USWNT announces return to top with Olympic Gold announcement

PARIS – The U.S. women’s team has not responded everyone question at the Olympics. We still don’t know, for example, what these women would do if they were losing a game. I guess we’ll have to wait until the next tournament. Or the one after that.

Or the one after him.

Mallory Swanson scored the only goal in the final, USA beat Brazil and won goldand the Olympic Games were both a competition and a preview:

The Americans are better than ever. They didn’t just win the tournament. They made their opponents ask one of the most demotivating questions in sports: What do you do when the most talented team is also the toughest?

The U.S. has conceded two goals in six games. Swanson, Trinity Rodman and Sophia Smith have scored more goals at the Olympics (10) than any other team. Naomi Girma is already the next great U.S. defender. Girma is 24, Rodman 22, Swanson 26, Smith 24 — and the rest of the world has just thrown up.

The U.S. needed overtime to win the quarterfinals (against Japan) and the semifinals (against Germany), and Brazil was arguably the better team in the first half of the final. U.S. goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher had to make great defense in injury time vs. Brazil… so yes, the Americans could have definitely lost the competition. But that wouldn’t have changed the actual announcement.

Emma Hayes took over as coach two months ago and has already instilled in her the determination needed to win these events. Imagine what Hayes can do in two years.

“Of course Emma is going to be in the long run now, it’s going to be amazing,” veteran Crystal Dunn said. “She came in with an incredibly difficult task, but we just accepted it.”

Dunn also said: “If we’re at our best, if everything is working, if everything is working at its peak, I truly believe this team can be unstoppable. But it’s not easy.”

They played as if they didn’t want it to be easy. The most successful athletes like difficult circumstances: difficult weather conditions, basketball ties with two minutes to go, fifth sets in tennis matches. They think that what’s difficult for them will be more difficult for someone else. The United States has had teams like that before. They have one again.

Extra time is their friend. Dunn said they understand that “in these games, it’s going to take a while” and they need to be the ones to own it.

After the gold medal match ended, Brazilian legend Marta gave the judges more ears than they had ears. In addition to all her accomplishments, Marta now has the honor of losing four Olympic finals to the U.S. The first time was so long ago that the biggest name on the U.S. team was Mia Hamm.

“This young group is enjoying the journey because I think they now understand that it’s not just about putting on a jersey,” Dunn said. “It’s about getting the job done.”

The last few years of women’s soccer suddenly seem like a strange dream. Did the disappointing Vlatko Andonovski era really happen, or did we just imagine it? At the 2021 Olympics, Sweden looked like they had the best team in the world until they lost to Canada in the gold medal game. Sweden didn’t even qualify for those games. spy drone scandal undermined the program’s Olympic triumph.

At the 2023 World Cup, Spain defeated England in the final. Spain reached the semi-finals here, but England failed to qualify.

Also: Swanson tore her patella tendon three months before that World Cup and had to miss it. She couldn’t save the World Cup on her own. But she could definitely help.

Five years after Alex Morgan celebrated her victory over tea at the World Series, Swanson, Rodman and Smith have dubbed themselves “Triple Espresso.” The gap between those moments seems fleeting.

The talent level around the world is constantly improving. Every major tournament will bring its own set of challenges. The U.S. won’t win every game. But it should win more than anyone else.

“We’re always chasing the best version of ourselves,” Dunn said. “I think we’re on this steady climb. We know winning a gold medal is obviously amazing and we’re all going to celebrate that and soak it in. But there’s life after these Olympics.”

The weird dream is over. Triple Espresso and the USA just woke everyone up, damn it.