When is a 3-0 victory in a major world soccer tournament not a triumph?
A. When the opposition team sits nearly 60 positions lower in the FIFA rankings?
B. When the opposition spends more than half the game down a player?
C. When your expected goals (xG) figure is just a shade under 5?
D. All of the above.
Yes, I made that question too easy.
But as we saw with the United States women’s national team in their Olympic opener Thursday in Nice, it is possible to blunder even in such a circumstance. The USWNT, ranked No. 5 in the world, earned a 3-0 win over world No. 64 Zambia in the first game of Group B competition, which leads into a much more challenging second game Sunday in Marseilles against No. 4 Germany.
New coach Emma Hayes did open her major tournament record with a shutout win, and some of the passing sequences in the first half made it look like she’s been teaching this group plenty about how to create chances.
Now, can they finish a better percentage? Onto the player ratings.
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Who graded well for the USWNT?
Alyssa Naeher (goalkeeper): 7
What’s a fair grade for a keeper given literally nothing to do? She was credited with a few saves, but none of those was a serious opportunity.
Emily Fox (right back): 5.5
There was minimal responsibility defensively because she was played in advanced position so much of the match. She had a glaring chance to make it 4-0 late in the game, but her shot was blocked.
Naomi Girma (central defender): 8.5
Once again, Girma was flawless, and it’s not that she didn’t have anything necessary to do. She shut down at least three breakaway opportunities for Zambia’s gifted Barbra Banda by hustling into position and calmly knocking the ball clear. Zambia had little possession when they had 11 players, and it only dwindled when they went down to 10 players, but there were moments when Zambia managed to get free on the break.
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Tierna Davidson (central defender): 6.5
Before the U.S had established its dominance of the game, long before they found themselves with one more player than the opponent, Davidson was beaten badly down the right side and chose to foul to stop the attack. That led to a dangerous free kick for Zambia and could have put them in a 1-0 hole. Hayes has decided she likes what Davidson brings at the central position opposite Girma, but she still has work to do to erase the memory of her penalty foul against Canada in the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.
Crystal Dunn (left back): 5.5
Dunn began the game at left back but was given the opportunity to advance to her favored position up front after substitutions were made. In the 89th minute, Dunn had a perfect chance to put an extra goal onto the lead for the purpose of goal differential and goals scored – the first two tiebreakers in the group stage. But a perfect cross that created an uncontested header at the right post was botched. Dunn’s attempt went three feet wide of the goal.
Sam Coffey (defensive midfielder): 6
Coffey had little activity in the middle defensively, as the limited Zambia attacks came mostly down the left side. When given opportunities to get on the ball early in the game, she looked a smidge nervous and was too eager to play the ball backward. But against Zambia’s 10-player group, she grew more comfortable getting into the attack, including the foul she drew in the 76th minute in a dangerous spot above the box.
Lindsey Horan (midfielder) 7.5
Horan made some brilliant passes in this game, including those that led to goals. Much like the team as a whole, however, she does have a tendency to leave you wanting more. Perhaps if she’d been able to continue to explore her connection with longtime midfield partner Rose Lavelle, things would have gone better for the U.S. in the second half.
Rose Lavelle (attacking midfielder) 6.5
Coming off a pre-tournament injury, there was no need for Lavelle to go longer than a half given the 3-0 halftime score. She was not at her absolute best, as she flubbed a threatening free kick opportunity after Pauline Zulu committed the foul just outside the box that led to her red-card disqualification. But she also put in a beautiful corner kick in the 15th minute that led to a header by Horan that was cleared off the line, and Lavelle’s pass to Smith set up the third USWNT goal.
Sophia Smith (forward): 7
Smith was terrific during the 40 minutes she played, including her alert pounce on a turnover that led to Rodman heading a perfect cross off the bar and then two plays that did produce goals: her find of Lindsey Horan, who then assisted on Mal Swanson’s first goal, and then the direct assist on Swanson’s second. But she exited with an injury. The USWNT has had a terrible time staying healthy around big tournaments lately, including an injury that robbed them of Catarina Macario for this tournament after she missed two full years. They need Smith to be OK as this tournament continues.
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Mallory Swanson (forward): 8.5
Swanson made her first Olympic appearance in 2016, when she was taken to Rio as a teenager and given considerable playing time. But this marked her first major impact on this stage. She turned a 1-0 lead into 3-0 with two beautiful goals in the space of a minute. There could have been a hat trick, but her best chance in the second half was misspent. Swanson’s performance taking corners from the left side, which were hit too high and too long to find anyone at the far post, suggested Hayes might want to find a different strategy there.
Trinity Rodman (forward): 7
Rodman scored her first goal of the calendar year with a stunning heel pass to herself and spin move in the center of the box to get herself free from a defender and unsettle the keeper. She then fired a shot right into the geographic center of the net. But as has been the case on so many occasions, Rodman too often provided the “almost,” most notably a point-blank header in the box in the first minute of first-half added time that was sent 2 yards wide of the right post.
Substitutes
Lynn Williams (forward): 4.5
A replacement for the injured Catarina Macario, Williams played with a brace on her leg and looked a bit hobbled as well. Williams provided minimal threat despite the abundance of USWNT possession.
Korbin Albert (midfielder): 4
A halftime substitute for Lavelle, Albert had a great opportunity to score in the 56th minute off a beautiful pass from Horan, but she ignored an open teammate at the far post – and the wide open space in that direction – to put a shot directly at the keeper. That seemed to be a habit. In the final minute of added time, she once again ignored an opportunity to set up a teammate and fired a shot right at the keeper.
Casey Krueger (left back): 6
Not long after entering the game, in the 67th minute, Krueger had an opportunity to shoot from the left side of the box but took too long to fire and saw the shot blocked. She then gave away the rebound for what could have been a Zambia break. But she later put in a perfect cross in for Dunn, who misfired a header, and contributed defensively with a hustling run to foil a breakaway.
Jenna Nighswonger (right back): 5
It was hard to tell what position Nighswonger was playing because no one really was functioning as an outside back. She and Krueger were playing outside (slightly less) forward. She had limited access to the ball and few opportunities.
Emily Sonnett (midfielder): 5
If her job was to allow Horan to rest, she got that done for sure.