USWNT opens Olympics with shutout win over Zambia

The U.S. women’s national team is off to a perfect start at the 2024 Paris Olympics following a 3-0 win over Zambia in its tournament opener.

Trinity Rodman scored once while Mallory Swanson added a brace in Nice, handing head coach Emma Hayes a resounding victory in her first competitive match at the helm.

As soon as the whistle blew, the USWNT were attacking on the front foot with Emily Fox feeding a cross to Lindsey Horan for a big chance inside the opening minute. Sophia Smith forced the first save out of Zambian goalkeeper Ngambo Musole in the fifth minute before Rodman and Smith both hit the crossbar.

Nerves started to shake for fans watching from home who began to have flashbacks of the last USWNT match when Costa Rica’s low block couldn’t be broken down in an eventual 0-0 draw. 

Luckily, Rodman didn’t feel those same nerves.

In a move that began with Smith dancing down the touchline past Zambian defenders to feed Horan, Rodman completed a slick turn in the box when she received a pass from Horan, dropping her defender to the floor and opening up a simple finish for herself. The Washington Spirit winger’s first international goal of the calendar year boosted the USWNT in front 1-0.

That’s all the team needed. Once they saw one goal go in, the floodgates opened.

Set up by a gorgeous outside of the boot assist from Horan and another from Smith, Swanson bagged a brace with two goals just 66 seconds apart.

Zambia created a couple of opportunities on the counterattack, as they would the rest of the match but nothing to seriously test Alyssa Naeher. However, their comeback hopes took a bit before halftime as centerback Pauline Zulu was sent off by VAR due to denial of an obvious goal scoring opportunity.

Smith was substituted shortly after the ejection as a precaution as the first half ended.

Instead of running up the scoreline to build an unbeatable goal difference in Group B, the USA conserved energy and prevented injury in…

Source link : https://sbisoccer.com/2024/07/uswnt-opens-olympics-with-shutout-win-over-zambia

Author : Larry Henry Jr

Publish date : 2024-07-25 21:59:51

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