1 week Ago By Anthony Wood
Just over 10 months into her tenure as U.S. Women’s National Team (USWNT) head coach, Emma Hayes believes the team's talented young roster is beginning to take shape.
During her time in charge of the USWNT, Hayes has looked to transform the program from top to bottom , streamlining the path of progression from youth teams to the senior team, deepening the pool of available talent, and introducing the next generation of talent into the roster. The path so far has been tricky, remarkably leading the USWNT to a gold medal at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games after only 75 days in charge, before losing the SheBelieves Cup title to Japan in March. Now with a series of friendlies scheduled over the coming months to help put the new-look roster through its paces ahead of the 2026 CONCACAF W Championship and the following year’s FIFA Women's World Cup , Hayes believes the team's hard work is starting to pay off.
Speaking ahead of their 2-0 win against Brazil on Saturday - their first of two friendlies scheduled against the world’s eighth-ranked team - Hayes told TNT Sports : “This is an opportunity for these players to go, ‘Oh, I know what the Brazil game is like’ - because I spoke to some of you guys about how this is one of the toughest games you ever play in. “It’s a game of duels. And when I say the team are prepared mentally, emotionally, and physically I can assure you that I can’t guarantee the result, but I tell you what I am going to see from them is that you are going to see our DNA, but you are going to see another step from so many players and bringing what we've been working so hard on.
And I can see the confidence growing in the group.” An early goal from Trinity Rodman and a powerful second-half penalty from Lindsey Heaps ultimately sealed the deal for the USWNT in front of over 32,000 fans at SoFi Stadium, with Hayes reiterating post-game: “I think you're seeing this less experienced team are growing up.” Listen to our All Out Soccer podcast on both Apple and Spotify.
This “less experienced team” included goalkeeper Phallon Tullis-Joyce and Avery Patterson - both of whom made their international debuts against Brazil. Hayes’ 24-player roster also includes four players aged 21 or under: Alyssa Thompson, Ally Sentnor, Jaedyn Shaw, and Lily Yohannes. With a win under her belt ahead of the second leg at PayPal Park on April 8, Hayes also took the opportunity to emphasize once again that this is the time for experimentation and risk-taking with their team, knowing full well that the World Cup in Brazil remains their ultimate goal.
“It’s a great yardstick to see, ‘Okay, Japan was this type of game, now we’ve got Brazil, what growth are we going to see in us knowing that we are preparing for two years time,’” she told Telemundo . “So, we have to take risks now, we have to put the right collection of players together to play, but we’re really excited about today and we’ve prepared really really well.”.
