Survive and advance: Winners and losers as Trinity Rodman steals show, subs cause concern, and USWNT reach Olympic semifinals

The USWNT are through to a semifinal matchup of the Olympics after a less-than-eventful game against Japan Saturday in Paris - that is, until extra time, when the U.S. finally sealed an impressive 1-0 victory with a clutch goal from 22-year-old Trinity Rodman.

The U.S. has now started an Olympic tournament with four wins for just the second time. The last came in 2012, when it ultimately beat Japan for the gold medal. And the USWNT now holds a 32-1-8 (W-L-D) advantage over Japan. The U.S. advances to the Olympic semifinals for the seventh time in eight tournaments and the 15th time in 17 total appearances at world championships, only failing to reach the semifinals at the 2016 Olympics and 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup.

“It’s not always flashy,” Hayes said about the tense match. “It’s not always what fans want to see, but this is football, and football requires different tactical abilities from game to game. We played the right game for the right opponent.”

Hayes also praised the Japan defense, saying “They’re exceptional. Their block is the best in the world at doing that, in terms of the way they shift, the way they step, the way they read the rotations. They work their socks off.”

Unfortunately, for the U.S. side, there were some knocks and bruises leaving question marks about who will be available for Emma Hayes’ side in the semifinal matchup against Germany Tuesday at noon ET. The USWNT beat the Germans 4-1 last week in the Olympic group stage.

And while the attack struggled to get past a parked Japan defensive unit, the unexpected absence of players was most concerning. Even before the quarterfinals, the U.S. were without Sam Coffey (yellow-card suspension) and center back Tierna Davidson (injury), so questions were obvious about how the midfield would perform, and who would be next to Naomi Girma. Korbin Albert joined Lindsey Horan in the midfield, and Emily Sonnet slid in beside Girma.

One of the biggest knocks to the team was in the late 199th minute when Emily Fox limped off. The Arsenal player has started in the backline for all four games in the Olympics, and was replaced by Casey Krueger. After more than 100 minutes of play, the U.S. got a tremendous game-winner from Rodman, and were able to slide into the next round of these Games. It was clearly a relief to see the burst of energy from Rodman in extra time, but subbing and looming injuries remain talking points heading into the semis.

GOAL breaks down the winners and losers from Saturday’s win over Japan.