Latest news with #EmmaHayes
New York Times
a day ago
- Sport
- New York Times
Emma Hayes' ‘astronomical' year as USWNT head coach – but this is only the first step
COMMERCE CITY, Colo. — On June 1, 2024, as the U.S. women's national team prepared to take the field against South Korea in Colorado, head coach Emma Hayes stared down a stadium tunnel swirling with sound. Staff were banging on the walls to hype up the players, and fans roared with similar anticipation. The heat and humidity, combined with the mile-high altitude, were brutal — especially for an Englishwoman who hadn't known how to properly hydrate for those conditions. Advertisement It was Hayes' first game since accepting the position in November 2023, and she was nervous. She'd spent 12 years managing Chelsea and had no idea how an American crowd would respond to someone 'from the outside,' as she described it. Still healing from the disappointment of their earliest World Cup exit in USWNT history, her new side were also less than two months out from the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris. Hayes felt 'desperate to do well for the team.' They beat South Korea 4-0, with two goals each from forward Mallory Swanson and defender Tierna Davidson. Seventy days later on August 10, the USWNT became Olympic gold medalists with a 1-0 victory over Brazil. And in the year since her nerve-wracking debut, Hayes has uprooted and overhauled the women's program in ways that feel revolutionary, inviting more new players to national team camp than any coach before her and revamping the U-23s to create a sustainable and cohesive pipeline of talent. Now, with two more years to go until the 2027 World Cup in Brazil, Hayes remains a champion of development and deliberation, choosing process over perfection as she continues to build. Thursday night offered a poetic checkpoint for what has changed and what has remained the same. Hayes and the USWNT were back at Dick's Sporting Goods Park, and the final score was again 4-0, this time against a depleted Republic of Ireland. Swanson is pregnant and Davidson is out with an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury; this match instead featured goals from defender Avery Patterson, midfielders Sam Coffey and Rose Lavelle, and forward Alyssa Thompson. Coffey and Lavelle, who just returned to USWNT camp after an ankle injury kept her away since December, are two of just four players on Hayes' first roster as head coach who also played against Ireland. It's a testament to Hayes' dedication to experimenting and implementing a new standard for who receives an invitation to camp. Advertisement Though Coffey earned her first USWNT call up in September 2022 under former head coach Vlatko Andonovski, she did not make the 2023 World Cup roster. Since Hayes stepped in, she has been a consistent fixture for the national team at No. 6. Thursday's match against Ireland was her 36th cap and she scored her third goal for the United States. 'She's had such a profound impact on me as a person and a player,' Coffey said of Hayes after Thursday's match. 'I think she, in many ways, has just given me such confidence and belief in myself to know what I can do and to help the team in any way possible. I think the amount that she's done in a year is astronomical.' Coffey added that she and her teammates 'still have so much that we want to do in so many ways.' 'We want to grow and every camp, every game we have is just another step that we get to take together,' she added, 'and so we're loving her.' Thompson's journey with the national team has been similarly nonlinear, even under Hayes. While she made Andonovski's World Cup roster, she seldom played, and was not chosen by Hayes to compete for an Olympic medal in Paris. Her standout club performances since with Angel City in the NWSL earned her another invitation, and she has since solidified her spot on the USWNT. 'I feel like I've grown so much as a player,' Thompson said after the game Thursday night of Hayes' impact. 'I'm just understanding the game more. In the beginning, there was a lot of information that I wanted to take in, and now I'm really understanding it. I feel like it comes a little bit second nature. Just being able to keep implementing things and working on my game really helped and it came from Emma coming in and just helping our team in that way.' Hayes was similarly effusive in her post-match press conference. Advertisement 'I know you're probably bored of me, but I just love them all,' she said. 'I said to them today, 'I don't want them to think that I take for granted the trust that they place in me to coach them'. I'm so grateful for how vulnerable they are to let me do that and, yeah, I just love them.' One year into the job, Hayes has called up 27 players to the senior team — which, of course, required tough decisions and frank conversations with those who lost their spots. Hayes' first major decision came when she announced her 18-player roster for the Olympics, which did not include USWNT legend Alex Morgan. Her omission marked the first time since 2008 that Morgan would not compete with the U.S. in a major tournament. It was a ripping off of a band-aid that sent shockwaves through the world of women's soccer and made clear the extent to which Hayes was willing to endure discomfort in order to manifest her vision. Morgan announced her second pregnancy and retirement last September, having played no part in the U.S.'s gold medal run. And Hayes kept tinkering. Sometimes it was out of necessity as a result of injuries or pregnancies, but largely to ensure players were in the best environments for their growth. The Olympic group has not all played together since leaving France, and two of those gold medalists, Korbin Albert and Jaedyn Shaw, have recently been moved to the U-23s to continue learning. 'It's a reminder that you have to develop a playing pool that's capable, and when you're facing top opponents across the world that have Champions League experience, they have Nations League experience, they have cap accumulation (with the) Under 20s, Under 17s, we have a lot of catching up to do and to close that gap,' Hayes said. 'Our program has been really clear, especially with the introduction of our under-23 program.' Hayes would have been justified in coasting after last summer's accomplishment, at least for a little while; winning medals in major international tournaments affords you that. But if anything, she's become more dogmatic about the changes she wants to implement, the gaps she seeks to close between starters and bench players on the senior year, and also between the senior team and U-23s. 'I feel like we're back on track, but I will urge caution with it — and I say that because I'm so respectful of what England and Spain and Germany and Brazil in particular are doing in the global game. There is no gap between one, two, three, four, five in the world,' Hayes said Wednesday. 'We have to make every moment count for us to put ourselves in the best place possible to compete.'
