Yesterday, the United States Olympic women’s soccer team played its penultimate warmup match against Mexico in Harrison, N.J.
The U.S. roster had come out only about two weeks ago, and the 18 players and four alternates were well-established, with a lot of ink being spilled about which players (notably the veteran forward Alex Morgan) were not included.
But during yesterday’s game, something interesting happened. One of head coach Emma Hayes’ substituted for the game was not from the team’s 18-woman roster, but was instead one of the four alternates.
The alternate is Croix Bethune, a rookie pro who is currently playing some enterprising and productive soccer for the Washington Spirit of the NWSL. She is a three-time NWSL Rookie of the Month, and has nine assists on the season, which is one short of the league record with a half-season left to play.
Bethune’s inclusion in the game also, I think, sent a strong signal to the rest of the Olympic field that Hayes would be thinking of the tournament as one with a 22-woman roster, as opposed to one with just 18 players. FIFA has clarified that, while 18 players were to have been declared for the main roster for game days, a player can be substituted up to six hours before kickoff, then further changes are legal to be made in subsequent games.
Time was, if an alternate player was substituted, the player coming off the original roster could not return at all during the competition.
“I view the fact that there’s 22 players going to the Olympics that we are to prepare every player to be able to perform, if required,” Hayes said. “From my perspective, nothing changes. Maybe it gives us a bit more flexibility but there’s 22 players.”
And that flexibility was exhibited yesterday. I have a feeling this isn’t going to be the last change in the main group of 18. And I also think there’s going to be talk about why teams need to be capped at an artificially low number for an Olympics, especially given the new sports which have been added to the Olympic program during the 2020s, including skateboarding, breakdancing, softball, baseball, flag football, cricket, and lacrosse.
