What if this is what the United States women’s national team looks like under new coach Emma Hayes?
They’ve been together less than two months, and they produced the most impressive major tournament victory – 4-1 over Germany, No. 4 in the FIFA world rankings to the Americans’ No. 5 – since the back-to-back triumphs over France and England at the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup.
And it's about as decisive a victory as they've produced in the modern era.
All that talk about the rest of the world catching up to the U.S.? There's never really been a great gap, it's just that more nations are in the hunt now. One of them is supposed to be Germany. It did not look that way Sunday in Marseilles.
The forward line of Mallory Swanson, Trinity Rodman and Sophia Smith that could generate only a single goal in 180 minutes against Mexico and Costa Rica in pre-Olympic friendly games now is up to seven against Olympic opposition.
The USWNT qualify for the quarterfinals of the Olympics, which begin Aug. 3, and they will clinch first place in Group B if they are able to draw Australia on Wednesday.
Onto the ratings.
2024 PARIS OLYMPICS
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Starters
Alyssa Naeher (goalkeeper): 6.5
It’s not that she allowed a goal that she maybe could have stopped. It’s that she reacted rather slowly to a shot in the 58th minute that traveled outside the post but wouldn’t have been blocked if it had been on target. It’s that there were multiple plays that had to be cleaned up in the box in front of her. These are not complaints about the result, but Naeher has to be better as the tournament advances.
¡SE EMPATÓ EL PARTIDO! 🚨
— Telemundo Deportes (@TelemundoSports) July 28, 2024
Giulia Gwinn marca de fuera del área y empareja el encuentro 👊
⚽️🇺🇸 @USWNT 1-1 #Alemania 🇩🇪
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Emily Fox (right back): 7
It was Fox’s good fortune that Germany chose to attack the opposite side of the field the majority of the time. Or maybe they just feared her. She had far less opportunity to impact the game than the other three players on the back line. Fox was solid throughout. She did produce a nice steal in the 17th minute to break up a Germany chance.
Naomi Girma (central defender): 9
There’s still a long way – actually, more a long time – between Girma and all-time great USWNT defenders Christie Rampone and Becky Sauerbrunn. But Girma may be the most gifted the team ever has had at the position. She’s so difficult to pull out of position, nearly impossible to get behind. She broke up nearly every decent chance Germany manufactured, and there were a few. Only once did she appear less than in command, when she hesitated briefly on a clearance but wound up sending it harmlessly over the sideline.
Tierna Davidson (central defender): 7
Davidson made one of the game’s most important plays, in the 4th minute, by getting on the ground and smothering a shot while the goal was empty behind her. That prevented Germany from opening with a 1-0 lead that could have totally changed the game. She had a nice header on another threatening advance by Germany that allowed Crystal Dunn to clear the ball. Davidson probably could have done more to close down opposing right back Guilia Gwinn on the shot from outside the box that allowed Germany to tie the game. But Davidson also was involved in the forward move that led to the tiebreaking goal from Mal Swanson. Unfortunately, Davidson had to leave the game before halftime with a lower leg injury.
Crystal Dunn (left back): 8
Germany was insistent upon attacking along the right sideline, particularly in the second half, and it was hard to see why given Dunn’s brilliance against everything thrown against her. She consistently shut down Jule Brand, denying the ability to advance the ball past her. Dunn always has wanted to play more forward for the USWNT, something she does well for her club, but the problem is she so often plays so well for the national team in defense.
Sam Coffey (defensive midfielder): 6
Coffey got herself too far upfield on the one Germany goal. She also was guilty of not shutting down a Germany move in added time of the first half that could have led to an opposing score and a much closer game at halftime. She did make solid plays in both halves to break up potential moves by the opposition. It’s only her second big-tournament game. It was better than the first, and progress matters. She did pick up a yellow card, which may lead Hayes to bench her for the third game to avoid picking up a card that disqualifies her for the quarterfinals.
