PARIS — They took the field at the Parc des Princes, elated, golden, and for most of the U.S. women’s national soccer team, the Olympic celebrations had to begin with a woman.
It wasn’t Mallory Swanson, who completed her return from injury with the only goal in Saturday’s 1-0 win over Brazil.
It wasn’t Trinity Rodman, the heroine of the quarterfinals; nor Sophia Smith, the winner of the semifinals; nor captain Lindsey Horan.
She was the quietest, most unassuming and oldest member of the junior team that won Olympic gold medals here on a glorious Parisian night: Alyssa Naeher.
It was Naeher, in part, because it’s usually Naeher, a late-blooming, crossword-puzzle-loving goalkeeper who barely got a chance to play for the U.S. women’s national team until she was 30. She’s the oldest darling of the bunch.
But it was Naeher above all because she was heroic again for the second time in five days.
“As soon as the whistle blew,” defender Naomi Girma recalled, “I thought, ‘My last sprint of the tournament is to give Alyssa a hug. ’”
Naeher was the main reason the U.S. women’s national team accomplished something no other women’s soccer team had ever done: The Americans survived 330 minutes of knockout Olympic soccer without conceding a single goal.
They survived because Naeher made 12 saves in 1-0 wins over Japan, Germany and Brazil. They were stunned by her point-blank save in the 119th minute of the semifinal. “I don’t even know how she did it,” forward Sophia Smith said.
Four days later, he followed it up with an outstretched arm and a strong palm in the fourth minute of added time to keep a clean sheet for the third consecutive time.
“Every time I see it, I’m just in awe and in shock,” defender Emily Fox told Yahoo Sports.
Fox and her teammates never cease to be amazed at how Naeher always comes out on top. Even in one of her darkest moments, last year’s shootout loss to Sweden at the Women’s World Cup, she came within a millimeter or two of saving the U.S. team. Several months later, she almost single-handedly won two shootouts in a row by stopping multiple penalties. and turning a couple into one herself.
“Time and time again,” Fox said, “she shows up and helps us out when it matters.”
So much so that heroic acts have started to seem… normal.
“Everyone on the outside looking in is like, so surprised that she is… always “She’s getting better,” defender Crystal Dunn said. “I’m like, no, Lyss does this in practice, every day of the week. And to do it in games — I’m like, yeah, she’s doing it in practice the day before.”
Her brilliance also has a knock-on effect on the defenders she faces. Girma spoke of “the confidence that playing opposite her gives me.”
Fox agreed: “It’s a big confidence booster. And I feel like after that save (in the 94th minute), we were able to get everything under control.”
Of course, those defenders were part of the U.S. women’s team’s impenetrability. Fox managed to score a key header off the far post late in the first half during a Brazilian barrage. Girma was nearly flawless throughout the tournament.
“Look, she’s the best defender I’ve ever seen,” coach Emma Hayes said of Girma. “Ever.”
Together, they became the first team to make it through the knockout stages of the women’s Olympic tournament unscathed. At the Women’s World Cup, only one team has ever done so (Germany in 2007) and none of those matches went to overtime.
This was a historic effort that was in many ways overshadowed by the three forwards whose goals won all three decisive matches.
But his rock, his wall, his most consistent player, was at the other end of the field.
“She’s incredible,” Dunn said of Naeher. “She’s the backbone of this team.” And perhaps the most valuable player at Paris 2024.