There are plenty of world class players in Emma Hayes' squad. By the time the World Cup rolls around next summer in Brazil, four-times world champions United States will be among the favourites to add a fifth star to their crest at the Maracanã on 25 July. Well, one of the very best, world class American players is Trinity Rodman.
At the weekend, the 23 year old become the youngest player to rack up 100 NWSL appearances, marking the occasion by scoring during Washington Spirit's 4-2 victory over Orlando Pride at Inter&Co Stadium. On top of this, Rodman is also the youngest player to score 30 goals and register 20 assists in the NWSL. The Spirit have now won four games in a row, a sequence they'll be aiming to extend against Seattle Reign at Lumen Field on Sunday.
Rodman scored five NWSL goals last season as her side finished second in the regular season, getting all the way to the Championship game, narrowly beaten 1-0 by Gotham in California. Coming up later this month, having topped their group, the Spirit will take on Pachuca in the CONCACAF W Champions Cup semi-finals, potentially on a collision course to face Gotham in another final.
For USWNT supporters, they'll be delighted to see the return of the Triple Espresso, or at least two thirds of it, for now. At the 2024 Olympics, as Hayes' side claimed Gold in Paris, ten of the 12 goals the Stars and Stripes enjoyed were scored by Rodman, Sophia Wilson and Mallory Swanson.
After giving birth in September, Wilson made her international return against Japan last month, featuring in all three matches, starting the wins in San Jose and Denver. Rodman too started the first and third fixtures as Hayes rolled out her A-team in those games. Thus, only Swanson is missing, after having a baby of her own in November, but is expected to be back soon. She last featured for the Chicago Stars in November 2024, so will require some time to regain her sharpness.
Even with Alyssa Thompson, Ally Sentnor, Catarina Macario, Lily Yohannes, Jaedyn Shaw and numerous other top-class attacking players to choose from, the front three of Swanson, Wilson and Rodman will still surely be Hayes' front three by the time they set up camp in Brazil.
After long periods on the sideline for two of them, it was a slight concern if this trio would be able to instantaneously get back to their best, but Wilson very much appears to have done so. Rodman scored against both Paraguay and Chile in January, taking her tally to 13 for the USWNT, but that number is set to exponentially increase between now and the World Cup.
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