USWNT forward Trinity Rodman: We’re more connected as a team
Trinity Rodman believes the USWNT are more connected now than ever heading into the Olympic Games Paris 2024.
That is in part thanks to the arrival of new head football coach Emma Hayes, who joined the Americans earlier this month.
“The way she [Hayes] connects with players is so good,” Rodman told Vanity Fair.
“The honesty and upfront meetings that she has with people, I think, helps a lot with people’s confidence and the way that they go into games.”
It has resulted in a more collective feeling in camp, bringing the players together even more.
“I feel like we’re more connected as a team and we’re working for each other,” Rodman added.
“Not that we weren’t before, but I think recently it’s been more of a team effort and not just relying on certain people’s skill sets and magic moments.”
Paris 2024 will give the USA a chance to right the wrongs of the 2023 World Cup, where they were subject to their earliest-ever exit when Sweden beat them in the Round-of-16.
But they know it won’t be that simple.
Long gone are the days of the USWNT’s dominance, which saw them win back-to-back World Cup titles in 2015 and 2019.
“In the past, obviously it’s been the US over everything, and that’s not a secret,” the Washington Spirit attacker said.
“But now, I like to give kudos to where the women’s game has progressed to and grown to.
“These teams are advancing with youth, with physicality, tactically, technically, everything – I think the game is growing, which makes it harder and harder for us to stay at the top.”
Hayes’s side kick off their Olympic campaign against Zambia on Thursday 25 July, followed by meetings with Germany and Australia in Group B.