passes, slot through balls to the wingers, and find the striker’s feet in positions close to the 18-yard box. Up top, Hayes went with four strikers/wingers who were sure to burn the other teams for pace and score goals with their tactical awareness and skill. Sophia Smith has always been an NWSL standout who has earned her spot as a winger for the USWNT. She is accompanied by Rodman, the goal scorer, Dunn, the previous fullback, and Swanson, the playmaker. We think that Hayes might do the same lineup for the Germany game — turn in to watch!
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