The USWNT has been on a roll, breezing past every rival in the Olympics. But, the word in the street is that a tired bunch of players marginally beat Japan in the Olympic quarter-finals. Many believe USWNT stars, including skipper Lindsey Horan, could have avoided the fatigue if coach Emma Hayes used substitutes. However, a star player from Team USA’s rival camp believes that the extra time in the knockouts is actually causing headaches to the players.

Speaking on the women’s game podcast, Netherlands and Manchester City star Vivianne Miedema urged the Olympic committee to strip the extra time from knockout games. “If we look at the load of the games, I do not think we should go to extra time. I think we should go to penalties straight after 90 minutes,” Miedema said. There’s a snowball’s chance in hell for the Olympic committee to consider Miedema’s plea. But it must be noted that competitions such as the Copa America went on without having extra time in the knockouts during its recent edition.

The Olympics are no Copa and coach Emma Hayes would again have to weather a storm with worn and torn players if the USWNT-Germany semi were to get to extra time. Anyhow, a close analysis of USWNT’s marginal win against Japan proves that Vivianne Miedema was quite right to make such a demand to the Olympic organizers. What happened during the extra time during the USWNT-Japan game? Let’s find out.

Seeing USWNT’s struggles in QF, anybody would want to get rid of the extra time

As the clock was ticking through the extra time, US captain Lindsey Horan saw her energy levels plummet like never before. A huge bunch of fans called for Emma Hayes to substitute the skipper while she continued her impactless run on the field. Meanwhile, Trinity Rodman, who scored the game-winner, had time and again taken the help of physios to get past her physical woes. Star midfielder Korbin Albert was no outlier either. The biggest knock came for the USWNT camp in the 121st minute.

Veteran Emily Fox terribly hurt her knee at the time and limped away to the bench. On the back of this knock, Fox is out of the starting XI for the semi-final against Germany. Besides, USWNT stars’ physical struggles in the QF have forced analysts and fans to call out Emma Hayes’ no-rotation policy. They say Hayes should have rotated her squad for the final group game against Australia. While some say the former Chelsea coach should have made use of her immensely talented bench.

Considering all the ruckus surrounding one knockout game, it is quite valid that the Olympics mull over snubbing extra time in the soccer tournament. If not in Paris, at least for the next tournament in LA.