Category: USWNT

Hayes would have ‘100 percent’ turned down USWNT job without Chelsea clause

The coach was sticking to her guns, even if it cost her the USWNT job

In her upcoming book, Emma Hayes said she would have “100 percent” walked away from the U.S. women’s national team head coaching role if U.S. Soccer didn’t allow her to complete the season with Chelsea.

Hayes was named USWNT head coach in November, but insisted upon finishing out the season at Chelsea before taking over.

That meant Twila Kilgore served several months as interim head coach while Hayes coached Chelsea and also kept an eye on the USWNT in the background.

Finally, Hayes joined up with the USWNT in late May after clinching a fifth straight WSL title with Chelsea.

Hayes has now coached four matches with the USWNT, winning three and drawing one as the team prepares for the Olympics.

The USWNT kicks off the games in France on Thursday against Zambia, before facing Germany and Australia in the group phase.

In an excerpt from her upcoming book “A Completely Different Game: My Leadership Playbook,” Hayes detailed a meeting with U.S. Soccer leadership after she was offered the USWNT position.

Hayes insisted upon being allowed to coach the remainder of the 2023-24 campaign with Chelsea — even if it cost her the chance to manage the USWNT. She was also prepared to immediately walk away from Chelsea if the club didn’t agree to the arrangement.

With her father having recently passed away and her son Harry in the middle of the school year, Hayes had professional and personal considerations in mind.

The following is an excerpt from the book, which is available now to pre-order HERE and will be released on Tuesday.

Things were moving fast. Matt [Crocker, sporting director] asked to meet with me in London the following Sunday, together with Cindy Parlow Cone, the U.S. Soccer Federation president, and JT Batson, the CEO. I agreed, since Chelsea was to play on the Saturday before (a 2–0 win over West Ham, as it turned out).

The delegation shared their vision and the work they had been doing in the background. It was really impressive. They made me feel really wanted. Their offer—to make me the world’s highest paid manager in the women’s game—was unbelievable.

Money has never been the most important thing for me, but it was nice to be valued. By adhering to the principle of equal pay—I was to be on the same level as Gregg Berhalter, the men’s manager—they also proved they were willing to act on fundamental beliefs.

Despite the disappointment of the earliest U.S. exit from a World Cup, in round sixteen, a new generation of richly talented young players would be coming through. This would be my opportunity to build and lead a team through an Olympic Games, a World Cup, and another Olympic cycle. I couldn’t get the thought of this opportunity out of my head, but there were considerations.

I told them I didn’t want to leave Chelsea immediately because I had committed to the players. That’s the sort of person I am. My word is a condition, an article of faith. I wanted to complete the season in England before attacking the challenge of the Paris Olympics.

I explained that for the first time in my life I was not going to do something at all costs. I did not want to disrupt Harry midway through a school year. I wasn’t leaving my mum: she needed me. I would have 100 percent walked away if they had said no.

I couldn’t believe how accommodating they were. They acknowledged the logic of my stance, even though they knew they would take some heat domestically because of it. By the same token, if Chelsea had preferred to move on quickly, in terms of succession planning, I would have gone to the U.S. without hesitation.

Leaders do not have the luxury of idle gestures. By finishing the European season, I knew how hard I would have to work to be completely present. I never want to be accused of having stopped working or having switched off. I really believe in professional commitment.

Keeping Twila Kilgore (or Kaufman, as many of us still know her) as the interim head coach was a really smart decision. The first U.S.-born woman to earn a U.S. Soccer Federation pro coaching license, she had spent the previous eighteen months as Vlatko Andonovski’s assistant.

She represented continuity and authority because she embodied the strengths of the system, having excelled at the youth, collegiate, and club level. She was able to implement many short-term decisions so that I could hit the ground running when I started in June.

I made it clear how much I valued her, insisting that every department would go through her while I was still a full-time employee of Chelsea. There is always a temptation to gravitate toward a new head coach, but I wanted to be in the background, getting staffing and protocols in place.

