USWNT beats Australia, will face Japan in Olympic quarterfinal
The U.S. women's national team is headed to the Paris Olympics quarterfinals.
Despite tired legs – the Americans played three group stage matches within seven days — the USWNT defeated Australia 2-1, thanks to goals by Trinity Rodman and Korbin Albert, to win Group B and advance to the knockout round. The U.S. will face Japan in Paris on Saturday.
Coach Emma Hayes rolled out the same starting lineup as she had in the previous two matches, except for Emily Sonnett replacing Tierna Davidson at center back. Davidson left the last match against Germany and was unavailable to play against Australia due to a leg contusion. Jaedyn Shaw, who suffered a leg injury before the squad's first game against Zambia, hasn't played one second of these Olympics yet.
The Matildas, meanwhile, didn't have iconic striker Sam Kerr, who was ruled out for the Games while recovering from a torn ACL. Though they were still able to get on the score sheet when Alanna Kennedy put one away in stoppage time.
Despite the multiple injuries on the U.S. side, Hayes opted against too much rotation. She has said she wants her starters to get as much playing time together as possible in order to build momentum as they go deeper into the tournament. Captain Lindsey Horan and Sophia Smith played the full 90 minutes, while Mallory Swanson played 79. Hayes did use all five of her subs, though.
Here are takeaways from the match:
Play of the game
After a fairly slow and sluggish start against Australia's low block, the U.S. finally broke through just before halftime.
In the 43rd minute, Rose Lavelle blasted a corner kick that Smith headed towards the bottom right corner of the goal. Rodman, who was smartly following the ball, got her right foot on the end of it before it bounced out of bounds to score her second goal of these Olympics and put her team up 1-0.
The goal, however, was followed by a particularly long delay due to a VAR technological failure (which the broadcast later reported had to do with a referee communication problem). Officials were checking to see if Sam Coffey, who was not directly involved in the play, was offside. She wasn't, and Rodman's goal stood. but the lengthy review period resulted in 10 extra minutes of stoppage time.
Turning point
In the 77th minute, Albert scored her first senior national team goal to put the USWNT up 2-0. The 20-year-old midfielder is the first U.S. woman to score her first international goal at an Olympics, and it ended up proving to be a critical one after Australia scored in the final moments of the match.
Albert was the center of controversy earlier this year when she shared an anti-gay video on social media and "liked" a post that appeared to celebrate USWNT legend Megan Rapinioe's injury in her final professional game.
But as soon as Albert's powerful strike hit the back of the net, her teammates swarmed her in celebration.
Hayes was confident in her decision to include Albert on this roster, which she said was based on merit. When Hayes announced the Olympics roster last month, she told reporters that she had conversations with Albert and that there's "been a lot of work that's been going on in the background" with the young player.
"I think it's really important that everybody in this team understands the importance of not just being tolerant and respectful and understanding the things that are going to matter to us all," Hayes said at the time. "Korbin has had to learn and my experiences with her has been someone who is a young person who has understood fully the implications of social media activity."
Key stat
The U.S. will be without Coffey for the quarterfinal after she was issued her second yellow card in as many games.
Coffey started all three group stage matches in the central midfield and has been a mainstay in Hayes' starting lineups this year. Look for Coffey to be replaced by Albert, who was able to build more minutes in the second half and score an important goal. Albert is also sitting on a yellow entering the next game, but cards will reset after the quarterfinals.
What's next for the USWNT?
It's onto the knockout round. The U.S. finished in first place in Group B, which means it will take on Japan, the runners-up in Group C, in Paris on Saturday.
Winning the group means the USWNT will avoid facing defending World Cup champion Spain a little bit longer. The two nations would only play each other if both were to make it to the final on Aug. 10.
Laken Litman covers college football, college basketball and soccer for FOX Sports. She previously wrote for Sports Illustrated, USA Today and The Indianapolis Star. She is the author of "Strong Like a Woman," published in spring 2022 to mark the 50th anniversary of Title IX. Follow her on Twitter @LakenLitman.
