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Swanson missed last year's women's World Cup
with a knee injury and the 26-year-old quickly dispelled the
team's goalscoring concerns by grabbing the double in a dream
first half for the U.S. on Thursday after Trinity Rodman's
opener in Nice.
After the U.S. went 2-0 up, they immediately won the ball back
in Zambia's half before Swanson scored her second to break
former skipper Lloyd's record from the 2015 World Cup final.
"Not an easy journey for her but she has been resilient and
persevered through it all. Still has a lot more in her ceiling.
Proud of her!" the former skipper said on X.
Coach Emma Hayes, who took over the U.S. role in May, also
earned her first competitive win.
"The first part of the first half was exceptional. To come out
the way we did, the intention, the intensity, the
decision-making, the execution should have been at least five
(goals) at halftime," Hayes said.
The U.S. are looking to rebound from their failure at the World
Cup where they were knocked out in the last-16 -- their worst
finish in the tournament's history.
They will aim to carry their momentum into a tougher test in
Marseille on Sunday against 2016 gold medallists Germany, who
kicked off their campaign with a resounding 3-0 win over
Australia.
"There were things within our structures I didn't like in the
first half, but that's easy fixes," Hayes added.
(Reporting by Janina Nuno Rios in Paris; Editing by Toby Davis) [© 2024 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
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