Injuries have been a nagging problem for Emma Hayes. The USWNT‘s marginal 2-1 win against Australia in their final Olympic group game showed how much they missed star striker Jaedyn Shaw and veteran defender Tierna Davidson. Shaw’s leg injury has kept her from playing at least one game in this Olympics, while Davidson joined her on the bench after suffering a knee injury during the Germany game. While group games always give you a second chance, USWNT has to do or die when they face Japan in tomorrow’s quarter-final. Is Emma Hayes summoning the injured star duo for the headline clash?

Even Emma Hayes is unsure if she could start Tierna Davidson and Jaedyn Shaw. As per The Athletic’s Meg Linehan, Hayes said she will wait until game time tomorrow to figure out whether to start Davidson and Shaw against Japan. “There’s not a big turnaround. I’m going to leave it for as long as possible,” said the USWNT coach, referring to the US duo’s injuries. “I’ve got another 24 hours, so the injury update is touch and go, but I’m gonna give it the maximum amount of time to see if either one of them is available,” Hayes added.

The former Chelsea boss said Tierna Davidson was recovering well, but she is concerned about whether the recovery is too late. Hayes, however, did not go any further about Shaw’s leg injury. Adding fuel to Hayes’ woes, US midfielder Sam Coffey is on a double-yellow card suspension and will miss the tie against Japan. So how is the 47-year-old going to counter these shortcomings during the quarter-final? Let’s see.

Hayes to remain steadfast in her strategy as USWNT laces up for quarter-finals

Team USA’s star striker Trinity Rodman is one yellow card away from facing the same plight as Sam Coffey. Yet, Emma Hayes will take the risk of starting Rodman against Japan. Not only Rodman, but all the USWNT’s starters will lace up against Japan, as Hayes has no plans to rotate her squad, despite being riddled with injuries and suspension woes. She said that her focus with the USWNT is to build chemistry by starting the same team time and again. The US coach thinks chemistry is sacrosanct because it leads to creativity.

Anyhow, it won’t be a walk in the park for Hayes and Co. to weather the Japanese storm tomorrow. The Asian side was Group C’s top goal-scorer with six goals in three games. However, the USWNT had a cleaner run at the group stage with nine goals and three wins, unlike Japan, which lost to Spain. Let’s see if Hayes’ side will be able to carry this momentum forward to the quarter-finals.