It took under a minute after kick-off for the American supporters to break into a chant of “I believe that we will win”, in the stands in Marseille. That in itself is not too out of the ordinary – it’s one of the customary rallying cries from those who worship the US women’s national team – but there was a vigour to the chant on Wednesday evening that had a valid, renewed and performance-based justification.
A year ago on 1 August 2023, the US laboured to a goalless draw with unfancied Portugal, in their final group game at the World Cup, luckily scraping through to the knockout stages by the skin of their teeth, with five points from three matches. After three group games at these 2024 Olympics, in a group theoretically containing higher-calibre opposition than 12 months ago, the US have impressively won the group with a maximum nine points under new head coach Emma Hayes. More than that, though, they have topped that group with a style of play that seems unrecognisable from that fateful tournament in Australia and New Zealand.