Lindsey Horan (midfielder): 5.5
We can say Horan helped hold down the midfield and help force Germany wide to the right, where Dunn was in complete command. Except Horan gifted the opposition with a serious opportunity in the 4th minute on a nonsensical, soft back pass that was easily intercepted – when forward options were available. Germany easily could have scored there. Did that force Horan to concentrate harder? She committed another turnover, less dangerous, within a minute. She knocked a ball out of bounds in the 21st minute when she might have been able to find a pass; that possession immediately was transformed into the game-tying goal by Gwinn.
Rose Lavelle (attacking midfielder): 7.5
The underrated element of Lavelle’s game is how hard she is willing to sprint – and how fast she moves when she does – especially when the defense calls for it. She was a crucial part of the opening U.S. goal on her combination with Rodman at the start of the sequence. But it would be a mistake not to praise Lavelle for her hustle in the 9th minute, when she ran down Jule Brand to cover for a Horan turnover. She did something similar in the 48th minute, when her steal disrupted another Germany breakaway. Lavelle does need to do more to get herself in dangerous offensive positions.
Sophia Smith (forward): 9
This was the Sophia Smith we expected to see a year ago at the World Cup, but perhaps the absence of forward partner Mal Swanson was even more costly than it seemed. The USWNT didn’t just miss what Swanson could do, they missed what the two could do together. Smith scored twice in this game. The first was struck with her left instep on a sweet cross from Trinity Rodman that became more open when Swanson ran on goal and drew the defense with her. The second was the product of three fortunate bounces late in the first half. Yes, three bounces: the first off a defender’s leg, the second off the right post, the third in front of the goal with the perfect spin to send it in the opposite direction, into the goal.
Mallory Swanson (forward): 9
Swanson brought her goal tally at the Olympics to three, which is tied for the Golden Boot race with Zambia’s Barbara Banda (who plays in NWSL for the Orlando Pride). Swanson’s finish on a rebound left by Germany keeper Ann-Katrin Berger – off Smith's hard shot from inside the top of the box – would have been knocked wide by a lot of players surprised by the opportunity or too anxious to convert it. Swanson struck it calmly with her right foot and into the goal.
Mallory Swanson is ON. FIRE.
— NBC Sports Soccer (@NBCSportsSoccer) July 28, 2024
Three goals in two #ParisOlympics games!
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BONN: Swanson making up for lost time at Olympics
Trinity Rodman (forward): 9
Rodman delivered possibly her best tournament game in a USWNT jersey (albeit one of the muted, crestless jerseys permitted at the Olympics). She not only was a terror with her speed on the right sideline, as she’s been before, but also was involved in the first goal on a 1-2 exchange with Rose Lavelle that led to Rodman’s ball across the face of goal to Sophia Smith for a 1-0 lead. Rodman did commit a costly turnover in the 62nd minute that presented Germany with what could have been a game-changing possession, but after a sequence that involved Naeher making a point-blank save and the rebound squirting beyond right back Emily Fox, Rodman scraped it away from the left post and cleared the danger. And Rodman’s play on the final U.S. goal was sublime. She picked the ball off Klara Buhl, executed a beautiful spin move to generate an attack, passed forward to Swanson and celebrated when Lynn Williams made it 4-1.
Substitutes
Emily Sonnett (central defense): 7
The USWNT’s most versatile player got the call to replace Davidson after her injury. Sonnett has played right back, left back and defensive midfield, but this almost certainly was her first major tournament playing as a center back. (She did go 90 minutes there for the U.S. in a 3-0 friendly victory in June against the Korea Republic.) She had an important header early in the second half to clear away an opposing threat. Her ability to play so many positions makes Sonnett indispensable in the Olympics, which allows each team only 16 outfield players for a six-game tournament.
Lynn Williams (forward): 8
She didn’t make a long appearance, only about a dozen minutes counting added time, but when you are a forward who scores the game-clinching goal off the bench, you get a high grade. Williams did a great job fielding Swanson’s pass forward on the left, and her shot inside the far post was perfect.
Casey Krueger (left back): 6
It was as about as brief an appearance as one can make in a soccer game.
Jenna Nighswonger (right back): 6
Same.
