INGLEWOOD, California: Trinity Rodman drilled her shot into the bottom corner of Brazil’s net and promptly got mobbed by her teammates. She broke away from the goal celebration and grabbed her lower back, pretending to seize up with pain — only to stand up tall and laugh while flipping her pink hair over both shoulders.
After eight months of recovery from back woes, Rodman is feeling close to her old self again. The US women’s national team also showed signs of their top form while coolly handling another world power.
Rodman scored in the fifth minute of her return from a lengthy injury absence, and the Americans beat Brazil 2-0 Saturday in a friendly rematch of the Paris Olympics gold-medal match.
Rodman, the 22-year-old star and Orange County native, delivered her 11th goal for the US by finishing off a brilliant run by Alyssa Thompson. Rodman hadn’t played for the US since the Olympic final due to persistent back problems — hence her cheeky celebration.
“The medical staff was freaking out, but I felt like I had to do it,” Rodman said with a grin. “It felt so good to be in this atmosphere again, to be with the team. The stadium was crazy.”
Phallon Tullis-Joyce made six saves while keeping a clean sheet in the 28-year-old goalkeeper’s US debut. Captain Lindsey Heaps also scored a second-half penalty goal in the first of two California friendlies in four days against Brazil, who lost 2-1 in Paris as the US secured its fifth Olympic gold medal.
“I think it shows where this group is going,” Heaps said. “Our group is just getting better and better, and there’s not massive gaps between players. These young guns coming in ... it’s such a cool thing for us to see.”
Played before a lively crowd of 32,303, this game was billed as the first professional women’s sporting event at SoFi Stadium, the nearly 5-year-old home of the NFL’s Los Angeles Rams.
The teams meet again Tuesday night in San Jose, California.
In their most recent outing in late February, the US women took their first defeat of coach Emma Hayes’ tenure, falling 2-1 to Japan in San Diego in the final of the SheBelieves Cup. The Americans had been 15-0-2 since Hayes took over in June 2024.
Back at it in SoFi, the Americans struck early — and with style.
Studio City native Thompson got a midfield touch and made an impressive run through Brazil’s formation, sending one defender to the grass in confusion before pushing a perfect pass to Rodman for her cool finish.
Rodman’s celebration was a treat as well — for most observers, anyway.
“Except I didn’t think she was pretending,” Hayes said with a grimace. “I will have a word with her, because that was like a ‘cry wolf’ moment. I turned to the physios and said, ‘Her back’s hurting,’ instantly. And then I realized she was tricking us.”
Later in the first half, Rodman appeared to be dealing with actual pain, which she blamed on a charley horse from getting kneed by an opponent. She still played 16 minutes into the second half before coming off.
The US was awarded a penalty when substitute Lily Johannes was tripped in the box. Heaps hammered it home for her 37th goal.
The depleted US defense had several rough moments in front of goal. The Seleção carried significant stretches of play and forced Tullis-Joyce to work hard, but the Long Island native who plays for Manchester United handled every chance capably.
Tullis-Joyce is competing for the first-string job after the retirement of Alyssa Naeher. Her parents and brother attended the match, but they didn’t know she would start until the lineup was announced an hour before kickoff.
“I love a clean sheet,” Tullis-Joyce said. “Happy for my teammates as well. That back line, they really gritted it out. Everybody was putting their body on the line. Credit to Brazil.”
The Americans will be without starting center backs Naomi Girma and Tierna Davidson for the near future. They were replaced by Emily Sonnett and Tara McKeown, who only broke into the US lineup earlier this year.
Two weeks after the Mexico men’s team won the CONCACAF Nations Cup at SoFi, this friendly match was another early chapter in a series of upcoming soccer events in the Los Angeles area, including the 2026 men’s World Cup, the Los Angeles Olympics tournament and probably the Women’s World Cup in 2031.
