U.S. women's soccer team beats Brazil for Olympic gold medal

PARIS

The U.S. national soccer team was looking for a name for the dynamic trio of young forwards who lead its women's national team. On Saturday, it found one.

Olympic champions.

With Mallory Swanson, the eldest of that formidable trio of 20-somethings, scoring the game's only goal in the 13th minute of the second half, the United States beat Brazil 1-0 in the gold medal final of the Paris Games, giving the Americans their first Olympic title in 12 years and a record fifth championship in eight attempts.

Paris 2024 Summer Olympics

“It's just crazy,” Swanson said. “I don't think it's really sunk in yet.

You always say you want to win a gold medal. You never know when it's going to happen, how it's going to happen, you don't know if it's going to happen.

I'm so grateful I was able to do it with this.

The United States has received a helping hand from new coach Emma Hayes, who has changed the tone of a program that is once again showing youthful verve and zest for life.

The last time the United States won soccer gold, the country didn't have a top-tier women's professional league and Hayes had just taken over at Chelsea in England. On Saturday, wearing an American Eagle pendant given to her by her late father, Hayes looked up at the Parc des Princes stands and saw her mother sitting next to Tom Cruise.

At the final whistle, she leaned down and kissed the pendant hanging around his neck.

“I wouldn’t be here without him,” Hayes said of her father, Sid, who encouraged her to apply for the open U.S. job last September, just before he died. A month later, she kept her promise and accepted.

“America means a lot more to me than most people think,” said Hayes, who got his first professional coaching job in the United States at the age of 25. “I came from a pretty staid society that didn’t welcome the women’s game and women in football. And I went to America and they looked after me, they nurtured me, they opened doors for me and they gave me opportunities that England never gave me. I’m so happy to be able to give back.”

Due to his contract with Chelsea, Hayes was unable to complete his first training session with the national team until June 1. Seventy-one days later, that team were Olympic champions.

U.S. soccer players stand with their gold medals after beating Brazil at the Parc des Princes during the 2024 Summer Olympics on Saturday in Paris.

(Aurélien Morissard / Associated Press)

As soon as I got the job, Hayes said when asked when she knew it was possible. I knew the players. I knew their abilities.

However, captain Lindsey Horan said credit goes to Hayes and his coaches, who provided the missing ingredients.

“We felt their confidence, their assurance, their belief,” she said. “And I think that’s what made this possible.”

We're all playing happily, Swanson added. We're having a lot of fun.

Hayes too.

“I had a blast this month,” she said, her tone coarse. “I had a blast. Sometimes I felt like I was in college. I felt lighter than I have in a long time.”

Brazil goalkeeper Lorena, left, fails to stop a shot from U.S. forward Mallory Swanson during Team USA's victory on Saturday.

(Vadim Ghirda / Associated Press)

That's not the case with previous national teams, which have played with arrogance but without a smile. This team has both, with the young forward line of Swanson, 26, Trinity Rodman, 22, and Sophia Smith, who turned 24 on Saturday, who have combined to score 10 of the 12 goals in the Olympic tournament, more than any other team.

The three had never started a game together before Hayes arrived last spring.

The match-winning goal came from Swanson, but it was midfielder Korbin Albert who set up the Brazilian. After a clumsy pass from the Brazilian in the American half, Albert recovered the ball and sent a pass to Swanson, who timed her run perfectly, remaining offside by the narrowest of margins. The forward, playing in her 100th international, then dribbled into the box and made a few missteps in an attempt to distract Brazilian goalkeeper Lorena before scoring with a right-footed shot, her team's top scorer for the fourth goal of the tournament.

Goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher then did the rest, making four saves, including a superb save on Adriana's header in second-half injury time, to record her third consecutive round-of-16 shutout and win her first Olympic gold medal, the only accolade that had eluded her in a 10-year international career. Naeher has conceded just one goal in her last 488 minutes in France.

Naeher, 36, the oldest player on the youngest starting lineup the United States has used in an Olympic final this century, also had high praise for Hayes, who is undefeated in 10 games with the team.

“We feel that confidence in her, and I think she’s just encouraged everybody to bring their special, unique abilities in whatever way fits the team,” Naeher said. “Obviously, we have a team identity, but [shes] also allowing people to be individuals.

For Brazil and the legendary Marta, named the world's best player six times and playing in her final world championship tournament, Saturday's result marked the third time they have lost to the United States by a goal in an Olympic final.

“It was a very emotional moment,” said Marta, 38, who was cheered by the cheering crowd as she received her third silver medal. “I competed in my first Olympic Games when I was 18. Today I am surrounded by very young players and I hope that all the struggles and difficulties I have gone through since I started have helped pave the way for them.”

Brazil's Marta, right, consoles a teammate during the medal ceremony after losing to the United States in the gold medal match Saturday in Paris.

(Aurélien Morissard / Associated Press)

I left my family at 14 to pursue my dream of playing football, a sport that wasn’t always considered a women’s sport. Today, things have changed and it’s arguably one of the most popular sports and it’s still growing. I feel nothing but pride right now.

The same could be said of Hayes.

“Of course, professionally, it's probably much more important than anything I've ever done,” she said. And she added that my mother has Mission Impossible today.

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