Yahoo
a day ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Republic of Ireland well beaten by USA in friendly
A depleted Republic of Ireland proved no match for the United States as they succumbed to the hosts in Friday's friendly in the high altitude of Denver. Shorn of a host of regulars including rested captain Katie McCabe, and the injured Megan Campbell and Denise O'Sullivan, it was always going to be a tough task against the world's number one team and so it proved. Advertisement Avery Patterson, Sam Coffey, Rose Lavelle and Alyssa Thompson were all on target for Emma Hayes' hosts. Despite the USA resting all of their European-based stars aside from Chelsea's Naomi Girma, they were quick to assert themselves. They threatened from the off with Thompson denied by Courtney Brosnan from point-blank range, before the Republic of Ireland goalkeeper - captaining the team on her 50th cap - turned a low Claire Hutton effort around the post. However, the opener was coming and in the 18th minute, Lavelle picked up possession from a short corner and swung a teasing ball into the box for Patterson to nod home. Advertisement Despite some stout Irish defending, the USA doubled their lead when Coffey cut through the defence and produced a composed finish. There was no reprieve in the second period as the USA continued to press for goals and they were rewarded just seven minutes in when Lavelle finished off a crisp move. Number four came in the 63rd minute as Thompson managed to get past Jessie Stapleton and head for goal before curling home a fine shot to wrap up a comfortable win. While the woodwork denied Olivia Moultrie late on, the USA laid down a marker before they play again in Cincinnati on Sunday (20:00 BST).
Irish Times
a day ago
- Sport
- Irish Times
Ireland outclassed in Denver as miserable record against United States continues
United States 4 (Patterson 18, Coffey 45+4, Lavelle 53, Thompson 63) Republic of Ireland 0 Sixteen meetings, 16 defeats, the Republic of Ireland 's record against the United States failed to take a turn for the better in Denver in the early hours of Friday morning. Two goals in each half gave the States a comfortable victory, one that would have been by a greater margin but for the goalkeeping of Courtney Brosnan who was made captain on the occasion of her 50th cap. The States took the lead on 18 minutes when a napping Irish defence failed to close down Rose Lavelle after a corner was played short to her, Avery Patterson heading home her cross. Sam Coffey doubled that lead on the stroke of half-time when more slack defending allowed her glide in on the left of the box and place the ball in the bottom right corner. Eight minutes in to the second half, Lavelle, returning to the side after six months out following ankle surgery, made it 3-0 at the end of a neat move down the right, the World Cup winner turning home Ally Sentnor's cross. And the scoring was completed in the 63rd minute, Alyssa Thompson skipping past Jessie Stapleton on the halfway line, charging up the left wing before curling the ball past Brosnan. It was an utterly dominant display by an experimental States side, head coach Emma Hayes giving debuts to two players, goalkeeper Claudia Dickey and defender Lily Reale, and starts to four more players who have less than 10 caps to their names. They did, though, have Chelsea's Naomi Girma, the world's most expensive woman player, at the heart of their defence alongside the 109-capped Emily Sonnett, as well as the experienced Lavelle and Coffey in midfield. READ MORE USA's Rose Lavelle scores her side's third goal of the game past Courtney Brosnan. Photograph: Ryan Byrne/Inpho It was the first time in two years that an Irish side featured neither captain Katie McCabe nor midfielder Denise O'Sullivan, the former allowed skip this trip after a gruelling season, the latter suffering from a knee injury she picked up when playing for North Carolina Courage last weekend. Megan Campbell was also unavailable after suffering an ankle injury in training. Ward gave Chloe Mustaki her first start in three years, the Bristol City player posted at left-back, but it was a largely experienced side, Stapleton, Anna Patten and Caitlin Hayes completing the back four. Ruesha Littlejohn, winning her 90th cap, played alongside Megan Connolly in midfield, while Emily Murphy, Kyra Carusa and Lucy Quinn were tasked with providing the ammunition for striker Amber Barrett. In the end, Ireland could only muster two shots on goal on a night that saw them struggle with the heat almost as much as the