For the first time in 12 years, the U.S. women’s soccer team has won an Olympic gold. The Americans sealed the deal on Saturday with a 1-0 win against Brazil. It was Mallory Swanson who delivered the game-winning goal in the 57th minute. But there were also many other big plays that made the difference for the U.S. One of those pivotal plays happened in stoppage time when goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher came up with a one-handed save to preserve the win.
The U.S. women’s soccer team now owns five Olympic gold medals. The Americans hadn’t won gold since the London Olympics in 2012.
“We’ve grown so much,” Swanson said, per the Associated Press. “And that’s really cool to me seeing that. We’ve grown on and off the field. And you keep probably hearing it — we’re playing with joy. We’re having so much fun and I’m just so happy.”
Led by new head coach new coach Emma Hayes, the U.S. earned its third victory over Brazil in an Olympic final.
“I’m very emotional. It’s been a dream of mine to be in this position,” Hayes said, per the AP. “I have to thank my dad because he’s the one who pushed me to this point to be able to come and coach an unbelievable group of players that have received me so well and taken on board everything I have asked. They are tremendous people and players and role models. Yeah, I love them.”
The U.S. relied on the trio of Sophia Smith, Trinity Rodman and Swanson to lead the offensive attack throughout the Olympics. The three stars scored 10 of the 12 U.S. goals. Meanwhile, Naomi Girma proved to be an moveable force on defense.
“We always believed,” Girma said, per the AP.
The trio of Smith, Rodman and Swanson have earned nicknames such as “The Trident,” “Holy Trinity” and “The Big Three.” But the one they like most is “Triple Espresso.”
“We have a proposal for our trio name to be ‘Triple Espresso.’ So we’re going to put that out into the air and let people run with that, because we like that as well,” Rodman said, per Today.com.
For Brazil’s legendary player, Marta, it was a heartbreaking end. Marta, a six-time world player of the year, never won a Women’s World Cup or an Olympic gold. Marta is not expected to play in another international tournament.