Excerpted from “A Completely Different Game: My Leadership Playbook” by Emma Hayes with contributions by Michael Calvin. Copyright © 2024. Available from PublicAffairs, an imprint of Hachette Book Group, Inc.

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Report: Ward to join Hayes’ USWNT staff for Olympics

The pair developed a close friendship during their time in the WSL

Emma Hayes is bulking up her U.S. women’s national team staff just ahead of the Olympics, reportedly adding former Aston Villa head coach Carla Ward as an assistant.

According to the BBC, Ward has been given a role with multiple duties, including performance analysis and opposition scouting.

Hayes and Ward developed a close friendship during their time as coaches in the Women’s Super League. Hayes departed as Chelsea head coach at the end of the 2023-24 WSL season to take over the USWNT, while Ward stepped down as Villa head coach at the same time.

Announcing her departure from Villa, Ward said: “I now believe it is the right time for me to prioritize the other important things – such as my daughter and the rest of my family life.”

The USWNT will kick off its Olympics campaign on Thursday against Zambia, with further group-stage matches to come against Germany and Australia.

Hayes will look to lead the U.S. to its first gold medal since 2012.

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Ex-USWNT star Rapinoe on Albert: ‘I hope that she’s doing the work’

Albert has yet to address the controversy beyond an initial apology on social media

U.S. women’s national team legend Megan Rapinoe is hopeful Korbin Albert is doing work behind the scenes after controversial social media activity earlier this year.

Rapinoe was one of the earliest and most prominent critics of the USWNT midfielder, who shared and reposted a host of anti-LGBTQ+ content on her TikTok account earlier this year.

Albert also liked a post that poked fun at Rapinoe for tearing her Achilles in her final career game.

After Rapinoe called Albert out for her social media activity, the pressure around the 20-year-old grew and she was eventually forced to apologize.

Albert has gone on to play in every USWNT match since the controversy emerged in the spring, and was named to the Olympic roster that will kick off the competition on Thursday against Zambia.

For her part, Albert has not addressed the controversy since her initial apology. With the Paris Saint-Germain midfielder yet to speak about the matter further, Rapinoe has said she is hopeful the issues are being dealt with out of public view.

“I know that there’s been a player, Korbin, who has expressed some anti-gay views,” Rapinoe told The Advocate. “But I think what is hopefully evergreen about this team, is that we’re always fighting for not just for gay rights, but for all of our right to be who we are and to be our full selves.”

“For Korbin, I hope that she’s doing the work,” she continued. “It’s the sort of process that isn’t public and transparent in a way that allows anyone outside of the environment to really see it. But I hope that it is happening and that she understands that until we are all free, none of us are free, her included.”

After naming Albert to her Olympic roster, USWNT head coach Emma Hayes insisted that the midfielder was indeed working behind the scenes.

“There’s been a lot of work that’s been going on in the background,” Hayes said.

“Korbin has had to learn,” the coach added. “She’s a young person who’s understood fully the implications of her social media activity.”

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Morgan goes on Italian vacation with O’Hara after USWNT Olympic snub

The USWNT striker made the most of some unexpected down time.

Alex Morgan wanted to be in France right now, but it seems like Italy wasn’t a terrible backup option.

Morgan was left off the U.S. women’s national team Olympic roster, ending a ending a run of seven straight major tournaments with the national team.

While the USWNT touched down in France this week ahead of its Olympics opener against Zambia on Thursday, Morgan had some unexpected down time.

The San Diego Wave striker appeared to make the most of it, posting pictures on Instagram of a vacation to Italy alongside her husband Servando Carrasco, former USWNT star Kelley O’Hara and her partner Kameryn Stanhouse.

The group seemed to get plenty of quality boating time in, as well as enjoying city exploration and some of Italy’s gastronomic delights.

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NJ/NY Gotham FC defender O’Hara announced in May that she will retire at the end of the 2024 NWSL season.

