CNN —
Trinity Rodman enjoyed the perfect return to the US Women’s National Team (USWNT) on Saturday, scoring after just five minutes in a 2-0 victory over Brazil, her first international game since last year’s Olympic gold medal match.
The 22-year-old had not featured for the USWNT in almost eight months, having aggravated a long-standing back issue during a game for the Washington Spirit in September.
But she looked like she had never been away on Saturday, deftly poking the ball into the bottom right corner from 10 yards out after a good run from Alyssa Thompson, before briefly pretending she had hurt her back again as part of her celebration.
“The medical staff was freaking out, but I felt like I had to do it,” Rodman smiled per AP. “It felt so good to be in this atmosphere again, to be with the team. The stadium was crazy.”
Manager Emma Hayes was, at least in the moment, less impressed with the prank.
“I didn’t think she was pretending,” she grimaced afterwards, per AP. “I will have a word with her, because that was like a ‘cry wolf’ moment. I turned to the physios and said, ‘Her back’s hurting,’ instantly. And then I realized she was tricking us.”
Rodman, an Orange County native, clearly relished the opportunity to return to international action in front of 32,303 fans in Los Angeles, in the first ever women’s professional sports event held at SoFi Stadium.
So too did fellow Californian Thompson who, having provided the assist for Rodman, forced goalkeeper Lorena into a smart save in the 17th minute. Ally Sentnor went even closer to doubling the advantage four minutes later when she was played in by Thompson, but she too was denied by the onrushing goalkeeper.
Brazil returned for the second half with renewed impetus and hit the bar twice within six minutes of the restart – first through Ludmila, and then through Giovana Queiroz.
But in the 66th minute it was the home team which claimed the decisive second goal, captain Lindsey Heaps emphatically converting from the penalty spot after Lily Yohannes had been brought down in the area by Ludmila.
The 2-0 victory meant a clean sheet for debutant goalkeeper Phallon Tullis-Joyce, who impressed with six saves in the match.
“I think it shows where this group is going,” said Heaps, per AP. “Our group is just getting better and better, and there’s not massive gaps between players. These young guns coming in … it’s such a cool thing for us to see.”
Having played out one rematch of Paris 2024’s gold medal game, both teams meet again on Tuesday, April 8, for the second match of the two-game friendly series.
