PARIS – Trinity Rodman told herself, promised herself, that she wouldn’t cry if they beat Brazil at Parc des Princes on Saturday and won the United States’ first gold medal in women’s soccer in 12 years.
No chance.
Whistle.
Waterworks.
The U.S. women had won eight World Cups or Olympic titles, but the ninth felt different. It wasn’t accompanied by an air of expectancy or coronation. They were just another team in the tournament this time that won its three knockout stage games all by 1-0, two requiring extra time, none of them overly convincing.
But gold is gold, and when you haven’t won in 12 years, when you haven’t reached a final in the last three global tournaments, the champagne tastes better.
“How we ended the World Cup obviously wasn’t amazing,” defender Crystal Dunn said of the round of 16 exit last year, their earliest ever. “But I don’t think anybody was, oh my God, the federation is doomed, we’re never going to be successful ever again. I think we were like, ‘OK, that wasn’t great. Let’s get back to work and let’s get back to who we are.’”
“I mean,” San Diego Wave defender Naomi Girma said, “we always believed.”
Team USA brought an 18-woman roster to France.
Number of gold medalists: zero.
“That’s one thing we talked about before the tournament started, that no one on this team has a gold medal,” goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher said. “It’s been a long time since any U.S. team has gone into a tournament with that. That was something we wanted to do together.
“Yeah, we’ve got a special group. We dug deep all the way through.”
Saturday’s final against Brazil looked like the two previous games: tight, taut, tense, few chances, some nervous stretches, a single moment of magic followed by lockdown defense, 1-0 win.
It was their third Olympic final against Brazil, all wins, and leaves the iconic 38-year-old Marta without a major title in what likely was her final tournament.
After weathering the Brazilian storm through much of the first half, new U.S. coach Emma Hayes made some halftime tweaks, moving her chess pieces farther up the field, not giving the one-named Brazilian wizards time to turn with the ball, aggressively pressing to force turnovers with her double pivot of defensive midfielders that included 20-year Korbin Albert (and not, notably, veteran star Rose Lavelle).
One came in the 57th minute, and soon Albert was threading a through ball as forwards Sophia Smith and Mallory Swanson both made similar runs behind the Brazilian back line.
Smith was closer to the ball, but she was also offside.
“Leave it, leaaaaaaave it,” she suddenly heard from behind her.
It was Swanson, who was onside, recognizing that if Smith touched the ball the offside flag would go up.
“I was like, ‘Don’t touch it. Do not touch this,’” Swanson said. “Then it was on me to put it away.”
She opened her hips and ripped a right-footed shot past Brazilian goalkeeper Lorena for the game’s only goal in her 100th U.S. appearance.
That she scored it just completed the fairy tale. Swanson tore ligaments in her knee in April 2023, just months before the World Cup, and didn’t return to the national team for a full year.
“Pure happiness,” Smith said of watching Swanson score the winning goal in the gold medal game. “Mal is a competitor, she’s a winner. To go through an injury like that is hard, and to come back in the way that she did is even harder. And she did it so gracefully. She did it just as Mal does everything. It’s been fun to watch, honestly.”
Brazil subbed in attackers and pushed for the equalizer over the final 30 minutes of regulation plus 10 more of injury time. Brazil fizzed several balls dangerously across the box, and Marta had a free kick sail over the bar. The best chance, though, came on a header by Adriana that Naeher somehow, someway, got her right glove on and parried to safety.
“Alyssa just out there doing Alyssa things,” Dunn said.
As the final whistle sounded and the U.S. players mobbed Naeher, Hayes stood on the sideline, lifted a necklace to her mouth and kissed it.
It was a gift from her father, Sid, who told her before he died last year that if she ever got the chance to coach the famed U.S. Women’s National Team, she should. The job opened after Vlatko Andonovski was fired last August following the World Cup debacle; Hayes agreed to replace him but only if she could complete the English season with the Chelsea women.
She arrived in May. Three months later, gold medal.
She left legendary forward Alex Morgan home. She didn’t sub until late in a scoreless quarterfinal against Japan on a torrid day, then watched Rodman, who had struggled to that point, score in extra time. She benched Lavelle, an automatic starter for years, in the gold medal game for a 20-year-old with 17 caps and one goal, then watched her get the assist on the game’s lone goal.
Her record as U.S. coach: 9-0-1, with 20 goals scored and two allowed.
“I’ve said it before, winning is in my DNA,” Hayes said. “I’m used to being in finals. I’m used to getting trophies. And so is the U.S. Women’s National Team. I didn’t actually realize until after the game that players hadn’t had a gold medal. I just assumed they had.
“This is part of the DNA, … and that mentality is why I love the country. That’s why I’m so made for it, because of that mentality of never, ever say die and gut it out and grit it out and grind it out. We find things in ourselves that weren’t there before.”
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