Youth is served: A triumphant and transcendent generation of players, plus Emma Hayes' leadership, have gold medal-winning USWNT poised for more

Perhaps the USWNT held on just a little too long. That's one way to look back at last summer's World Cup. Despite featuring legitimate legends in the team, the U.S. fell to their worst finish in program history. Change was needed, and immediately.

Megan Rapinoe and Julie Ertz stepped aside. In the months after, Alex Morgan and Becky Sauerbrunn were left out of the Olympic squad. That was no disrespect to those players, whose legacies are etched in stone. It was simply an admission that it was time to hand the baton to a new generation that would have to prove they were ready to write their own legacies.

It was a risk, for sure. Taking over the program in May after departing Chelsea, coach Emma Hayes had to quickly make tough decisions in naming her squad this summer. The exclusion of Morgan, in particular, was a difficult one. Hayes opted to put her faith in a trio of new forwards. One was fresh off an injury, and the other two had fallen short last summer.

Hindsight tells us it was genius. The USWNT never trailed at the Paris 2024 Olympics or at any point in 10 games under Hayes. And American soccer fans will be thanking Hayes for scanning the menu and introducing the world to a powerful concoction everyone now knows as Triple Espresso.

Believe it or not, prior to this summer, the trio of Mallory Swanson, Sophia Smith and Trinity Rodman had never started a game together. They hadn't even shared the field. There were a few times prior to the World Cup that one was subbed on for another but, ahead of Hayes' roster selection, there was no film on what this trio would look like.

That's what they instantly became: a trio. Three parts of one whole, none bigger than the other. All three executed their roles, all three helping the others along the way. And after two weeks of striking fear into Olympic opponents, they got a new, self-proclaimed nickname.

"We have a proposal for our trio name to be 'Triple Espresso'," Rodman announced on the TODAY Show during the Paris Games. "So we're going to put that out into the air and let people run with that, because we like that as well,"

And there's no underestimating the impact that attacking group had on the Olympic field: Swanson, Rodman and Smith combined for 10 of the USWNT's 12 goals over six victories in Paris. In addition, they assisted each other on four of them. It was a three-pronged attack, with danger coming at opponents from every way. As it turns out, there really was no defending it.

And here's the most important part: Swanson, who became the ninth player in USWNT history to score while earning her 100th cap, is the veteran of the group at just 26 years old. Smith is two years younger at 24, celebrating her birthday Saturday with the gift of a gold medal. And Rodman? Just 22. There are plenty more espresso shots - and presumably plenty more goals, and plenty more triumphs - to come.

Swanson, Smith, Rodman. As potent as the trio proved for the USWNT, that's not the end of this program's transcendent talent. Consider Naomi Girma. We'll let Hayes take it from here.

"Look, she is the best defender I've ever seen," the USWNT coach said. "I've never seen a player as good as her at the back. She's got everything, poise, composure, she can defend, she anticipates, she leads. [She's] unbelievable."

That's not a coach pumping up her player or trying to build confidence. It's not hyperbole. It's simple fact. Girma is that player. She's the best in the world at her position. If you didn't believe that before this summer, you better believe it now.

If there's a word to describe GIrma, it's effortless. Or maybe grace. You could go with poise, too. All describe how comfortable she performs at all times. Even in the toughest of moments, she' makes it all look so easy.

And that's despite being just 24 years old. That's despite this being just her second major tournament. That's despite the fact that she's played less than three full seasons as a professional.

Defenders aren't supposed to be this good this young. Girma has broken that mold, and - fortunately for the USWNT - is exactly that good.

Triple Espresso got the headlines, and rightfully so. Girma has gotten the ultimate blessing from Hayes. Again, rightfully so. But there are plenty of other players in this group that stepped into roles both big and small in the Paris Games.

Tierna Davidson, Girma's partner, is just 25, which means that that partnership will grow. The fullback on their right, 26-year-old Emily Fox, spent all summer swatting away attacks. Korbin Albert scored a banger in the group stage, assisted the tournament winner and, at just 20 years old, became the youngest American woman to start an Olympic final. Meanwhile, 26-year-old Sam Coffey was this team's starting No. 6 despite inexplicably being left off the World Cup squad last summer.

The point is this: this group isn't changing dramatically any time soon. And don't look now, but the 2027 World Cup is just three years away - and by that time, this group will be in their prime.

For all the attention, ambition and ascension accompanying this youthful next generation USWNT players, it would be irresponsible to not shout out the veterans, as well. Because this wasn't just some U23 team cruising their way to gold.

This team's most experienced star, Alyssa Naeher, was massive all Olympics long. Her saves in the semifinals and final were absolutely legendary. Without them, the U.S. doesn't win gold, period. The 1-0 victory over Brazil marked Naeher’s fourth clean sheet of Paris 2024, passing Hope Solo for the most shutouts by any USWNT goalkeeper at a single Olympics.

Naeher is the first goalkeeper in women’s soccer history to keep a clean sheet in both a World Cup final and an Olympic final, having also shut out Netherlands in the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup Final in Lyon. Naeher may not have many games left in her at this level, but she showed that she hasn't lost a step.

The same can be said for Crystal Dunn, who was surprisingly brought back in as the starting left-back. She was listed as a forward and has played for her club in the midfield but, once again, she was unshakeable in defense. Dunn did so much running. It's a wonder she had anything left by the final.

And don't forget the captain, Lindsey Horan. She wasn't as influential as she has been in past tournaments, but, then again, she didn't really need to be. She was given the armband last summer ahead of the World Cup and you can tell she took that failure personally. She'll feel vindicated now, and deservedly so. Horan became the fourth player to captain the USWNT in an Olympic Gold Medal match, joining Carla Overbeck (1996), Julie Foudy (2000, 2004) and Christie Pearce (2008, 2012).

Horan, 30, has time left. Dunn and Naeher? Less so. This summer, though, all three were key in bridging the gap from the legends of old to the transcendent talents that are on their way up.

“I think we’re on this steady climb,” Crystal Dunn said of the trajectory of the USWNT. “We know winning a gold medal is obviously amazing and we’re all going to celebrate and soak this in. But there’s life after this Olympics.

"I think we are going to embrace where we are but I think it’s important that we realize there’s so much more that we can do, and having Emma obviously now for the long haul is going to be incredible.”

The core of this team looks set to remain for years to come. That is unless they're pushed out. Unbelievably, more talent is on the way.

Jaedyn Shaw, arguably the brightest talent in this team, was injured before Olympics and didn't play a minute in Paris. There's a very real chance that, by the time the Olympics roll around again in Los Angeles in 2028, she's this team's best player.

Jenna Nighswoner looked set to start, only to be replaced by Dunn. The young Gotham FC star got meaningful minutes, though, and this left-back spot is hers to take in the coming years. Croix Bethune got some run, too, despite entering the tournament as an alternate.

And then there are those on the way, players such as Lily Yohannes, Olivia Moultrie, Eva Gaetino, Hal Herschfelt and Alyssa and Gisele Thompson. Don't forget about Catarina Macario and Mia Fishel, too, after they missed out due to injury. That's before we even get into the youth teams. The pipeline is strong.

The rest of the world spent decades trying to knock the USWNT off their perch, and for a stretch in recent years, they succeeded. The 12-year gap between gold medals marked the longest the U.S. had gone without topping the podium in the Olympics.

That elite status has been reclaimed, though, and, wildly enough, the future for this USWNT is even brighter than this golden present.