The Resilient Story of the USWNT's Redemption

  If you have not noticed, everybody has been watching women’s sports this year. Whether it is just one or many, just the Olympics or the NCAA Tournament people have been tuning in. On Saturday over nine million people tuned in to the gold medal final here in the US and that just goes to show how much women’s sports have grown. For many young girls in this country, to see players they idolize being looked at as national heroes by not just girls anymore it has to be special. That is where the USWNT comes in.

On the US Women’s National Soccer team, there are players of many diverse backgrounds, from white to queer to black to everything in between. With that kind of diversity, there is a place for all kinds of fans of this team and all kinds of players on this team. The team is even coached by an English woman, Emma Hayes whose affinity for the US gave her the opportunity of a lifetime.

(August 10th, Fulltime of the Gold Medal Match at the Olympics)

The Program's Recent History:

Representation is a huge part of this team, as is advocacy. For the past decade, there have been players on the team like Megan Rapinoe who were very loud in advocating social justice issues. Pro representation and equality for everybody. Her advocacy for social justice in America stems back to Colin Kaepernick deciding to kneel during the national anthem to protest police shootings of unarmed Black men in this country. Several players over the past eight years have knelt in solidarity with victims of police brutality during the national anthem and have in turn faced bigoted and misogynistic attacks on them personally.

The USWNT sued the US Soccer Federation in 2019 for equal pay. They were suing for equal pay because the USWNT had won a gold medal in the 2012 Olympics and back-to-back World Cups in 2015 and 2019. The men on the other hand, failed to qualify for the World Cup in 2018, barely qualified in 2022 and the highest position they attained in a major competition since 1930. was fourth in the 2016 Copa America. In 2022 the USWNT got a court ruling that said the US Soccer Federation must pay both the men’s and women’s teams equal prize money for tournaments. This was a huge milestone for the Women’s team as it was something they had fought for, for years and earned with results on the field.

On the pitch though, the struggles were glaring for USWNT. Age played a factor, but the formations and rotations of players were nothing short of abysmal from manager Vlatko Andonovski. He mismanaged a situation in which Rose Lavelle was sitting on a yellow card heading into the last group stage match against Portugal, and the game needed to be defensive yet she started and picked up a second yellow card. In doing so, she was unavailable in their Round of Sixteen match against Sweeden. In that match there was a distinct lack of offense due to not having Lavelle, and as a result the game went to penalties where the US suffered their earliest exit in Women’s World Cup history.

(August Sixth, 2023 after Megan Rapinoe missed a penalty)

Reaction to the Failure of 2023:

The coverage of the USWNT in the 2023 Women’s World Cup from the media was nothing short of despicable. From former national team player Carli Lloyd, to the obnoxious yet underachieving Alexi Lalas, fans of the USWNT had to listen to them spew garbage about this teams off the field accomplishments. Both would say that the reason for the team’s struggles was they were distracted in advocating for social justice issues and that is why as opposed to age and a subpar coach.

Alexi Lalas on Twitter when replying to a person chastising people who

celebrated in the USWNT’s failure. He said “Don’t kill the messenger. This USWNT is polarizing. Politics, causes, stances, & behavior have made this team unlikeable to a portion of America.” This is ironic given he once tried to argue that players should not play if they do not stand for the national anthem which is indeed trying to kill the messenger as opposed to asking what they are protesting. He contributed to a toxic cesspool of ignorant hatred towards the USWNT and in turn created motivation along with the need for a response from the USWNT.

With the response needing to happen quickly, Coach Vlatko resigned in the weeks following the tournament. Interim manager, Twila Kilgore led the team to ten wins, three losses and one draw as they prepared for the Paris Olympic Games. In 2023, Emma Hayes was hired to be the next USWNT coach after she finished her season at Chelsea. The Olympics began on July 26th, and Emma Hayes became the manager of the USWNT on May 18th of this year, right after Chelsea’s season ended. She had two months until the Olympic Games which is not a lot of time to prepare a team to win a championship.

(August Third, 2024 USWNT Olympic starting lineup)

The Olympic Journey:

Before major international sports tournaments, there were normally warm up games and that is what these four games were. Not on the 18-player Olympic roster was released and did not feature the great Alex Morgan to the surprise of many. This marked the beginning of a new generation as former USWNT stars like Megan Rapinoe, Tobin Heath, and Christen Press (to name a few). As for the performance in those warm-up games, the USWNT won games against (two) South Korea, Mexico and drew against Costa Rica. Not a true indicator of how they would fare in the tournament but certainly one that provided optimism for American Women’s soccer fans.

