United States forward Trinity Rodman celebrates her goal with Emily Fox during the 2024 Olympic Games’ quarterfinals at Parc des Princes in Paris. (Photo Credit: Yukihito Taguchi | USA TODAY Sports)
After 90 scoreless minutes of play and fruitless attempts by both sides to find the back of the net in stoppage time, it was the U.S. women’s national team that won Saturday’s quarterfinal clash against Japan, 1-0, in extra time as stars from Mia Hamm to Snoop Dogg watched from the stands at Paris’ famed Parc des Princes.
The victory comes 12 years after the last Olympic meeting between the two foes which came in the gold medal match in London in 2012, which the Americans won 2-1.
While new head coach Emma Hayes has preached patience during her short tenure leading the squad, the U.S. seemed to struggle to strike a balance between picking their moments and playing a bit too predictably and without sufficient urgency against a talented Japanese team. As commentator and former USWNT star Julie Foudy put it during the…
