The U.S. women’s soccer team has its swagger back. And that’s brought its success back too.
After settling for just one bronze medal in the last two Olympics, then bowing out of the 2023 World Cup in the round of 16, the U.S. will strut into the quarterfinals of the Paris Olympics on Saturday unbeaten and leading the tournament in both goals and goal differential.
And the difference, captain Lindsey Horan said, is new coach Emma Hayes, who was hired to replace Vlatko Andonovski after the World Cup debacle but was delayed in officially assuming the job until May, when her club season at Chelsea finished.
“It’s the calmness,” Horan said when asked about the changes Hayes has wrought. “She’s implemented so many things and coached us in a way that we’ve really needed. But the calmness and the trust that she has for us and the confidence she has in us, it’s such a nice feeling for a player and for a team.
“You see that on the sideline. You see the few little tactical adjustments every single game or during the game, at halftime. All those things. You get so much trust and confidence from that. I think that’s what we’ve needed.”
It took some time for all that to take hold. Although the U.S. is unbeaten under Hayes, it performed poorly in its two send-off games, beating Mexico 1-0 and playing Costa Rica to a scoreless draw. But in France it has gotten multiple goals from three players — Sophia Smith, Trinity Rodman and Mallory Swanson — and has never trailed in the tournament.
That has won it a quarterfinal matchup with Japan at Paris’ Parc des Princes stadium.
“We keep talking about this new identity, this new style, this new sense of confidence,” Horan said. “Playing within the identify and the structure but also exploiting these individual strengths. I think you see it in our front three. I think you see it in our attack. You see it in the way we’re finding chances, and quality chances.
“That’s the key right now. We take each good moment from every game and we keep moving forward.”
U.S. coach Emma Hayes instructs her players during a win over Germany on Sunday.
(Daniel Cole / Associated Press)
Hayes has also tweaked the roster. The players she brought to France average less than 27 years of age, making it the youngest U.S. team in an Olympics since 2008. But aside from choosing the players, Hayes said her biggest contribution was creating a positive atmosphere.
“I just set them up. I give them structure, I give them organization, I give them game plans,” she said. “I create an environment as always — I did it at Chelsea — where people want to be.
“One with a growth mindset. And we have a growth mindset.”
But after watching her team relax and give up a late goal in its final group-play win over Australia, Hayes warned about the dangers of getting too confident.
“Football can turn like that,” she said. “Don’t get too cocky because the game’s never over until the game’s over.”