Tag: Trinity Rodman

USWNT stars Rodman, Smith on Marta: ‘Love her, but we want to win’

Rodman and Smith agree that the six-time World Player of the Year “would want us to give her our best game”

The U.S. women’s national team’s attacking stars are among the many admirers Brazilian legend Marta has accumulated over the years.

Just don’t expect Trinity Rodman and Sophia Smith to hold back in Saturday’s gold medal match.

The USWNT and Brazil will face off in the final of the 2024 Olympics women’s soccer competition. By itself, that would be an event of massive significance, but the game will be spiced up further by the fact that Marta has said she will retire from international play following the Paris Games.

That effectively leaves a USWNT side full of Marta fans having to choose between going all out to win, or letting the six-time FIFA World Player of the Year end her national team career with Brazil’s first-ever win at a World Cup or Olympics.

Per Rodman, the ‘conundrum’ has a clear answer.

“We want that gold, so I’m not gonna say too much on that,” said the Washington Spirit forward with a laugh. “Love her, but we want to win.”

“I know she would want us to give her our best game,” added Smith, whose goal sent the USWNT past Germany in a tense semifinal. “That’s the highest level of respect you can give someone.”

It is something of a surprise that the USWNT will be the final opponent in Marta’s incredible career with Brazil. A first-half red card for a dangerously high kick in a 2-0 group-stage loss to Spain resulted in a red card for Marta, who was suspended for As Canarinhas‘ quarterfinal and semifinal matches.

Brazil’s younger generation extended the legend’s national team career for one more game, seeing off France 1-0 in the last-eight before shocking World Cup champions Spain in a wild 4-2 semifinal.

After removing the mystery over whether the USWNT would drop its ruthless streak just this once, both players made their admiration for the Orlando Pride icon clear.

“Marta’s for sure like, the player I looked up to growing up. Whenever I would watch highlights of players with my dad, it was always Marta,” explained Smith.

“We get to play against her in the NWSL, which we’re really lucky for that, and to play against her in this magnitude of the game, I think is so special.”

USWNT stars: Marta ‘changed the game’

Rodman declared the 38-year-old Brazil captain “a legacy forever,” before adding that women’s soccer worldwide can be seen from a pre-Marta and post-Marta lens.

“It goes without saying: Marta has changed the game of soccer around the world,” stated Rodman. “She’s such a talented soccer player, but also a great human, which speaks volumes. I’ve always looked up to her, I think we all kind of do.”

Smith agreed, saying that players like she and Rodman “wouldn’t be here probably without a Marta, who did change the game forever, and is continuing to change the game.

“I don’t think words can really describe how grateful we are for a player like Marta to just advocate for young players like us.”

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What is the USWNT ‘Triple Espresso’? The Rodman, Smith, Swanson nickname, explained

If you hear the phrase “Triple Espresso”, here’s what it means.

Trinity Rodman, Sophia Smith and Mallory Swanson officially have a nickname to explain their dominance.

The USWNT has been recently crushing it during this year’s 2024 Paris Olympic Games. They’ve survived several tough tests, including an overtime thriller against Japan that probably added gray hairs to fans’ heads.

Truthfully, the team doesn’t get as far on the Olympic stage, with a chance to play for a gold medal, without Trinity, Mallory and Sophia. The trio has contributed to 10 — YES, TEN! — of the 11 goals U.S. women’s soccer has scored. The ladies have been so good — almost quite literally waking up games — that they officially have a nickname for themselves: Triple Espresso.

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Former Notre Dame midfielder gets deciding goal for USWNT in Olympics

Way to score, Korbin!

Former Notre Dame midfielder [autotag]Korbin Albert[/autotag] hasn’t been with the U.S. Women’s National Team for very long. So it shouldn’t have been a surprise that she entered the 2024 Olympics in Paris with no goals yet in international play. That all changed though in the Americans’ group-stage finale against Australia.

With the U.S. already up, 1-0, on Trinity Rodman’s second goal of the tournament late in the first half, Albert entered as a substitute during the 65th minute, which also saw Rodman’s departure. Albert picked up a yellow card during her time on the field, but she won’t remember that. Instead, she’ll remember her first international goal, which she scored in the 77th minute:

The goal proved to be critical as Australia’s Alanna Kennedy had her second tournament tally in the 91st minute. That made it a 2-1 final score in favor of the U.S., which will begin the knockout stage when it faces Japan in Saturday’s quarterfinal match.

