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PARIS: The United States insisted on Tuesday that it had put its ill-fated 2023 Women’s World Cup campaign behind it as the team prepared to open its Paris Olympic campaign against Zambia in Nice on Thursday.
The four-time Olympic champions suffered their earliest exit in the World Cup round of 16 last year, and reporters were quick to revisit that painful memory ahead of Thursday’s first group-stage match at the fifth-placed side.
“This team has transcended that era. I think this team is firmly committed to creating new history together,” said head coach Emma Hayes, who hopes to guide the four-time gold medalists back to the podium for the first time in 12 years.
“Our motivation is not always to right a wrong. Far from it. We’re excited. We’re ready.”
When Hayes took charge this year, American fans hailed her as a savior because she arrived in the United States after winning a seventh Women’s Super League title with Chelsea.
No opponent scored against the United States in Hayes’ first four games, but a 0-0 draw with No. 44 Costa Rica in the team’s final Olympic warm-up game sent shudders through American fans.
After a productive week of training in Marseille, Hayes said she had confidence in the squad, which includes eight members returning from the Tokyo Olympic team.
“Right now, the team is where it needs to be. It’s very important for us to continue to focus on this process,” she said.
Their Group B opponents on Thursday, Zambia, are ranked far behind at 64th and are making their first appearance in Tokyo with little Olympic experience.
But Hayes, who has called Zambia captain Barbara Banda the best-in-form striker in the world, didn’t want to leave anything to chance.
She told reporters: “It is not easy to get a position, you have to work hard to get it.”
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