USWNT and mens team stick together at Paris Olympics

MARSEILLE, France — Before their Olympic soccer matches, U.S. women’s team captain Lindsey Horan and Walker Zimmerman, the elder statesman on a young men’s squad, exchange text messages wishing each other luck.

For the first time since 2008, the men’s team joined the perennial women’s team in the tournament. And in a stroke of logistical fortune for the U.S. Soccer Federation and fans wishing to see both play, each side was drawn into first-round groups initially based in the south of France.

The teams were staying in hotels about four miles apart in this Mediterranean port city and shared the same training grounds in Martigues, a canal-graced town about 25 miles northwest of Marseille’s famous waterfront.

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Because of preplanned off-day schedules, players have not been able to attend each other’s matches. And Sunday, the men relocated 190 miles north to Lyon ahead of their group finale Tuesday in Saint-Étienne against Guinea.

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Nonetheless, the American soccer synergy was alive and well in Provence.

“We are rooting them on, and it’s just really exciting to be here alongside them,” Zimmerman said. “We both have aspirations to really go far in this tournament, and hopefully we’ll meet up again in Paris.”

Should results go their way in the coming days, both will head to Paris for quarterfinals Friday (men) and Saturday (women) at Parc des Princes, France’s most famous soccer venue.

Second in Group A behind France, the U.S. men (1-1-0) would secure one of the quartet’s two quarterfinal berths with a victory. A draw also probably would suffice. Even a defeat might not prevent them from their first visit to the Olympic knockout stage in 24 years.

Having already clinched a place in the quarterfinals, the women (2-0-0) will aim to win Group B on Wednesday in Marseille against Australia (1-1-0).

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“I have a great relationship with Walker and great respect for him as a person and player,” Horan said. “We text each other before every game, wishing each other good luck and good luck to the teams. ... It’s really special to have the men’s team at the Olympics because we haven’t had that in a while. To have both teams here in Marseille for a few days and be able to share this experience is one of the things that makes the Olympics unique.”

The U.S. men played their first two matches at Stade Vélodrome in Marseille, losing to France and defeating New Zealand, while the women traveled 120 miles east to Nice and defeated Zambia before returning to Marseille for a 4-1 rout of Germany on Sunday.

Per tradition, Olympic soccer is played not only in the host city but throughout the host country. Lyon, Bordeaux and Nantes are also among the seven cities staging matches.

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The women’s players have been watching the men’s games in their meal room. The men say they have watched the women’s games in their hotel rooms or treatment room and caught highlight packages.

“It’s great that they won [Sunday], and it’s obviously something we’re proud of,” center back Miles Robinson said. “We’re rooting for them.”

Right back Emily Fox has taken a particular interest in Kevin Paredes’s performances and vice versa. Both are from Northern Virginia.

The women’s players are not as familiar individually with their male counterparts here as those on the men’s national team because this men’s competition is primarily for players 23 and under. (The women are allowed to field their full national teams.) One exception to the men’s roster rule is Zimmerman, a 31-year-old center back who was among Coach Marko Mitrovic’s three overage selections.

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Two years ago, the 2022 World Cup starter was instrumental in forging collective bargaining agreements that provided pay equity for the women’s team, following years of labor acrimony with the USSF. The teams now pool and share tournament prize money.

Missing the chance to attend Olympic women’s group matches has been a “bummer,” Zimmerman said. “I’ve been trying to link up with some of them, and it’s just so hard with the schedules and how quick the turnaround is” between matches.

After the men’s 4-1 victory over New Zealand, Zimmerman half-jokingly credited the women, who scored three times in the first half against Zambia, for galvanizing his team’s fast start.

“Being up at the half 3-0 was probably inspiration from the women’s team,” he said. “We saw they can do it; we wanted to join in on the fun.”

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