Incoming coach Emma Hayes will lead the United States ladies’s soccer crew in a difficult begin on the Paris Olympics, the place they may face sturdy opponents Germany and Australia in Group B.
The draw, held in Saint-Denis, additionally features a potential matchup in opposition to both Morocco or Zambia from the African Football Confederation.
Hayes, who will assume her position as U.S. head coach in May after concluding her season with Chelsea, goals to proceed her success after profitable 14 main trophies with the membership, together with six Women’s Super League titles.
Currently difficult for a quadruple of trophies in her remaining yr with Chelsea, Hayes will probably be trying to make a major affect with the nationwide crew.
In the interim, Twila Kilgore is serving because the United States’ coach, having not too long ago led the crew to victory within the CONCACAF Gold Cup. Hayes will be a part of the crew as they put together to face their powerful competitors in Paris.
“The bottom line is we’re excited to have a path, to know who we’re playing for the most part, to be able to start working on specific game plans,” Kilgore stated following the draw. “But also just to know the logistical path. There’s so much that goes into an Olympics with a short turnaround and congested games.”
The U.S. hasn’t gained Olympic gold since 2012 and is coming off a disappointing Women’s World Cup final yr when it suffered its earliest exit from the match after being knocked out by Sweden on penalties within the spherical of 16. It had by no means completed worse than third at earlier World Cups.
Hayes has established herself as one of many sport’s main coaches. She can additional add to her document by profitable a clear sweep of trophies this season—together with the Champions League, the one competitors she is but to ship at Chelsea.
Defending champion Canada was drawn in Group A with host France, Colombia, and New Zealand. Before profitable the gold medal on the Tokyo Games, Canada gained back-to-back bronze medals in London and Brazil.
“We know more than ever that there’s not an easy game in the women’s game, no matter what the ranking is,” Canada coach Bev Priestman stated. “We know the other routes we could have gone down. Pleased, excited, but taking nothing for granted.”
World Cup winner Spain is in Group C with Japan and Brazil. Nigeria or South Africa will be a part of that group as one other CAF qualifier.
The U.S. males’s crew will face France on the Paris Games after being drawn in the identical group because the host nation for the boys’s match.
The U.S. is competing on the Games for the primary time since Beijing in 2008 and faces a doubtlessly daunting job after being drawn alongside France, coached by soccer nice Thierry Henry, in Group A.
Also within the group are New Zealand and the winner of a playoff between groups from the Asian and the African confederations.
World champion Argentina was drawn in Group B with Morocco, Ukraine, and a qualifier to be confirmed from the AFC.
Spain, runner-up in Tokyo, is in Group C together with Egypt, Dominican Republic, and one other qualifier from the AFC, which is but to be confirmed.
Group D options Paraguay, Mali, and Israel in addition to a remaining qualifier from the AFC.
Men’s Olympic soccer is nationwide Under-23 groups with three roster spots accessible for gamers over the age restrict.
The soccer match will start two days earlier than the opening ceremony of the Games on July 24, with the ladies’s remaining concluding the occasion on Aug. 10.
It is the primary time the ladies’s remaining will conclude the soccer match.
The soccer match will probably be staged throughout a number of venues in France together with Paris, Nantes, Bordeaux, Marseille, Nice, Saint-Étienne, and Lyon.
Source: www.dailysabah.com