Was Emma Hayes the lucky charm that USWNT needed? Not a month had passed since the former Chelsea boss embarked on her international (debut) journey and later, somehow managed to guide the ladies to an emphatic gold in the Paris Olympics 2024. However, alongside the praise, there is a stark reminder for Hayes that she hopes will not come true.

“It’s definitely given me a new lease of life,” said the Team USA boss on winning gold while speaking to Sky Sports. “I didn’t realize how much I needed the team and vice versa. We needed each other and I’ve always spoken about the wonderful memories I had at Chelsea but I needed a change.”

“Couldn’t have asked for a better start” is how the English-born manager describes the feeling of opening up her silverware account on the international front. However, with the Paris triumph, Hayes has also toned up the expectations that the soccer world will now have from this USWNT side. This is exactly what scares the 47-year-old a bit: “One of my players said to me yesterday, ‘It’s all downhill from here.’ [I] hope not but I get the point.”

Having picked up the Star and Stipes ft. ladies at their lowest who were still not over their 2023 World Cup heartbreak (now they are), the English tactician did her best to turn the tides around. But now, she is expected to maintain this winning momentum until the 4x World Champions wish to keep her for the job.

Regardless, this is what Hayes called for as she herself needed a break from the domestic life of the beautiful game. After all, it was her way of giving back to the country that first placed its trust in her.

Emma Hayes has successfully repaid what she owed to the United States

In a recent interview, Emma Hayes expressed that America “means more” to her than many might realize. The London-born coach explained that while the men’s game garnered widespread attention, women’s football was largely overlooked by the British public. At the age of 20, she left “a pretty stuffy society” that didn’t embrace women’s football and set out to pursue the American dream.

“I went to America, and they looked after me, and they nurtured me and they opened doors for me and they gave me opportunities that England never ever gave me. And I’m just so happy, so happy, to repay that faith in me,” she added. Of course, the English manager felt a strong obligation to give back for all that American soil had given her.

Now she has successfully done so, it’s no surprise that greater things are expected from her new team under her leadership. Though Hayes once again has the full confidence of American fans, just as she did when she first arrived over two decades ago, it remains to be seen if she can stop things from going ‘downhill’ for USWNT.