U.S. women’s soccer team kicks off Olympics with 3-0 win over Zambia

The U.S. women’s soccer team’s attack roared to life in its Olympics opener, as Trinity Rodman and Mallory Swanson scored to deliver a 3-0 win over Zambia.

All three goals came in the first half-hour, as did a Zambian red card that mostly decided the game at that stage.

You just about couldn’t come closer to scoring without doing it than the U.S. did in the first 15 minutes: nine shots, with two on target, two blocked, and two off the crossbar.

Rodman finally broke the glass in the 17th with a brilliant finish. Sophia Smith sprung up the left flank, squared for Lindsey Horan, she passed to Rodman, and Rodman spun through two Zambian defenders before slotting under goalkeeper Ngambo Musole.

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Swanson scored twice in 70 seconds starting in the 24th, and that wasn’t just a resounding statement of the Americans’ firepower. It was a huge relief after they fired 43 shots in their two warm-up games but scored just once.

Horan assisted the first and Smith the second, with Horan’s off a pretty outside-of-the-right-foot pass.

Zambia’s hole grew even bigger when centerback Pauline Zulu was sent off for a foul from behind on Smith just outside the 18-yard box. Zulu initially was given a yellow card, but a video review by referee Roman Abatti and his crew judged it to be a denial of a goal-scoring opportunity. They upgraded the card to red, and though Zulu was crestfallen, the die was cast.

The lone dark cloud over the U.S. came in the 39th minute, when Zambia’s Esther Siamfuko inadvertently stepped on Smith’s left foot. Smith was treated and eventually left the field, and Lynn Williams came on in the 43rd.

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The shots total was 15-1 at halftime, with the U.S. holding 63% of the possession. Kabange Mupopo had Zambia’s shot, not stars Barbra Banda and Racheal Kundananji, as the U.S. defense did just enough to keep the duo in check.

U.S. manager Emma Hayes made another sub at halftime, sending in Korbin Albert for Rose Lavelle to give Lavelle some rest. Lavelle hasn’t been at full fitness for a while, so with the lopsided lead, no one complained.

The next subs came in the 65th minute, three at once: Rodman, Swanson and Horan departed, and Jenna Nighswonger, Casey Krueger, and Emily Sonnett entered. Nighswonger’s entry moved Crystal Dunn from left back, where she had started to defend against Banda, to left wing.

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The final shots tally was 27-8 in the U.S.’ favor. It might have been nice to get another goal, but once things were decided, Hayes prioritized substitutions and that was understandable.

“If you had asked me at the beginning of the game, ‘Would you be happy with a 3-0 win?’ I probably would have said no,” she told reporters after the game. “However, after the performance and the chances created and finding the back of the net we did, I don’t want to be too hard on the girls.”

Hayes said “the first part of the first half was exceptional,” praising “the intention, the intensity, the decision-making, the execution” of her players.

The only player notably absent Thursday was Jaedyn Shaw, who missed the game because of a minor leg injury suffered in Friday’s practice. Croix Bethune moved up from the alternates to the game squad. If Shaw recovers in time for Sunday’s game against Germany (3 p.m., USA Network, Telemundo, Peacock), she can come back to the game squad, and Bethune would return to the alternates.