Time is not the enemy, U.S. women's national team head coach Emma Hayes has consistently said. Time is simply a circumstance -- one she cannot fight against.
The new coach had just four friendly matches and less than two months on the sidelines with the USWNT to prepare the team for the 2024 Olympics. Implementing new ideas and establishing chemistry was going to require time, she said, and that thought would serve as a guiding principle to all her decisions going forward.
"I can only control what I can control," she said in her introduction to reporters in late May. "Like, I'm here, I have that timeline."
On Wednesday, Hayes again opted to continue using her limited time available with the players to establish chemistry, rather than rotate her lineup amid a grueling tournament schedule. She made only one change -- forced by injury -- to her starting line-up, and chemistry appears to be coming together as the U.S. beat Australia 2-1 on Wednesday.
The U.S. came into the game having already booked a spot in the quarterfinal, but the Americans continued their domination. It was only the Americans' second time in history winning all three games of a group stage -- the other time came in 2012, when they won gold -- and the USWNT's nine goals was the team's most ever in an Olympics group stage.
Hayes' focus on Wednesday appeared to be continuing the momentum the USWNT had from its first two games of the tournament. A 3-0 win over Zambia to open the tournament preceded a 4-1 victory over Germany on Sunday in the Americans' best major-tournament performance since the 2019 World Cup. For the most part, the strategy paid off against Australia.
Forward Trinity Rodman scored on a set piece just before halftime, giving her a goal or assist in each of the team's three Olympic matches, and reserve midfielder Korbin Albert struck a stunning shot into the upper corner 13 minutes from full time for what ended up being the game-winning goal.
Australia, in need of a point to guarantee passage to the quarterfinals, lumped the ball forward in waves from there and got a goal back in stoppage time through Alanna Kennedy. Two minutes later, Kennedy came within inches of scoring an equalizer on another cross served into the box, but the ball skipped wide and Kennedy was left in tears postgame. She and her Australia teammates must wait to see how Group A plays out later Wednesday to see if they will advance as a third-place qualifier.
Rodman's run of form is part of a wider trend of success for the USWNT's dynamic forward line, which is peaking at the right time. Sophia Smith assisted Rodman's goal with a knockdown header from a corner kick, which also put her on the scoresheet for the third straight game.
It is the first time a pair of USWNT teammates have each registered a goal or an assist in all of the USWNT's group games since Alex Morgan and Abby Wambach did so in 2012, at the height of the Morgan-Wambach partnership.
There's little rest now for the Americans, who play again in just three days. The USWNT enters Saturday's quarterfinal against familiar foe Japan riding this upward swing in form, a run that makes recent scoring struggles in friendlies seem like a distant memory. Still, Hayes has insisted -- even after the convincing 4-1 victory over Germany on Sunday -- that there is work to be done still to create connections and increase confidence.
Wednesday, of course, bolstered confidence in a different way. It was not a match like the wide-open win over Zambia, nor the toe-to-toe battle with a relatively equally talented German side. Instead, Wednesday provided proof that the Americans could handle an opponent in a low defensive block, too, which has long been one of USWNT's demons even against top opponents, as it was in the USWNT's 2016 Olympic quarterfinal elimination to Sweden.
Needing only a draw to advance, the Matildas sat in a compact, ultra-defensive 5-2-3 formation and frequently packed all 10 field players within 30 yards of their own net to clog the USWNT's passing channels. It was a sound strategy from Australia coach and former USWNT assistant Tony Gustavsson -- the Americans had struggled with that tactic two weeks earlier against an inferior Costa Rica side.
This time, though, the Americans were patient, controlling the match by swinging the ball laterally and probing with intent -- a departure in style we've seen from the USWNT during this Olympics . There were no signs of frustration from the Americans, as there have been in the past.
"The last part's the hardest part," Hayes said after that scoreless draw with Costa Rica on July 16. "And I'm really patient, because I've coached teams that have to break blocks down, and it's the hardest thing to do in coaching."
On Wednesday, the Americans got it right. What looked like an insurance goal from Albert ended up being the game-winner, and aside from a brief defensive lapse at the end of Wednesday's match as Australia threw the kitchen sink (including the goalkeeper) forward, the Americans have been in control of games.
There was a risk to Hayes' strategy on Wednesday, however, and it reared its ugly head three minutes into the match. Defensive midfielder Sam Coffey was shown a yellow card early for a tackle on Australia midfielder Katrina Gorry. It was Coffey's second caution of the tournament, meaning she is suspended for the quarterfinal.
Coffey has been integral to the USWNT during the team's rebuilding process since last year's World Cup failure (which she was not part of). She is the team's only dedicated holding midfielder on the Olympics roster, and her absence on Saturday leaves a conundrum for Hayes.
Centerback Tierna Davidson missed Wednesday's match with a leg contusion. Emily Sonnett stepped into Davidson's role as the only lineup change from the previous two matches. Davidson and Naomi Girma, who is arguably the best centerback in the world at 24 years old, is a pairing that has been one of the fruitful developments under Hayes, including during the time interim coach Twila Kilgore guided the team.
Hayes has a problem if Davidson isn't fit for Saturday's match. Sonnett is the closest like-for-like replacement for the suspended Coffey, but Sonnett would be needed in the defensive line again in Davidson's absence.
Casey Krueger could step into central defense to allow Sonnett to play in the defensive midfield role, as she did successfully throughout last fall, but Krueger has largely played fullback for the USWNT. A more likely scenario is that Albert, who has played across all three midfield positions since debuting for the USWNT late last year, earns the start alongside captain Lindsey Horan and attacking midfielder Rose Lavelle.
Whatever Hayes does, Coffey's absence looms large, and Hayes must now run those permutations. She must also manage potentially tired legs after opting for the least amount of lineup rotation for the USWNT at a major tournament since the 2000 Olympics, per Opta.
Will that come back to haunt the USWNT? Maybe, but Hayes has insisted that she refuses to look past the match in front of her. On Wednesday, she and the USWNT did just that: solved the problems in front of them.
There is value in that considering the USWNT's recent struggles against low blocks. Momentum, and the ongoing acceleration of relationships, is further reward. Japan, the next test, will offer more quality across the pitch than Australia did on Wednesday.
The Americans are now one win away from a guarantee of playing for a medal, which was the realistic benchmark heading into the tournament. Their performances thus far reinforce that a return to the top of podium is realistic -- even if it would be ahead of schedule, time be damned.
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