Photo: Albert Cesare/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK
Lynn Biyendolo has waited a long time, perhaps even her entire career, for a moment like this. Donning the captain’s band for the U.S. women’s national team for the first time, Biyendolo led her team out onto the field and continued to do what she does best: provide a steady presence.
With 81 international appearances under her belt, Biyendolo’s experience was nearly double that of the rest of the entire starting XI. Two players — Sam Meza and Izzy Rodriguez — were making their U.S. debuts. After Biyendolo, the next highest-capped player on the starting XI was Yazmeen Ryan with 11 appearances.
“It means everything,” Biyendolo said on the broadcast ahead of kickoff. “I don’t think I ever thought I’d be in this position, but it’s truly an honor. I hope that I can lead this team well and just help bring energy and some organization to a very young side.”
Postgame, she sang a similar tune, noting that she’s “gonna remember this day forever.”
A nine-year career with the USWNT has resulted in an Olympic gold and bronze medal. But at 32 years old, Biyendolo has spent nearly the entirety of her national team career as a bubble player who is known for not taking things for granted. She’s been open about the devastation she faced being left off the 2019 World Cup roster. Two years later, she was named an alternate to the Tokyo Olympics roster, which was later expanded as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Perhaps former U.S. and North Carolina Courage teammate and fellow podcast host Sam Mewis put it best, offering up her congratulations to Biyendolo pregame.
“Gave me goosebumps to hear @lynnraenie talk about captaining the USWNT tonight,” Mewis wrote on social media. “It’s such a huge honor in a player’s career to have this moment — and Lynn has gone through everything you could think of to be here right now. Feeling so proud to be her friend.”
Despite the uncertainty in her career, Biyendolo has been one of those players that provides a steady and efficient presence on the field. She knows her role, often as a substitute, and knows it well.
“She does it time and time again. You speak with her about it, she would tell you she knows how to do that role really well,” Hayes said back in June after she recorded a brace against Jamaica. “I think it’s not to be underestimated. She always contributes to the team’s performance in a profound way.”
It was the journey, and Biyendolo’s persistence, that made her captain’s debut so special on Sunday. It was made even more special when she provided the team’s opening goal in the 11th minute, marking her 13th goal as a starter for the USWNT and her 25th overall.
Perhaps even more fitting is that the assist was provided by Emma Sears, a player that has steadily grown into someone that we could one day look back on as a U.S. great. Similar to Biyendolo, Sears’ journey to the USWNT hasn’t exactly been linear. But she’s quickly established herself on the team’s front line.
A few minutes later, Biyendolo nearly doubled the USWNT’s tally. But ultimately it was Izzy Rodriguez who would add to the tally, the 23rd player in USWNT history to score a goal in their first international cap.
Also on that list is Biyendolo, who back in 2016 scored her first international goal just 49 seconds into her first international appearance for the U.S. At the time, it was a record for the fastest debut goal in team history before Kealia Ohai (now Watt) broke it four days later.
Yazmeen Ryan joined Rodriguez in the first international goal club, adding a third to the USWNT’s tally in the 66th minute. Subbed on in the latter half of the game, Alyssa Thompson made it two goals in two games in this international window to make it 4-0 for the U.S.
For players like Rodriguez and Ryan, Biyendolo’s story of never giving up is one that provides a valuable lesson. For Biyendolo, her veteran status comes after years of hard work and isn’t something she takes lightly.
“You just wake up one day and you’re like, ‘Oh I’m the veteran now,’” Biyendolo said during media availability last week. “And I feel like that’s happened to me. With so many new players, so much talent is in the pool and so much talent is on this team right now. But there are things that I had to learn along the way from veterans as well and so hopefully I can impart some wisdom and some experience on these younger players and hopefully it sticks with them.”
“Any time you can find yourself in a veteran seat, it means that you’ve been here for a while,” she continued. “Any time you put on the crest it’s an honor. But knowing I have been here long enough to be considered [a veteran] is something you only dream of when you’re younger.”
The win marked the USWNT’s 600th of all time.
