Trinity Rodman to the rescue!
After over 100 minutes of lackluster soccer from the U.S. women’s national team, Rodman took matters into her own hands with a clutch curler to send the Americans into the Olympic semifinals with a 1-0 extra-time win over Japan at the Parc des Princes on Saturday.
The 90 minutes of regulation told the story of an increasing challenge for the USWNT in which they struggle to break down a low block. In this case, however, rather than lacking the finishing product on a host of chances as we have seen in the past, the Americans struggled to create chances at all against Japan’s organized 5-4-1 defensive structure in Paris.
Similar to the final group stage game against Australia, Naomi Girma’s passing statistics became the biggest storyline of the first half. After completing 79 passes in that first half (more than Australia’s 75), Girma completed an astonishing 105 passes in the first half against Japan — a new record for any player in a major tournament knockout match since such data began being recorded in 2011.
Still dominant, the USWNT possession dropped slightly in the second half from 78% to 70%, but the passes continued to be played in the defensive third. By the end of regulation, Girma and center-back partner Emil Sonnett completed 152 passes to each other. Once the Americans reached the attacking third, however, they couldn’t complete a pass to threaten Japan.
Surprisingly, head coach Emma Hayes didn’t make a single substitution as the team began to tire in the late stages of regulation, only making her first at the start of extra time with Lynn Williams replacing Mallory Swanson.
Individuals continued to fight for the opening goal as Sophia Smith pressed alone, winning the ball from Japanese center-back Moeka Minami, and putting herself in on goal for the biggest USWNT chance up to that 96th minute. Unfortunately, Smith saw her shot saved but she wasn’t the only individual leaving…
Source link : https://sbisoccer.com/2024/08/rodmans-extra-time-winner-helps-uswnt-earn-olympic-semifinal-spot
Author : Justin Ruderman
Publish date : 2024-08-03 18:50:53
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