USWNT comes out swinging at Paris Olympics but leaves 'a lot of room for improvement'

NICE, France — Professor Hayes – that would be United States women’s national soccer team coach Emma Hayes – does not grade on a curve, even in her first official match leading the team.

She would probably give her squad an “A” for the first 25 minutes of the USA’s 3-0 win Thursday over Zambia to start Group B play at the 2024 Paris Olympics .

“The first part of the first half was exceptional,” Hayes said after the match. “To come out the way we did – the intention, the intensity, the decision-making, the execution, should have been at least five (goals) at halftime.”

Two goal-line clearances, including one on a volley from captain Lindsey Horan, helped Zambia keep the U.S. at bay.

But as for the rest of the match, well, the Americans wouldn’t make the honor roll in Hayes’ class.

Creating the chances hasn’t been the issue, nor was that the case against Zambia. Hayes has been adamant that the goals would come.

“If you asked me before the game if we’d be happy with a three-nil winner, I would have probably said no,” she said. “However, for the performance and the chances created, finding the back of the net, I don’t want to be too hard on the players.”

The U.S. has a much tougher test in three days’ time against Germany. Improvement will be  necessary.

“That’s a given,” Hayes said.

The U.S. didn’t connect on its first nine shots of the match despite putting significant pressure on Zambia. Finally, Trinity Rodman found the back of the net. The 22-year-old said she entered her Olympic debut with nerves, but she didn’t show it when she deployed the “Trip Spin,” which is what she called the move that allowed her to slip her defender in the box and beat Zambia keeper Ngambo Musole.

“Going off this game, I think there’s still a lot of areas we need to improve, more finishes that should go in the back of the net still, even being up 3-0,” Rodman said. “So happy about the performance, but there’s still a lot of room for improvement.”

Overall, the U.S. outshot Zambia 27-7. The Americans managed to put only eight of those on net, however, and had a fair share of missed opportunities .They looked a bit like the squad that managed one goal over two games during pre-Olympic tune-ups against Mexico and Costa Rica – granted those matches were friendlies ahead of a major international competition with little intensity.

A first-half red card given to Zambia made finding seams all the more easier for the Americans to attack. But the U.S. did not score despite the advantage, although they had the game in hand by the 25th minute.

That was in large part thanks to 70 seconds of brilliance from Mallory Swanson. The U.S. forward scored the Americans’ second goal following a feed into the box from Lindsey Horan; Swanson hesitated, created an advantageous angle by drawing Musole off her line and converted.

A little more than a minute later, she was celebrating again. Swanson streaked up the middle again and this time took a pass from Sophia Smith – who left in the first half with an injury – and hammered it home.

Swanson said the beginning of the match “felt electric.”

“But there’s little things within that game, within the play, that we just need to fine-tune,” she said.

The squad is starting to come around to Hayes’ preferred style and principles, Swanson said. That’s been enjoyable, learning different things and applying them on the field.

“Emma keeps saying ‘It’ll come, it’ll come, it’ll come,’ so having her belief behind us, that means a lot,” Swanson said.

Hayes was brought in to raise the standards for the national team as it enters a new era without players such as stalwart Alex Morgan, one of the best goal scorers in USWNT history.

“I was really happy it wasn’t one of those days that the ball doesn’t go in the back of the net,” Horan said.

Performances like that plagued the Americans at last year’s World Cup (four goals total in four matches) and during the Tokyo Olympics (fourth-place finish, scoreless in three of six matches) – and is a major reason why Vlatko Andonovski is out and Hayes is at the helm.

The disappointments of the past two international tournaments don’t necessarily fuel the team, Rodman said. It’s a desire to show they are more than an athletic team with fast forwards.

“We’re so much more than that,” Rodman said. And I think we need to believe that, deep down, that we can break down teams, whether that’s passing it up and laying it off, moving off each other, there’s so much more depth that we can bring.

“I think living that and breathing that on the field is going to help us.”

Striving for a better grade from Professor Hayes might be one more motivating factor.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: USWNT comes out swinging at Paris Olympics but leaves 'a lot of room for improvement'