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Who is Trinity Rodman’s boyfriend? What we know about her relationship with NFL player Trinity Benson

Meet the boyfriend of the USWNT star.

OK, yes, you noticed: Trinity Rodman, the star of the USWNT and daughter of Basketball Hall of Famer Dennis Rodman, is dating someone named Trinity.

That would be Trinity Benson, who played two seasons as a wideout for the Detroit Lions from 2021 to 2022. As of writing this, he’s an NFL free agent. But Rodman and Benson went Instagram official in May with the aptly-captioned photo of her with arms around him: “Trinity squared.”

They also did some TikToks together, which is just delightful. Check all of that out below as we watch Rodman continue to dominate in the sport of soccer:

https://www.instagram.com/p/C7P0Gezv_9m/?utm_source=ig_embed&ig_rid=68d11045-b830-4066-a376-d9b01bed0fd9

https://www.instagram.com/p/C8GNvjrO2it/?utm_source=ig_embed&ig_rid=fb3f1862-173a-4672-bd77-30423b1ae83b

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‘Today’ show faceplants with awkward question for Rodman about father

This was an own goal for the NBC morning show

It may be back to the drawing board for the research department at the “Today” show.

The morning show is going heavy on the Olympics over the next two weeks, with NBC and its family of networks holding the rights to the Paris Games.

On Friday morning, the show hosted the two goalscorers from the U.S. women’s national team’s Olympics-opening 3-0 win over Zambia.

It was all shaping up as standard morning-show fare with guests Trinity Rodman and Mallory Swanson, before host Hoda Kotb killed the mood with an awkward follow-up for Rodman.

“Did your dad call and give you an ‘attagirl’ after that one?” Kotb inquired.

Handling the moment deftly, Rodman quickly responded: “Nope, but my mom was there. She gave me a big ol’ hug.”

Rodman, of course, is the daughter of NBA legend Dennis Rodman. And as Kotb and the show’s staff should have known, she doesn’t have much of a relationship with the ex-Chicago Bulls star.

The USWNT forward has periodically spoken about her father, but she opened up on their relationship — or lack thereof — in a 2021 post on Instagram.

“My dad doesn’t play a big role in my life at all and most people don’t know that, we don’t see eye to eye on many things,” Rodman said.

“I go months if not years without his presence or communication. Being in spotlights has been hard for us, him and me. We don’t have the best relationship, but at the end of the day he’s human I’m human… he’s my dad, and I’m his little girl that will never change.”

Kudos to Rodman for handling a potentially awkward moment on live TV with grace. As for the “Today” show — we’ll call that one an own goal.

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Trinity Rodman had fans in awe with her stunning goal to open the USWNT’s scoring at the Paris Olympics

Absolutely world class.

The U.S. women’s national team had heard plenty about its disappointing showing at last year’s World Cup, and the USWNT looked at the Olympic Games in Paris as a true shot at redemption.

Trinity Rodman understood that assignment.

With newly hired coach Emma Hayes going with an attacking three of Rodman, Sophia Smith and Mallory Swanson, we got a quick look at how dynamic that group can be in Rodman’s opening goal.

After the USWNT hit the post a couple times in the first 15 minutes against Zambia, the breakthrough came when Rodman showed off a brilliant first touch and turn from Lindsey Horan’s pass and finished for the goal.

What a goal. And sure, Zambia isn’t a quality opponent, but the goal was world class in every sense.

USWNT fans were justifiably excited over that goal to start the Olympics.

This was how Twitter/X reacted

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USWNT confident goals will come at Olympics despite scoreless Costa Rica draw

“Those goals will come. That, I’m sure of,” summed up USWNT coach Emma Hayes after a frustrating scoreless draw

The U.S. women’s national team wanted its Olympic send-off friendly to be an exclamation point, but ended up walking off the chewed-up pitch at Audi Field with a question mark.

On a surface level, a 0-0 draw against a team the USWNT has beaten in each of its prior 17 meetings is hardly the result the U.S. would have wanted before boarding a Wednesday flight for France.

A frustrating night in withering heat saw the USWNT create enough opportunities to win three games, but between Costa Rica goalkeeper Noelia Bermúdez’s superb performance, an offside call robbing Lindsey Horan of a goal, and some dubious choices in the final third, the badly-needed opener never arrived.