While the NWSL takes a break from league play during the Olympics, the NWSL x Liga MX Femenil Summer Cup kicks off on Friday night.

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2016 to 2024: Horan and Swanson reenact photo eight years after Olympic debuts

The Colorado natives recreated the photo they took on their way to the Rio games

Lindsey Horan and Mallory Swanson have come a long way in eight years.

The U.S. women’s national team pair have touched down in France alongside the rest of their teammates, with the Paris Olympics set to kick off next week.

The Colorado natives both made their Olympic debut eight years ago at the 2016 games in Rio de Janeiro. Horan was 22 at the time, while Swanson (then Pugh) was 18 as the U.S. was stunned by Sweden in the quarterfinal.

While they were once USWNT up-and-comers, Horan and Swanson are now grizzled veterans on a team looking to win gold for the first time since 2012.

Horan is now the USWNT captain and recently earned her 150th cap, while Swanson has returned from a serious knee injury to regain her role as one of the focal points of the team’s attack.

Ahead of their flight to France, Horan posted a pair of photos on her Instagram story commemorating the journey she and her teammate have been on since their Olympic debut.

Horan was a part of the Olympic squad that won a bronze medal in 2021, while Swanson missed out on the roster. That team lost to Canada in the semifinal before rebounding to beat Australia in the third-place match.

The USWNT will face Australia once again at this Olympics, with the Matildas drawn into Group B alongside the U.S., Zambia and Germany.

The tournament kicks off on July 25 when the U.S. takes on Zambia and Australia faces Germany.

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Bethune ‘couldn’t stop smiling’ after USWNT appearance in front of home fans

The crowd at Audi Field erupted when the Spirit’s rookie star took the pitch with the USWNT

Croix Bethune tried to stay focused when she took the field in the U.S. women’s national team’s 0-0 draw with Costa Rica on Tuesday night, but the Washington Spirit star admitted that was not easy.

Bethune was given a rousing reception at her home stadium Audi Field, where she has put together a scintillating rookie season in the NWSL thus far.

The 23-year-old has five goals and a league-leading nine assists, recently becoming the first player to earn three consecutive rookie of the month honors.

The playmaker’s exploits with the Spirit have earned her an Olympic roster spot as an alternate, and she secured her first two USWNT caps in the team’s send-off matches this month.

After making her debut in the 81st minute of Saturday’s 1-0 win over Mexico, Bethune came on in the 89th minute against Costa Rica in Washington, D.C.

Bethune is one of four Spirit players heading to France with the Olympic team. Trinity Rodman and Casey Krueger are on the active roster, while Hal Hershfelt is also an alternate.

As she warmed up alongside fellow substitutes Krueger and Hershfelt on Tuesday, Bethune said she and her club teammates could feel the energy from their home fans.

“It was great, a lot of energy,” Bethune told reporters after the game. “Everyone kept kind of screaming my name, screaming Hal’s name, Casey’s name. So it was just good to feel that energy and positivity.”

Those screams from a small section of fans near the substitutes paled in comparison to the moment Bethune entered the match, which saw the sellout crowd at Audi Field erupt in perhaps the loudest cheers of the night.

“I just couldn’t stop smiling,” Bethune said of her entrance. “I wanted to stay focused and keep a straight face but it was kind of hard just hearing all the chants. So to feel the love and the support was amazing.”

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Germany star Oberdorf will miss Olympics after knee injury

Germany’s hopes of securing Olympic glory may have just taken a huge hit

Germany’s hopes of securing Olympic glory may have just taken a huge hit.

Star midfielder Lena Oberdorf suffered a knee injury in Tuesday’s 4-0 win over Austria in a Euro 2025 qualifier, knocking her out of the upcoming tournament in France.

Oberdorf went into a tackle awkwardly in the 70th minute, with her right knee appearing to be caught in the turf.

The 22-year-old Bayern Munich midfielder, considered among the world’s best players, was unable to put any weight on her knee as she was helped off the field by trainers.

