Foot & Soccer Soccer Match Reports, Football News
A couple of braces. A clean sheet. A perfect start to the Emma Hayes era.
In their first game under new management, the USWNT cruised to a comfortable 4-0 win over South Korea in front of 19,010 fans in Denver, Colorado on Saturday as Tierna Davidson and Mallory Swanson shared the goals. With the win, the 10th head coach in USWNT history became the eighth to win on her debut while extending the American’s unbeaten history against South Korea (12-0-4) and in Colorado (8-0-1).
“I’m pretty tired. It’s hot out there at altitude!” Hayes opened her inaugural postgame press conference with a joke. “I’m English so that’s going to take some time.”
It took the U.S. about half an hour to settle into the match but once they began creating chances, the ball began hitting the back of the net. All the game needed to open up was a beautiful turn from Sophia Smith at the top of the box to transform a line-breaking entry pass from Naomi Girma into a silver-platter assist for Swanson to finish off. It’s a relationship between Smith and Swanson which Hayes believes has “another level” to reach.
“I couldn’t ask for any more. She’s a player I’ve always admired so to get the opportunity to coach her and see firsthand the quality she possesses [is a privilege],” Hayes raved about the inaugural goalscorer of her USWNT tenure. “She’s a connector. She’s really magnetic as a human being too in the way she operates in the team. She can multitask. She can do what she’s doing on the pitch and listen on the sidelines. I noticed that about her today. My goal is to keep her fit and keep her healthy because she’s an important part of this team.”
Less than five minutes later, Davidson rose up at the back post for a looping header into the opposite side netting to double the lead with her first USWNT goal in over 2,000 days. In her first USWNT start in as many days, assister Catarina Macario notched her first goal contribution in…
Source link : https://sbisoccer.com/2024/06/uswnt-cruise-to-4-0-victory-over-south-korea-in-emma-hayes-debut
Author : Justin Ruderman
Publish date : 2024-06-02 17:24:22
Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.
