How U.S. women's soccer team can make history at Rio Olympics

There have been five Olympic women’s soccer tournaments, beginning in Atlanta in 1996. In that first edition, the United States, five years after winning the inaugural Women’s World Cup, tied Norway with a late penalty in the semifinal and then won with a golden goal in extra time. They beat China in the final.

Four years later, in Sydney, the Lady Yanks lost to Norway in extra time of the final, their only non-gold medal to date. Because in Athens, Beijing and London, they beat Brazil twice in extra time and Japan once in regulation, respectively.

So now that the USA has won three of seven Women’s World Cups (including last year’s in Canada) and four of five Olympic tournaments, never once failing to medal at either tournament, it kind of has to invent new challenges for itself as it begins play in the 2016 Summer Games.

It’s become a bit like when you’ve won everything there is to win in a video game but aren’t ready to quit playing it. You have to come up with new stuff to accomplish.

Here’s something: Nobody has ever won the Olympics after winning the Women’s World Cup. Chiefly — well, actually, entirely — because the U.S. won the Summer Games every year except the time after they lifted the 1999 World Cup.

So maybe that’s the next thing to shoot for.

Because in a sport that’s evolving at warp speed, with the quality of women’s leagues and coaching and resources rapidly improving worldwide, the U.S. somehow remains far ahead of the pack. Even though its own soccer scene has been something close to stagnant in recent years, as quasi-professional soccer leagues come and go. That’s just how big the headstart was, courtesy of Title XI and the riches it pumped into women’s college soccer, which then churned out elite talent at a sometimes overwhelming rate. (Over the years, players who could have had fine international careers in other countries never even got close to the U.S. national team.)

For the first time in years, the Americans will look significantly different from one tournament to the next. After the Women’s World Cup, Abby Wambach, Shannon Boxx and Lauren Holiday retired from the national team — and eventually from all soccer. So did Rachel Van Hollebeke (née Buehler), who hadn’t made the World Cup team. Then, before the Olympic squad was announced, the ageless — yet also 41-year-old — Christie Rampone announced that her 311th U.S. appearance, good for second all time, was also her last. Lastly, Heather O’Reilly, seventh on the all-time appearance list in spite of still only being 31 years old, didn’t make the Olympic team.

What remains in their place is still built around some very familiar names — Hope Solo in goal, Becky Sauerbrunn in central defense, Megan Rapinoe in midfield, Alex Morgan up front, Carli Lloyd everywhere — yet many are in new roles, surrounded by players that change their functions within the team. World Cup breakout players Julie Johnston and Morgan Brian are now bedrock to the starting lineup, while forward Mallory Pugh — all of 18 years old — midfielder/striker Lindsey Horan and the multifunctional Crystal Dunn have firmly ensconced themselves. Forward Christen Press and winger Tobin Heath have finally taken the responsibility their towering talents suggested they should have years ago.

This refreshed team is probably as strong as it was a year ago, and surely more technical and dynamic. Because head coach Jill Ellis has finally gotten to build the team she had envisioned — a more modern one, better equipped for the future.

As such, the Americans are the overwhelming favorites. Because no matter how much progress some other teams have made, nobody can yet match their firepower or depth. And what’s more, Japan, the USA’s opponent in the last two World Cup finals and the 2012 Olympic final — the two more recent games of which were won by the U.S. — somehow didn’t qualify for the Rio Games by losing crucial qualifiers to China and Australia. The Americans’ Group G isn’t a walk in the park exactly, but they should advance without issue following a round-robin against France, Colombia and New Zealand. From there, three games would separate them from another gold medal.

But, in spite of appearances reflecting all of the above, things are not entirely as good as they seem. This tournament will take place as the backdrop for an increasingly nasty labor fight between the team and U.S. Soccer. They are in the midst of negotiations in which the players want to achieve equal pay with the men’s national team.

[Related: The incredible drive behind Carli Lloyd’s quest to remain the world’s best]

The two teams’ pay scales, however, are structured entirely differently — the women get a base salary and benefits plus small bonuses; the men are paid only in bonuses, albeit much larger ones that can make their total pay more than the women’s. The sides are also at odds over how much each team generates in revenue and whether their current collective bargaining agreement is valid.

The players posited that it wasn’t and argued that, as such, they had the right to strike. The federation disagreed, sued to pre-empt a breach of contract, and won. The players countersued unsuccessfully and filed a complaint to the federal Equal Economic Opportunity Commission, a case that is pending. The sides are reportedly miles apart, when they’ve talked at all. The players continue to fight in the court of public opinion.

Then, of course, there are the various challenges of playing in Brazil, not least of which is the Zika virus, which caused Solo to publicly declare that she might not play, before reversing course.

These are all opponents to USA’s fourth straight gold medal, too. In Rio, the challenges on the field will be many. But they may be outnumbered by those off it.

Leander Schaerlaeckens is a soccer columnist for Yahoo Sports. Follow him on Twitter @LeanderAlphabet.