On Wednesday, the Germany women’s national team said on X that Oberdorf had suffered a “cruciate and medial ligament injury” against Austria.

Bayern also provided an update, confirming Oberdorf would miss the Olympics and a portion of the upcoming season as well.

Coach Horst Hrubesch said after the match it would “hurt a lot” if Oberdorf wasn’t fit for the Olympics, which Germany kicks off on July 25 against Australia.

Germany has been drawn into Group B at the Olympics, and will also face the U.S. women’s national team and Zambia in group play.

After winning a gold medal in 2016, Germany failed to qualify for the last Olympics in Japan.

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USWNT confident goals will come at Olympics despite scoreless Costa Rica draw

“Those goals will come. That, I’m sure of,” summed up USWNT coach Emma Hayes after a frustrating scoreless draw

The U.S. women’s national team wanted its Olympic send-off friendly to be an exclamation point, but ended up walking off the chewed-up pitch at Audi Field with a question mark.

On a surface level, a 0-0 draw against a team the USWNT has beaten in each of its prior 17 meetings is hardly the result the U.S. would have wanted before boarding a Wednesday flight for France.

A frustrating night in withering heat saw the USWNT create enough opportunities to win three games, but between Costa Rica goalkeeper Noelia Bermúdez’s superb performance, an offside call robbing Lindsey Horan of a goal, and some dubious choices in the final third, the badly-needed opener never arrived.

In her press conference, head coach Emma Hayes cited multiple stats — 26 shots, 12 attempts on goal, 67 touches inside the opposition penalty area — that per Opta are the highest such numbers in a match where the USWNT was shut out since the data provider began logging those categories in 2015.

“We need to be more clinical, I don’t need to state the obvious,” Hayes told reporters. “I mean it’s a process, right? Scoring a goal, you can’t just go from back to from to get them, and when you’re playing a team that just sit in a low block and they’ve got eight bodies within the width of the goal — or at least the width of the six [yard box] — it has to be so concise.”

Hayes identified issues in both halves: an inability to find players between the lines early enough in attacking sequences before the break, and then players making runs out of those pockets in the second 45 minutes.

Still, the raw volume of opportunities gave Hayes a platform to identify some positives for her side.

“Listen, if you play a game of percentages or law of averages, we’re creating more and more high-quality chances, and we’re getting more numbers into the key areas,” insisted the former Chelsea boss, who after just four games to prepare will lead her team at the Paris Olympics.

“The last part’s the hardest part. And I’m really patient, because I’ve coached teams that have to break blocks down, and it’s the hardest thing to do in coaching. And if we didn’t create situations tonight then yeah, I might say something different, but I really love the intent of the team.”

Rodman, Horan insist goals ‘will come’

Speaking in a mixed zone after the match, multiple USWNT players couldn’t help but hone in on versions of the same phrase: the goals will come.

“I would say we did the hard parts well, and then once it came to the final pass and the final finish, it wasn’t coming to us,” said Trinity Rodman who was denied a potentially spectacular late winner. “I think that’ll come. We have such a talented group.”

Captain Lindsey Horan identified some aspects of the USWNT’s approach play that could have been sharper, but reiterated the belief her younger teammate has in the group’s ability to find the breakthrough.

“Just the decision-making [in the final third],” said Horan when asked for an example of what the U.S. could improve beyond simple finishing.

The Lyon midfielder identified the team’s timing of “when we’re taking that final shot, when we’re making that final pass” as areas where more patience was needed, but framed the issue as understandable in the context of Tuesday’s draw.

“I think when you get further on in the game and you want to score that goal that’s gonna calm down the match, that’s gonna stop what Costa Rica is trying to do [tactically], it can get frustrating. But again, we kept going, we kept creating those chances. A few of them, maybe decision-making was off, but [at] the end of the day, we’re gonna finish those off, [and] then we’ll be fine.”