In her press conference, head coach Emma Hayes cited multiple stats — 26 shots, 12 attempts on goal, 67 touches inside the opposition penalty area — that per Opta are the highest such numbers in a match where the USWNT was shut out since the data provider began logging those categories in 2015.

“We need to be more clinical, I don’t need to state the obvious,” Hayes told reporters. “I mean it’s a process, right? Scoring a goal, you can’t just go from back to from to get them, and when you’re playing a team that just sit in a low block and they’ve got eight bodies within the width of the goal — or at least the width of the six [yard box] — it has to be so concise.”

Hayes identified issues in both halves: an inability to find players between the lines early enough in attacking sequences before the break, and then players making runs out of those pockets in the second 45 minutes.

Still, the raw volume of opportunities gave Hayes a platform to identify some positives for her side.

“Listen, if you play a game of percentages or law of averages, we’re creating more and more high-quality chances, and we’re getting more numbers into the key areas,” insisted the former Chelsea boss, who after just four games to prepare will lead her team at the Paris Olympics.

“The last part’s the hardest part. And I’m really patient, because I’ve coached teams that have to break blocks down, and it’s the hardest thing to do in coaching. And if we didn’t create situations tonight then yeah, I might say something different, but I really love the intent of the team.”

Rodman, Horan insist goals ‘will come’

Speaking in a mixed zone after the match, multiple USWNT players couldn’t help but hone in on versions of the same phrase: the goals will come.

“I would say we did the hard parts well, and then once it came to the final pass and the final finish, it wasn’t coming to us,” said Trinity Rodman who was denied a potentially spectacular late winner. “I think that’ll come. We have such a talented group.”

Captain Lindsey Horan identified some aspects of the USWNT’s approach play that could have been sharper, but reiterated the belief her younger teammate has in the group’s ability to find the breakthrough.

“Just the decision-making [in the final third],” said Horan when asked for an example of what the U.S. could improve beyond simple finishing.

The Lyon midfielder identified the team’s timing of “when we’re taking that final shot, when we’re making that final pass” as areas where more patience was needed, but framed the issue as understandable in the context of Tuesday’s draw.

“I think when you get further on in the game and you want to score that goal that’s gonna calm down the match, that’s gonna stop what Costa Rica is trying to do [tactically], it can get frustrating. But again, we kept going, we kept creating those chances. A few of them, maybe decision-making was off, but [at] the end of the day, we’re gonna finish those off, [and] then we’ll be fine.”

Hayes settled on a positive that Costa Rica’s low-block 4-3-2-1 shape offered, noting that in her four matches, the USWNT has faced a different tactical approach every time. That means plenty of examples and film to highlight as the team looks to make progress in its last week before kicking off the Olympics against Zambia.

“If we went into [the match against] Zambia perfect, I’d be worried,” explained Hayes. “I feel the opposite. I think we’ve had — in the Korea [games], the Mexico game, the Costa Rica game — four very different exercises.

“One, as I said earlier, breaking down a mid-block. Two, breaking down an aggressive mid-block. Three, breaking down the team that beat us in the Gold Cup with more man-for-man marking. Four, breaking down a low, low block.

“What great exposures for us as a team. And trust me, you have to do different things in different moments to be able to [succeed against each]. Playing against low blocks, for any team in football, is the hardest to do.

“So I think for us, it’s being mindful that if we keep creating chances in the right area, keep getting numbers in the box, keep getting as many touches as possible in that area, those goals will come. That, I’m sure of.”

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USWNT, despite little time under new coach Hayes, ‘in a good place’ for Olympics

Olympic prep has been a sprint for the USWNT, but players report good progress under Emma Hayes

With a big-name coach arriving just weeks before the upcoming Olympics, the U.S. women’s national team has never prepared for a major tournament like this.

However, USWNT players report that new manager Emma Hayes has arrived with a plan in place. The onboarding period has been much more of a sprint than a jog, but despite that, the early returns are positive.

Speaking in a mixed zone at Audi Field on Monday, one day before the USWNT faces Costa Rica in what is forecast to be oppressive heat, multiple players discussed the challenge of trying to hit a gold medal-winning level so early in Hayes’ tenure.

