The U.S. Women’s National Team opens the Olympic group stage against Zambia on Thursday, and coach Emma Hayes confirmed that all members of the team are healthy and available for selection.
Hayes, along with forward Sophia Smith and defender Emily Fox, spoke on Tuesday afternoon from Marseille, where the team has been training for the past week before traveling to Nice for a match against Zambia before returning to Marseille for their final group stage match. Germany and Australia.
Smith noted that Marseille was “very calm” compared to what he’d heard about Paris, the main Olympic host city. “It’s actually nice for us to be able to retreat into our own world a little bit and just concentrate and prepare,” he said.
Hayes echoed this theme of focus during his portion of the media call, repeatedly emphasizing that the team must “control the controllable.”
“We continue to focus on the process. Everybody’s adapted and got used to it (training in Marseille). It’s taken a few days, that’s why we came back early,” Hayes said. “I think some of the details that we’ve been working on really came through in our final training session today, so I’m happy with that.”
First, Zambia
Hayes said she believes the U.S. Women’s National Team is as prepared as possible heading into the season opener and has made the most of every opportunity on and off the field during her time with the team.
“I think the team is exactly where we need to be at this point,” she said.
No group stage match will be easy for the U.S. Women’s National Team, but Zambia in particular could determine the direction of their journey in Group B. Also, this will be the first time the U.S. has faced Zambia, so there is no past record to consider.
All eyes will be on Zambia and Orlando Pride star striker Barbra Banda, who made waves in her last match. Olympic He scored consecutive hat tricks in Japan. Netherlands He played against China in the group stage. Since joining the Pride in March, he has scored 12 goals and provided five assists and is competing with KC Current’s Themwa Chawinga for the NWSL Golden Boot award.
Speaking to Sam Mewis earlier this month, Hayes called Banda the most in-form striker in the world and also provided a tactical assessment of their opening-day opponents.
Banda is one of Zambia’s biggest stars. (Sayed Khan/AFP via Getty Images)
“Their transition ability is better than any team I’ve seen in the world,” she said. “We’ve been watching them and their ability to go from the back to the front is unbelievable. So that structure is going to be essential for us, that’s the foundation, what to do when you have the ball, how to think about what’s going to happen when there’s a turnover, making sure we get those things right.”
Hayes said Zambia has benefited from the expertise of Lisa Cole, who joined the U.S. women’s national team staff when she was hired this spring. Cole was previously part of Zambia’s technical staff and played a key role in bringing Banda to Orlando.
“We know Banda very well,” Hayes added, “and we’ve put together a game plan that takes into account all of his strengths.”
Most of the starting backline for the U.S. Women’s National Team has experience surrounding Vanda. Northwest, ArsenalFox has yet to face her.
“Luckily, I’ve been to some NWSL games so I know what a threat she can be,” Fox said Tuesday. “We’re just focused on ourselves and we know their whole team is a threat, especially their transition, so we’re prepared for that.”
Fox joined Arsenal in January (Naomi Baker/Getty Images)
Relying on a “one game at a time” mentality
Coach Hayes stressed that the team’s focus is on the opening game.
“It’s a mistake to think or talk any other way. It always is,” she said. “You can’t talk about the whole tournament. You have to win your first match, then you have to compete to win your second match, then you have to win your group, and only then are you in a position to talk about anything else,” Hayes said.
When asked about managing the demanding rhythm of the Olympics, with a three-day turnaround period between group stage matches, Hayes again said it was all about taking things one step at a time.
Hayes was also cautious about discussing the possibility of arriving in Paris, site of the gold medal match.
“I think that kind of comment is disrespectful to the rest of the world. Football has evolved to a stage where that’s not the case anymore. It’s not a given that you’ll be in some tournament. You have to win it,” she added. “With the development of women’s football all over the world, it’s not a given that a top footballing country will be in this tournament.”
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Hayes added that any team can beat anyone and no one should be surprised by it anymore. “We need to refocus and respect the rest of the world,” she concluded.
There’s no World Cup storyline within the U.S. Women’s National Team.
Ten of the U.S. women’s 18-player Olympiad lineup also played in Australia and New Zealand last summer, but the message was clear Tuesday: The team’s World Cup exit in the round of 16 is well in the past and no one is looking back.
“We’ve moved on from last summer,” Smith said, “and we can’t bring that into this environment now. This is a completely new environment, new opportunity, a lot of new players.”
Smith noted that the team has already made progress since Hayes took over as head coach, including implementing new strategies for the Olympics.
But for Smith, there’s no point in looking back. Hayes agreed, even from an outside perspective a year ago. “Our motivation is to play for America and compete for America. Our motivation is not just to right a wrong. Not at all,” the former Smith said. Chelsea The coach added.
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The U.S. Women’s National Team will open the season against Zambia at Stade de Nice at 9 p.m. local time (3 p.m. ET), and the match will be broadcast in the U.S. on USA Network and available to stream on Peacock and Universo.
(Top photo: Angela Weiss/AFP via Getty Images)
