WASHINGTON — The U.S. women’s national soccer team spent the final three days before the Olympics sweating and slaving in 100-degree heat in Washington, D.C., falling short in a 0-0 draw with Costa Rica in their send-off game on Tuesday night, and the sweltering heat that gripped the U.S. meant players sprayed themselves with water bottles and wrapped towels around their heads.
On the one hand it was a brutal experience.
“It was really hot,” midfielder Sam Coffey said with an exhausted sigh. “It was tough.”
“The last two games have been awesome,” defenseman Casey Kruger said of Saturday afternoon’s game in New Jersey.
Meanwhile, manager Emma Hayes said it was “perfect preparation for the Marseille game,” and her players agreed.
The U.S. women’s national team flies out to France on Wednesday, one week before the Olympics, which have been dogged by heat concerns for months. Over the past six years, temperatures in Paris on July 25, opening day for the U.S. women’s national team, have ranged from 60 degrees to 109 degrees Fahrenheit. Three of those years have been above 90 degrees.
Summer 2024 in Paris is looking mild so far, with current forecasts calling for highs of around 75 degrees through next week, when the Olympics begin.
But neither U.S. soccer team will be in Paris unless they reach the gold medal game. Both teams will be in Nice and Marseille on France’s south coast for their group stage matches. Temperatures in Nice are expected to top 90 degrees this weekend and into the upper 80s next Thursday, when the U.S. women’s national team plays Zambia.
A high of 91 degrees is expected in Marseille, where the U.S. men’s team will play France next Wednesday. The women’s team will travel to Marseille for Games 2 and 3. “It’s pretty hot up there,” Hayes said Monday.
All of their games will start at 7 or 9 pm local time, although they are scheduled to practice closer to noon.
“So,” Hayes said before the team began training on a scorching, sun-drenched, 99-degree afternoon, “this is a great opportunity for us to get some experience with what we’re going to be facing.”
Twenty-eight hours later, the final friendly before the Olympics was a tough one. It was 95 degrees at kickoff. Captain Lindsey Horan splashed water on her face as she prepared to walk into the pre-match huddle. Her nose started running as she talked to her teammates.
The game was slow-paced, but that was mostly due to Costa Rica playing at a slower pace. The visitors’ low block and defensive approach made Tuesday’s match less physical than the U.S. women’s team will face in Paris.
Still, players were drenched in sweat. During an injury stoppage midway through the first half, players came over for water. When an official “hydration break” was called less than 10 minutes later, several players wrapped towels around their necks. Emily Fox grabbed a second towel to wipe her face, and Coffey wrapped one around her entire head.
“Thank God the sun was starting to go down,” Coffey said later.
Rose Lavelle didn’t even finish warming up; she was scheduled to start but was removed because of a groin strain. It’s unclear whether the conditions were to blame, or whether Hayes, as she put it, decided “not to take any risks.” (The pitch at Audi Field was awful.)
Game-wise, the US Women’s National Team lacked imagination. Predictably, they dominated the game, with roughly 80% possession and plenty of chances, but they lacked precision in the final third and will head into the Olympics having scored just one goal in two warm-up matches against weaker opponents.
But they won’t be playing a team like Costa Rica in France, and perhaps the biggest similarity between Tuesday’s game and last weekend’s 1-0 win over Mexico in Harrison, New Jersey, was the temperature.
“It’s great preparation for us going to the south of France,” Coffey said of the experience of playing in the heat.