In the group stage of the Olympics, the US flew to the knockout stage with a goal differential of seven goals which is wild considering Germany and Australia who are both powerhouses were in their group. Leading up to the knockout stage it was a question of how their young front three (The Trident) of Sophia Smith, Mallory Swanson and Trinity Rodman would respond to the pressure following last year’s World Cup. With all eyes on these three, they would need to step up in a major way to exorcise the demons of Australia.

Of five Olympic opponents the USWNT faced four were ranked inside of the top twelve, and three of the five were ranked inside of the top ten. In their quarterfinal matchup with Japan, the USWNT had to battle for extra time with goalie Alyssa Naeher and defender Naomi Girma having to make crucial defensive stops to prevent a Japanese goal. With a rare, sustained attack in extra time for Japan, this game had all the markings of last year’s disaster against Sweden. Then came along Trinity Rodman with a holy moment as she scored a marvelous goal that went opposite side top corner at the end of the first half of extra time. That goal would prove to be the winner and put the US in the semifinals of the tournament.

(August Third, after Trinity Rodman scored a goal against Japan)

        In the semifinals, the US would go on to play Germany for the second time in the tournament. This match would take place exactly a year after the Sweden catastrophe. The first meeting was a beatdown where the US won by three goals. The second meeting between the nations was tight through the first ninety minutes. Ann-Katrin Berger and Alyssa Naeher were brick walls throughout this match with a combined sixteen saves. Their resilient goalkeeping resulted in the most entertaining scoreless ninety minutes you will ever see. This game had the potential to go either way, but one thing was for certain: a goal was coming.

The action picked up right where we left off at full-time with German midfielder Klara Büh having her shot saved by Alyssa Naeher. In the ninety-fifth minute, and immediately following Naeher’s save, Sophia Smith and Crystal Dunn navigated the defense perfectly to put the US in front of Germany. With that goal, Smith became the second member of the trident to become a hero. The USWNT fended off a barrage of shots and attacks on their net from the Germans to win and advance to the Gold Medal Match. Smith’s goal avenged the demons of the 2023 World Cup and meant she would play for a gold medal on her birthday.

(August Sixth, after Sophia Smith's goal vs. Germany)

The US women had played a full one-hundred-twenty minutes twice heading into the gold medal match. Brazil on the other hand had won both of their games in regulation which meant they were going into the Olympic Final with as much rest as possible while the US was exhausted.

During the Gold Medal match, Brazil had more possession, more shots attempted and more shots on goal. On the line in this game for Brazil was getting one of the greatest players ever, Marta her first major tournament trophy. For the USWNT it was redemption from their recent lack of success along with a crown they looked to reclaim. The US defense showed their fatigue as multiple times Alyssa Naeher had to make incredible plays to keep Brazil off the scoreboard. To put the fatigue into perspective, Naomi Girma did not miss a single minute in the entire tournament, and it was on full display Saturday.

Brazil looked quite threatening in the first half as it felt they would be the one to open the scoring. Just as a Brazilian goal felt inevitable, time ran out on the first half and the US had a chance to regroup for the second half. Coming out of half time, the Emma Hayes squad, blitzed Brazil offensively and a goal felt inevitable in the way they pressured Brazil. The chances started to come for the US and on a through ball from Korbin Albert, Mallory Swanson became the last of the Trident to score in the knockout round. Her goal was developed well, and Swanson’s positioning meant it was route one to putting the US on the board. That goal proved to be the game winning one as it felt that the US had it in hand the way they defended the rest of the way, with confidence and poise.

(August Tenth, after Mallory Swanson's goal vs. Brazil.)

Critics have questioned what the US Women’s Soccer Team has in its heart. What the players are motivated to accomplish, whether it is success on the field or off the field. What this young yet determined program showed over the last three weeks was that success on the field and off the field can be had. This team showed a new generation of fans that patriotism does not have one definition, nor does resilience. A consensus on an example of both of those terms is winning a gold medal despite unfair hate and clear adversity is the most patriotic form of resilience one can find.

B's Closing Thoughts: It is the resilience of this team that is the reason it was necessary to write this article. It is the redemption of this program and its youthful players that I felt needed to be told. And it is the rarity of the USWNT having to prove themselves to the world that made this gold medal so special. Subscribe to get email notifications so you will know when my next article comes out. Hint: It will be soon and will be a column. Stay tuned for more about soccer with the European Football leagues starting up again as well as an opinion piece on the problem with American soccer as a whole.