Hayes settled on a positive that Costa Rica’s low-block 4-3-2-1 shape offered, noting that in her four matches, the USWNT has faced a different tactical approach every time. That means plenty of examples and film to highlight as the team looks to make progress in its last week before kicking off the Olympics against Zambia.

“If we went into [the match against] Zambia perfect, I’d be worried,” explained Hayes. “I feel the opposite. I think we’ve had — in the Korea [games], the Mexico game, the Costa Rica game — four very different exercises.

“One, as I said earlier, breaking down a mid-block. Two, breaking down an aggressive mid-block. Three, breaking down the team that beat us in the Gold Cup with more man-for-man marking. Four, breaking down a low, low block.

“What great exposures for us as a team. And trust me, you have to do different things in different moments to be able to [succeed against each]. Playing against low blocks, for any team in football, is the hardest to do.

“So I think for us, it’s being mindful that if we keep creating chances in the right area, keep getting numbers in the box, keep getting as many touches as possible in that area, those goals will come. That, I’m sure of.”

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Lavelle scratched from USWNT lineup vs. Costa Rica

Minutes before kickoff, the USWNT star was removed from the team’s starting lineup to face Costa Rica

The U.S. women’s national team made a surprise, last-second lineup change for Tuesday’s Olympic send-off friendly against Costa Rica.

Rose Lavelle had been named to Emma Hayes’ initial starting 11 for the match in Washington, D.C., but barely 10 minutes before kickoff, U.S. Soccer announced that the NJ/NY Gotham FC star was a late scratch.

Per the official team announcement, Lavelle was experiencing “leg tightness.” Per U.S. Soccer communications staff, the move was made out of an abundance of caution on a night that saw temperatures at kickoff hovering in the upper 90s.

Lavelle was replaced in the lineup by Korbin Albert, and was seen walking without issue to the USWNT bench shortly before the match kicked off.

Following the match, USWNT coach Emma Hayes said the issue was groin tightness, and emphasized that she was taking “no risks” with her squad. Lavelle is expected to be fit in time for the team’s Olympic opener against Zambia on July 25.

The choice of Albert rather than Jaedyn Shaw — widely perceived to be in line for more minutes as an attacking midfielder after Catarina Macario’s withdrawal from the roster — could point towards a more cautious approach from Hayes at the Olympics.

The 18-player U.S. roster has few other options if Lavelle’s injury turns out to be more serious. Crystal Dunn has extensive experience in the midfield. However, Washington Spirit playmaker Croix Bethune, who leads the NWSL in assists this season, is available as an alternate.

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USWNT vs. Costa Rica: Where to watch, TV channel, streaming

The U.S. will play the Ticas at a sweltering Audi Field in its Olympics send-off match

The U.S. women’s national team will face Costa Rica on Tuesday in its final pre-Olympics friendly.

The USWNT defeated Mexico 1-0 at Red Bull Arena on Saturday, as Sophia Smith’s first-half goal helped the team avenge a shock W Gold Cup defeat back in February.

Now the scene shifts south to a sweltering Washington D.C., where game-time temperatures will near triple digits at Audi Field.

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Emma Hayes will aim to win her fourth match out of four as USWNT head coach, and she’ll have to manage the heat as well as a short turnaround from the Mexico match.

The USWNT will certainly be expecting another win, having defeated Costa Rica in all 17 of the all-time meetings between the two sides. Most recently, the USWNT defeated Costa Rica 3-0 in the semifinals of the 2022 Concacaf W Championship.

Following this match, the USWNT will head out to France ahead of its Olympics opener against Zambia on July 25. Matches against Germany and Australia will follow in group play.

Here’s everything you need to know ahead of the match.

USWNT vs. Costa Rica (international friendly)

  • When: Tuesday, July 16
  • Where: Audi Field (Washington, D.C.)
  • Time: 7:30 p.m. ET
  • Channel/streaming: TNT, truTV, Max, Universo, and Peacock (WATCH NOW)

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