The US Women’s National Team (USWNT) earned a dominant 2-0 victory over Brazil in their first-ever women’s professional sports event at SoFi Stadium on Saturday. Trinity Rodman, who had been sidelined for almost eight months due to a back injury, made her highly anticipated return and scored the opening goal after just five minutes.
Rodman, 22, looked sharp from the start, using her pace to outmaneuver Brazilian defenders before slotting the ball into the bottom right corner. Her teammates, including Alyssa Thompson, who provided the assist, celebrated wildly, but Rodman took it a step further by pretending to re-injure her back as part of her celebration.
Manager Emma Hayes was less amused with Rodman’s antics, saying she thought the player was genuinely hurt. “I didn’t think she was pretending,” Hayes said. “I will have a word with her.” Despite the momentary lapse in discipline, the USWNT dominated possession and created several scoring chances before Brazil equalized through Ludmila.
The game turned in favor of the USWNT when captain Lindsey Heaps scored from the penalty spot after Lily Yohannes was brought down in the area. The win marked a clean sheet for debutant goalkeeper Phallon Tullis-Joyce, who made six saves throughout the match. With two wins in their current friendly series against Brazil, the USWNT looks strong and unified, with young players like Rodman contributing to the team’s growing chemistry.
The teams will meet again on April 8 for the second match of their two-game friendly series, which marks a rematch of Paris 2024’s gold medal game.
Source: https://edition.cnn.com/2025/04/06/sport/trinity-rodman-us-womens-team-brazil-spt-intl/index.html