The U.S. women’s national team suffered an injury blow in its Olympics opener, as star forward Sophia Smith was taken off in the first half against Zambia.
With the USWNT up 3-0 near the end of the first half, Smith went down near the bench and needed to receive treatment on the field.
The Portland Thorns star was unable to continue and had to be replaced by Lynn Williams in the 43rd minute.
The extent of Smith’s injury was not immediately clear, but U.S. fans will hope that head coach Emma Hayes removed the forward as a precaution due to the game essentially being settled.
The U.S. scored three first-half goals, and also went up a player after Zambia’s Pauline Zulu was shown a 34th-minute red card for denying an obvious goalscoring opportunity.
The USWNT would go on to win the match 3-0 on the strength of a goal from Trinity Rodman and a brace from Mallory Swanson.
Smith’s injury was extra painful for the USWNT, who also lost Jaedyn Shaw to an injury before the game even started.
After the game, Hayes did not have any real updates to share on either Smith or Shaw.
Emma Hayes said no one updated her yet re: Sophia Smith, and that both she and Jaedyn Shaw will be assessed once they’re back in camp in Marseille. #USWNT
— Meg Linehan (@itsmeglinehan) July 25, 2024
Should either injury prove serious, it would leave the U.S. looking very thin in attack after Catarina Macario also had to withdraw from the Olympic roster due to a knee injury.
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