Emma Hayes took a risk by starting Sam Coffey against Australia on Wednesday. Early on, it became clear that it didn’t pay off.
Coffey will be suspended for the U.S. women’s national team’s Olympic quarterfinal with Japan on Saturday after she picked up a fourth-minute yellow card in her team’s 2-1 win over Australia.
USWNT coach Hayes made just one change — an injury-enforced swap of Emily Sonnett for Tierna Davidson — from the side that started each of the team’s first two Olympic matches.
The USWNT won both of those games, clinching advancement to the quarterfinal before Wednesday’s group-stage finale against Australia.
That meant Hayes could have rested some of her players — particularly Trinity Rodman and Coffey, who entered the match one yellow card away from a suspension.
Her decision to start Coffey was not made to look wise just four minutes in against the Matildas, as the midfielder was shown a yellow card after she stood on Katrina Gorry’s leg when going into a tackle.
Coffey was also yellow carded in Sunday’s 4-1 win over Germany. That meant the Portland Thorns star will be suspended for the team’s quarterfinal with two yellow cards in the group stage.
Her absence could be a potentially major blow for a USWNT side that has come to rely on her as the holding midfielder.
In Coffey’s place, Hayes could opt to start Korbin Albert as a like-for-like replacement. Sonnett could also be an option to move into a holding midfield spot if Davidson is recovered in time for the quarterfinal.
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