USWNT coach Emma Hayes confident in lineup choices: ‘I get paid to do this job’
PARIS — The U.S. women’s soccer team has advanced to the semifinals of the Olympic Games after beating Japan 1-0 in extra time at the Parc des Princes. This was thanks to Trinity Rodman’s left foot, a good dose of patience and a belief in consistency.
It wasn’t pretty football, but it was what the US expected. As the players walked through the mixed zone, they didn’t care what it looked like. They just wanted to advance to the semi-final against Germany in Lyon. And so did head coach Emma Hayes.
“I get paid to do this job,” Hayes said. “What I’m interested in is what we do internally. I’ve been coaching soccer for a long time. I’ve said it from the beginning: Connections help. I don’t think we would have made it if we had made too many changes.”
With Japan in a low block and content to have the ball for most of regulation time, the US could only attempt to push the ball horizontally across the back line from Emily Sonnett to Naomi Girma to Emily Fox and back. Their short forays forward were generally rebuffed and Japan stopped most attempts to create space.
By the second half of Saturday’s game, the crowd’s isolated whistles at the USWNT’s conservative passing game had escalated into stadium-wide jeers, repeatedly met with chants of “USA.” That discontent never went away, even after Rodman scored late in the first period of overtime, a stunning effort at the far post that her coach called “a world-class finish” after the game.
TRINITY RODMAN BOW. 👏
THIS IS ABSOLUTELY AWESOME. THE USWNT COMES INTO OVERTIME.#Olympic Games in Paris | 📺 US and Peacock photo.twitter.com/rNlebzAyOo
— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) August 3, 2024
It wasn’t the most fun game to watch and Rodman said it wasn’t the most fun game to play either, but games like this are inevitable in an international tournament.
“It was going to come down to something as brilliant as (the goal), if it came from me or anyone else on the field,” Rodman said. “We knew it wasn’t going to be a tiki-taka in the box. It was a moment we had to capitalize on and that’s what happened.”
There were questions all game about the tactical plan, about tired legs, about Hayes’ rotation in the starting line-up and the lack of substitutions. In every previous media appearance she had been determined to keep the same group of players together. Hayes has done it all week regarding the team’s lack of rotation, most notably on the Friday before the quarter-final.
“I’m not going to change anything I do,” she said. “We can’t play football like that. We just have to be prepared and deal with whatever comes along.”
Hayes did it again on Saturday. She didn’t want any questions asked about her first knockout win, because the team’s head coach considered it a big moment.
“I’m a coach who’s used to winning, so no,” she replied.
Rodman scored the game’s only goal in overtime (Marc Atkins, Getty Images)
Despite the victory, questions remained about the team’s final tournament performance at the 2023 World Cup. Forward Sophia Smith dismissed it again on Saturday afternoon, reiterating that the team has already passed the round of 16.
If you’ve been on sports-related social media for a while, you’ve probably seen the clip of ESPN commentator Stephen A Smith saying, “We don’t care. I’m here to tell you we don’t care.” That clip could just as easily be played on loop with the USWNT as they brush off any attempts to tag them with a story they don’t like or agree with.
And it starts with Hayes, who’s been around long enough to know how hard to push back and stop something before it starts. Before the Olympics, she consistently reframed the discussion from a potential gold medal to the team’s performance and what she needed to see. She did so after the group-stage win over Germany, and got a little laugh when she reminded everyone it was only three points.
There’s a shelf life for how long a strategy like this can last, but no matter what happens in Lyon on Tuesday, the USWNT will have a chance to play for a medal. Under a new head coach, that feels like living up to expectations.
Meanwhile, even if Saturday’s result wasn’t the most eye-catching, it was what the U.S. needed to keep the tournament going. There will be more questions. There’s another game against Germany in Lyon. It probably won’t end 4-1 in favor of the USWNT like the group stage, and there will be concerns about the health of two starting defensemen, now Tierna Davidson and now Fox.
But there will be no changes to Hayes’ approach. And on Saturday, this new version of the team showed that when given their chance, they are not only capable, but willing to take it.
(Top photo: Alex Gottschalk/Getty Images)
