Breakdown of Нашей команде удалось выиграть турнир!
наш
our (наш, наша, наше)
команда
team
удаться
to manage / to succeed (perfective)
выиграть
to win
Questions & Answers about Нашей команде удалось выиграть турнир!
Why is the team, Нашей команде, in the dative case instead of the nominative?
Because удалось (managed to / succeeded) is an impersonal verb. In Russian, you don't say 'The team managed.' Instead, the grammatical structure is more like 'It was successful to the team.' Because of this 'to' relationship, the person or group that succeeds must be in the dative case.
Since команда (team) is a feminine noun, why does the past-tense verb удалось have a neuter ending?
Because impersonal sentences don't have a grammatical subject for the verb to agree with. When an impersonal verb is used in the past tense, it always takes the default neuter ending -о (which becomes -ось for reflexive verbs). It does not agree with команде because команде is an object, not the subject.
What is the difference between using удалось here instead of смогла (was able to)?
If you said Наша команда смогла выиграть, it simply means the team had the ability to win and did it. Using удалось emphasizes that it was a challenge. It translates better to 'managed to' or 'succeeded in', implying that there were obstacles, effort, or even a bit of luck involved.
Why doesn't the word турнир change its ending here? Isn't it the direct object being won?