Alexis Fowler, CFNN Reporter

The Summer Olympics of 2020 in Tokyo is quickly approaching, and many of the U.S. teams are getting ready. One specific team that is prepared and hoping for a gold medal is the Women’s National Soccer team. The team just passed the qualifiers for the Olympics and is now one of twelve teams competing! 

As has been the case over the last ten years, going into these games the US is the team to beat, considering they just won the World Cup in 2019. Out of the eight World Cups that have been played in Women’s Soccer, the United States has won four of them. Two of those were back to back, the 2015 and the 2019 World Cups.

To say that US Women’s Soccer is dominant would be an understatement. They are a juggernaut. A hulking behemoth that cannot be stopped. And they’re only getting better.

These games mean a lot to the players, as they bring a Paul Simon-worthy shot at redemption after losing in the 2016 Rio Olympics. For the first time in history, the team didn’t make the semi-final round. This was a huge let down for the team, but since then, they have done nothing but win. 

The U.S. Women’s National Soccer team
after defeating the Netherlands
in the 2019 World Cup.

One member who values the Olympics immensely is Carli Lloyd. Between the years 2016 and 2019, she was told that the best role for her on the team was on the bench as a super sub. Some believe she is too old to be playing at age 37. 

What people fail to realize she has had a 15-year international career. She is also the only person in Women’s or Men’s soccer, with the exception of the legendary Mia Hamm, to be able to say that she has been a two time FIFA World Player of the Year, and a two-time World Cup/Olympic champion.

Luckily for Carli, the new coach for the team, Vlatko Andonovski, says that he plans to let Carli be herself.

As the team worked their way to winning the World Cup, they broke many records and tied others in the process. The biggest records were the most goals scored by a team in a World Cup, and the biggest margin of victory in a World Cup match. Neither of these is surprising, considering that the score was 13-0. 

Alex Morgan broke the record for the most goals scored in one game by scoring 5 goals. They also tied with Germany for the most players scoring in one game, with seven different people scoring. 

With all the records they have been breaking, the team is bound to make a huge impact in the Olympics this year! They have won a total of four gold medals in the Olympics. The first one was in 1996 and the most recent one was in 2012.

The team hopes to win a fifth gold medal, and with the way they have been playing, they will be hard to stop at the games in Tokyo!