SI

Dramatics Unfold With Late USWMNT Goal to Win After Coach Delivers Paper Note Mid-game at Paris Games

A piece of paper may have been a game-changer in a match that sends the U.S. to the semifinals.

Josh Wilson

Trinity Rodman of United States celebrates with Sophia Smith
Trinity Rodman of United States celebrates with Sophia Smith / Reuters-USA TODAY Sports

With a trip to the semifinals on the line for the U.S. women's soccer team against Japan, the team needed something in the late stages.

Knotted at 0-0 in extra time of the elimination game, Trinity Rodman took a long pass in the box, dribbled to her left and launched a stunner into the top corner of the goal.

Electrifying—and exactly what the team needed to win. They would need to hold Japan for the remainder of extra time, but would do so, winning 1-0 after 120 minutes.

Before those dramatics unfolded, head coach Emma Hayes was the subject of attention after she withheld most of her substitutions, and instead attempted to win the game with tactical adjustments. U.S. made three substitutions, Japan six (five substitutions are allowed in the first 90 minutes, a sixth is available in extra time).

At one point mid-game, Hayes wrote something on a piece of paper and had forward Sophia Smith deliver it to midfielder Lindsey Horan across the field at one point. Not all that long after, the U.S. would score. Fans, of course, wanted to know, what was on the note?

We may never know, unless Hayes or one of the players details it after the game, but suffice it to say it doesn't really matter. The U.S. would win, and they are onto the semifinals.

Next, they play the winner of Canada and Germany on Thursday.

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Josh Wilson
JOSH WILSON

Josh Wilson is the news director of the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. Before joining SI in 2024, he worked for FanSided in a variety of roles, most recently as senior managing editor of the brand’s flagship site. He has also served as a general manager of Sportscasting, the sports arm of a start-up sports media company, where he oversaw the site’s editorial and business strategy. Wilson has a bachelor’s degree in mass communications from SUNY Cortland and a master’s in accountancy from the Gies College of Business at the University of Illinois. He loves a good nonfiction book and enjoys learning and practicing Polish. Wilson lives in Chicago but was raised in upstate New York. He spent most of his life in the Northeast and briefly lived in Poland, where he ate an unhealthy amount of pastries for six months.

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