opposition, sloppy passing hardly helping their cause. Tyler Toland and Abbie Larkin replaced Littlejohn and Quinn at half-time, Saoirse Noonan, Marissa Sheva and debutante Erin Healy introduced later, but a crowd of just over 18,000 witnessed one-way traffic for the bulk of the game. The sides meet again on Sunday in Cincinnati, the game kicking off at the Irish time of 8pm in the evening. The stats hardly augur well for that contest – thus far: played 16, lost 16, scored one, conceded 55. United States : Claudia Dickey; Avery Patterson (Gisele Thompson 59), Emily Sonnett, Naomi Girma (capt, Jordyn Bugg 73), Lilly Reale; Sam Coffey, Claire Hutton, Rose Lavelle (Olivia Moultrie 59); Michelle Cooper (Lynn Biyendolo 73), Ally Sentnor (Yazmeen Ryan 86), Alyssa Thompson (Emma Sears 86). Republic of Ireland : Courtney Brosnan (capt); Jessie Stapleton, Anna Patten, Caitlin Hayes, Chloe Mustaki (Izzy Atkinson 90); Megan Connolly, Ruesha Littlejohn (Tyler Toland 46); Emily Murphy (Saoirse Noonan 65), Kyra Carusa (Marissa Sheva 64), Lucy Quinn (Abbie Larkin 46); Amber Barrett (Erin Healy 75). Referee : Vimarest Diaz (Dominican Republic).
Yahoo
a day ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Republic of Ireland well beaten by USA in friendly
A depleted Republic of Ireland proved no match for the United States as they succumbed to the hosts in Friday's friendly in the high altitude of Denver. Shorn of a host of regulars including rested captain Katie McCabe, and the injured Megan Campbell and Denise O'Sullivan, it was always going to be a tough task against the world's number one team and so it proved. Advertisement Avery Patterson, Sam Coffey, Rose Lavelle and Alyssa Thompson were all on target for Emma Hayes' hosts. Despite the USA resting all of their European-based stars aside from Chelsea's Naomi Girma, they were quick to assert themselves. They threatened from the off with Thompson denied by Courtney Brosnan from point-blank range, before the Republic of Ireland goalkeeper - captaining the team on her 50th cap - turned a low Claire Hutton effort around the post. However, the opener was coming and in the 18th minute, Lavelle picked up possession from a short corner and swung a teasing ball into the box for Patterson to nod home. Advertisement Despite some stout Irish defending, the USA doubled their lead when Coffey cut through the defence and produced a composed finish. There was no reprieve in the second period as the USA continued to press for goals and they were rewarded just seven minutes in when Lavelle finished off a crisp move. Number four came in the 63rd minute as Thompson managed to get past Jessie Stapleton and head for goal before curling home a fine shot to wrap up a comfortable win. While the woodwork denied Olivia Moultrie late on, the USA laid down a marker before they play again in Cincinnati on Sunday (20:00 BST).
Al Arabiya
a day ago
- Sport
- Al Arabiya
Lavelle Returns to the USWNT and Scores in 4-0 Win Over Ireland
Rose Lavelle scored in her first national team match of the year after ankle surgery, and the US defeated Ireland 4–0 on Thursday night. Avery Patterson, Sam Coffey, and Alyssa Thompson also scored for the US. Lavelle last played for the national team in December against the Netherlands. Patterson, making her third start for the national team, scored on a header off a short corner from Lavelle in the 18th minute. It was her first international goal. Coffey added a goal before halftime with a shot that cut across to the far post. It was her third national team goal and second in the last three games. Lavelle made it 3–0 in the 53rd, scoring handily off a well-placed pass from Ally Sentnor. Thompson ran the ball from the center line, danced around a defender, and finished with a blast from atop the box in the 63rd. Coach Emma Hayes gave her Europe-based players–including Lindsey Heaps, Catarina Macario, and Emily Fox–time off after their seasons. The exception was defender Naomi Girma, who is working her way back from a calf injury. Goalkeeper Claudia Dickey, who plays for the Seattle Reign, and Lilly Reale, a defender for Gotham, started for the US in their national team debuts. The youngest player on the squad, 18-year-old Jordyn Bugg, made her debut as a second-half substitute. Six of the 11 starters had less than 10 appearances with the national team. Lavelle, with 111 appearances on the team, was one of the veterans in the lineup along with defender Emily Sonnett. The US has faced Ireland 16 times and never dropped a match. The Irish have scored just one goal against the US.
