'It's just love' – How the irrepressible Emma Hayes resurrected the USWNT, restored the faith and turned tarnish into gold
Getty/GOALJust 10 games into her tenure, Emma Hayes has rebuilt the program – the expectations are back, and so is the USWNT
There was no hiding the emotion on her face, but Emma Hayes was doing everything in her power to fight it. Her eyes darted up and to her right repeatedly, which she must have hoped would prevent the tears from flowing. She shook her head, bit her lip, scrunched her cheeks, forced a smile.
Hayes seemed desperate not to allow the emotion to flow, but it was there for all to see.
"It's just love," she told NBC after leading the U.S. women's national team to an Olympic gold medal in just her 10th game in charge. "I come from a place of wanting players to enjoy themselves and I've been at a club [Chelsea] for 12 years, where I've had huge success. But I was desperate to do well for this country. And I'm so emotional because it's not every day you win a gold medal."
"I love America," she added. "It made me. And I always say that. It definitely made me."
Hayes fell in love with America years ago, and this was the summer that America fell back in love with her, too. She was painted as a savior from the minute she was appointed coach of the USWNT, and she was exactly that. In a matter of months, Hayes restored confidence, pride and, most of all, success to a program that was arguably at its lowest point coming off the disappointment of the 2023 World Cup. Hayes knew the job's difficulty and, from the start, embraced it. And the American soccer community has returned the favor.
Her players seemingly embraced Hayes from the start, as well. All tournament long, they traded references to her as part coach, part mother, part older sister. Seemingly across the board, it was an instant connection, one that was very apparent throughout the glorious run through the Paris Games. By the end, players had become family, almost literally – there was celebratory group photo, in which Hayes' son Harry was perched on Sophia Smith's lap. He, too, was along for the ride, one that is only just beginning.
In just a matter of months, Emma Hayes rebuilt the USWNT. Here's how she did it.