“I don’t even know the time [that has gone by], it’s been quick,” defender Casey Krueger said with a mock sigh. “I think [in June] we were able to cram a lot in in a short amount of time. It was a little bit mentally exhausting, but I think the group is just hungry to continue to learn and just absorb everything that she’s wanting.”

Emily Fox pointed out that taking on a lot of information in a short timespan is just part of the job for the USWNT.

“I think no matter what, we have a short amount of time together,” explained the Virginia native, who is getting a bit of a homecoming by playing this last pre-Olympic match in D.C. “Normally, we have like 10 days. So I think in a way we’re kind of used to having to implement a lot of stuff in a small amount of time.

“I think really, we’ve had more of just an emphasis on [moving quickly], on having the final product and really listening to information and executing it. I really think there’s not that much of a difference other than we’re just really focusing on it.”

Fox, whose season with Arsenal ended back in May, also played down the possibility that she and the team’s other European-based players Korbin Albert and Lindsey Horan might be shedding some rust before the Paris games.

“Honestly, it hasn’t been that much time off,” said Fox. “Last camp, we had those games, and then I think for the most part, [I] had maybe 10 days off, and then we were back training.

“In terms of matches, it is a bigger break compared to all the girls that are in season, but in terms of training and just being in the momentum of things, I feel like it was great to have 10 days off to kind of get some rest after our [European] seasons.”

Trinity Rodman gave the credit to Hayes, saying that the English coach’s focus on “not dwelling on missed time” has paid dividends.

“I think she does a really good job of just building every day,” explained Rodman. “I think she’s always thinking in the present moment and what she can do.”

Rodman added that the team has gotten to know Hayes the person, and that those interactions are accelerating the team’s ability to take on the tactical and individual demands of this new USWNT era.

“We’re learning every day, we’re building our relationships, which has been good, and it’s come so naturally. We’re in a good place right now.”

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Spirit star Rodman slams NWSL referees in social media post

The USWNT forward appears to be in line for a fine from the league

Washington Spirit star Trinity Rodman took to social media to voice her displeasure with the refereeing in Saturday’s 1-1 draw against the San Diego Wave.

The Wave took the lead in the first half through Jaedyn Shaw — who broke a record previously held by Rodman in the process — before the Spirit equalized in the dying moments through rookie star Croix Bethune.

The match at Audi Field turned physical on several occasions, with the Wave given four yellow cards and the Spirit shown two — including one for Rodman after she protested a call late in the match.

Those protests continued on Instagram two days after the game ended, as Rodman posted two pictures on her story of a clash with Wave defender Kristen McNabb.

The first showed Rodman going to ground under a challenge from McNabb featuring the caption: “This not being a foul” — with a pair of eyeball emojis thrown in for good measure.

The second picture was a zoomed-in version of the first that showed McNabb stepping on the U.S. women’s national team star’s foot.

Rodman was fouled a game-high four times against the Wave, but the forward clearly felt there should have been at least one more.

Last season, the NWSL fined Wave and USWNT striker Alex Morgan for similar criticism of officials on social media. Rodman appears likely to be next.

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USWNT star Shaw breaks Rodman’s NWSL record with San Diego Wave goal

The 19-year-old scored her 13th career NWSL goal against Rodman’s Spirit

Jaedyn Shaw has broken Trinity Rodman’s all-time NWSL record for most goals by a teenager.

The San Diego Wave attacker ironically scored her record-breaking 13th career NWSL goal against Rodman’s Washington Spirit side on Saturday.

Shaw, 19, got on the end of a left-footed cross by María Sánchez in the 20th minute at Audi Field. After her first shot attempt got stuck under her feet, Shaw was able to recover in time to bury her second effort past Spirit goalkeeper Aubrey Kingsbury.

The Spirit would eventually recover thanks to Croix Bethune, who scored an equalizer deep into stoppage time to earn her side a 1-1 draw.

Shaw’s goal coming against the Spirit carried an extra layer of irony as well: Washington had Shaw on its preseason roster in 2022 and tried to sign her, but the NWSL intervened and said she would have to go through its discovery process, which ultimately saw the then-17-year-old sign with San Diego.

Both Shaw and Rodman are expected to be on the U.S. women’s national team 18-player Olympic roster, which will be named next month.

Watch Shaw’s record-breaking goal

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