The United States Women’s National Soccer Team (USWNT), revived by a fresh-faced coaching staff and a roster of young, dynamic players positioned to keep the squad at the top of the table for the next decade or more, won the Olympic gold medal on Saturday at Parc des Princes, defeating Brazil in the final 1-0. Team USA, which hadn’t won an Olympic gold medal since 2012, in London, and was bounced from last year’s World Cup in the round-of-16, the earliest-ever exit for an American team, returns to its familiar position as the team-to-beat.
After a scoreless first half in which Brazil attacked early and often, with an attempt at goal two minutes in and a fantastic chance in stoppage time that U.S. keeper Alyssa Naeher kept out of the net, Mallory Swanson put the U.S. on the scoreboard with a barely-defended run up the left side, off an assist from Korbin Albert. That invigorated the U.S. women, who followed with a couple more crowd-pleasing runs that were blocked by Brazilian defenders
In stoppage time, Naeher made a nifty one-handed stop to preserve the victory.
Emma Hayes, the Brit who won seven titles with Chelsea F.C. in the Women’s Super’s League and was tapped by U.S. soccer officials late last year to retool the USWNT—she joined after leading Chelsea in May to yet another championship—led the team to gold in her first global competition as head coach. Hayes made several key moves. First and foremost, she restored the players’ confidence in the team’s tactical approach. “The learning that we’re obtaining in the meetings, the field, everything that we’re taking in, I think that’s probably the coolest thing for me,” U.S. captain Lindsey Horan said before the Olympics. “To see players really thinking and really asking questions and getting challenged, that’s what we need.”
Hayes made the difficult decision to leave U.S. legend Alex Morgan off the Olympic roster. But that choice allowed Hayes to add a trio of lethal ball-strikers— Swanson, 26, Sophia Smith, 24, and Trinity Rodman, 22— to shoulder the scoring load. This group, nicknamed “Triple Trouble” by former USWNT player Christen Press, and “The Triple Express” by a U.S. fan interviewed by a very loud Parc des Princes emcee before the game, has rewarded Hayes’ faith. They have scored 10 of the USWNT’s 12 Olympic goals. Rodman curled a beautiful strike into the top left corner of the goal in extra time, against Japan, in the quarterfinal. Smith scored late against Germany in the semi final to give the United States a 1-0 victory and Swanson scored the gold-medal winning goal.
“I’ve got a job to do,” Hayes told TIME before the Olympics, discussing the social media outcry in some circles for her omission of Morgan. “My job is everybody’s hobby. So everybody’s entitled to an opinion, but at the end of the day, I’m the person who is charged with the responsibility of leading this team. And if I’m going to do that to the best of my ability, then I have to know how to shut out the noise. That’s something I’m comfortable doing.”
American soccer supporters turned out in droves in Paris, as expected, wearing red-white-and-blue Rodman, Smith, Horan, and Naomi Girma shirts—Girma, 24, played in every minute of the Olympics tournament, serving notice that she’s one of the best defensive players in the world. Noticeably absent were Morgan and Megan Rapinoe jerseys. The USWNT has turned the page. The team’s in golden hands.
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