Four-time gold medallists United States (U.S.) reached the semi-finals of the Olympic women’s football with a 1-0 win over Japan courtesy of a Trinity Rodman strike in extra time in Paris on Saturday.
A huge crowd at the Parc des Princes, with former Ballon d’Or winner Megan Rapinoe and rapper Snoop Dogg among those in the stands, witnessed a hard-fought contest in a long-established women’s football rivalry.
Emma Hayes’s side will next face the winner of the quarter-final between defending champions Canada and Germany in Marseille later on Saturday.
The U.S. had to wait until the final seconds of the first half in extra time to break the deadlock with Rodman’s incredible finish opening the scoring as her strike sailed into the top far corner off a long ball from Emily Fox.
The U.S. had dominated possession from the early stages of the match but struggled to find their way through a solid Asian backline and neither of their three shots on goal in regular time found the net.
Japan looked more dangerous after halftime and pushed for the opener but recorded only one attempt on target and crashed out in the last eight again, as they did at the Tokyo Games in 2021.
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