Trinity Rodman’s extra-time stunner sends USWNT to final four at Paris Olympics
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The United States women’s national team under new broom Emma Hayes are two wins from a record-extending fifth Olympic gold medal after a Trinity Rodman wonder strike in extra time broke open a tightly contested quarter-final with Japan that failed to catch fire until the final reel.
The women’s football tournament at these Paris Games should at least begin to determine whether the Americans’ torpid 46-month run under the departed Vlatko Andonovski will be remembered merely as their flop period or, as a practically salivating global football establishment have openly manifested, a permanent regression from the class of perennial favorite. The jury remains out but early returns are promising after the former Chelsea manager, who took the reins two months ago, has guided the US to four wins in her first four meaningful games. The Americans, held to only four goals in as many contests during last year’s World Cup washout, smashed in nine on a perfect run through the Olympic group stage. The wait for a 10th on Saturday afternoon was an often uncomfortable one, but its ultimate arrival has brought Hayes’ squad within touching distance of the podium.
