If you wanted a metric as to the chances for the United States women’s field hockey team in the Paris Olympics, here it is: betting odds put the Americans, the host French, and South Africa at bottom with 10000-to-1 odds to win the gold medal.
The Olympics are always a challenge (heck, the United Eagles had a challenge just getting here), but when it comes to the upcoming schedule, the team is facing a Murderer’s Row of teams in this pool. The challenge is to face Argentina (two-time FIH World Cup winners), Spain (1992 Olympic champions), Australia (Olympic gold medalists in 1988, 1996, and 2002), and Team GB (2016 Olympic champions), all in the space of about 120 hours, with South Africa left to close out the prelims.
It’s the classic “Group of Death” scenario. None of these sides are an easy win, and it’s possible that the States could miss the knockouts even if they are able to get as many as five points (a win and two draws) in pool play.
Sure, the United States will have its usual edge in physical conditioning and on defense. The defense will build up around goalkeeper Kelsey Bing, captain Amanda Golini, defender Ashley Hoffman, midfielder Maddie Zimmer, and corner flyer Meredith Sholder.
The question is, will the U.S. be able to get the ball to its forward line in promising positions? Ashley Sessa, Abby Tamer, and Elizabeth Yeager are going to have to be ruthless in front of the goal cage. At their best, they can score on anybody.
I think Zimmer, Golini, and Hoffman are going to be the “luck barometers” of this team. If they are able to win more than their share of 50-50 battles in the middle third of the field, they could cause problems for the opposition.
It’s a tough schedule with tough teams, but there is a recognition that nothing worth doing is easy. In other words, the United Eagles will have to take these experiences, learn from them, and parlay them into future successes leading into the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.
