“I want them to suffer,” said Emma Hayes when questioned about her ‘no-rotation policy.’ Though the Paris Olympics may have ended in USWNT’s favor, many couldn’t understand the English tactician’s decision to not turn towards the bench for help, raising potential fatigue concerns. The thing is, Hayes wanted her players to reach that point where they didn’t feel they could continue. And when that happened, she knew they’d push themselves and dig deeper. Turns out, Naomi Girma believes that “this is what it takes to win.”

Emma Hayes made the “I want them to suffer” comment after Team USA’s 1-0 semifinal victory over Germany. After 90 minutes of regulation time, the match went into extra-time, where Sophia Smith scored the match-winning goal. Leading up to the semifinal, every team had only around 48 hours to rest, recover, and restart. Of course, playing intense matches – especially during the knockout stages, where matches can extend to 120 minutes of action – makes it difficult for players to recuperate. But this is exactly where Girma believes she and her teammates took it as a challenge rather than using it as an excuse.

Speaking to USA Today, the defender said, “It was hard, but I feel like we were just kind of on a roll with it. Games every two days you just got to go; you can’t think, ‘Oh, it’s a lot of games. You’re just like, we want to win,’ and this is what it takes to win.”

Perhaps this mentality of Girma was one of the reasons why Emma Hayes was in awe of the San Diego Waves star. The former Chelsea boss praised the 24-year-old’s composure in the backline to deny her side from losing. “Look, she’s the best defender I’ve ever seen. I’ve never seen a player as good as her at the back. She’s got everything: poise, composure, she can defend, she anticipates, she leads. Unbelievable.”

Interestingly, Naomi Girma was the only US player to clock in every minute of the Olympics. This mindset proved beneficial to Hayes & Co., as they conceded just two goals throughout their Olympic campaign – where they played six matches – and both came in the Group Stage. After that, the USWNT kept a clean sheet against Japan, Germany, and Brazil in the finals (winning all the matches 1-0).

Notably, Team USA’s extra-time win over Germany was their second consecutive 120-minute match. During their quarterfinal match against Japan, Trinity Rodman did what Sophia Smith did against Germany – she scored a stunner in stoppage time after the first half of extra-time (105+2’). Reflecting on these difficult victories following their fifth Olympic gold, Sam Coffey said, “Going into overtime twice and having to battle really good teams… it was a difficult journey to get here.”

“More than anything, I learned about our resilience and our ability to do hard things and to come together when things are tough and just get the job done,” Coffey added. But as the USWNT captain Lindsey Horan said, “All of it was worth it.” That said, while it’s good that Naomi Girma and her teammates embraced and overcame the challenge, Emma Hayes wants some changes in the next edition of the Summer Games.

Despite Naomi Girma’s optimism, Emma Hayes urges the Olympic Committee to think about player’s welfare

Commute kills the majority of the rest time for players, a difficulty that almost every team faced during the Summer Games. Except for Parc des Princes, most matches were held in stadiums located outside Paris, in cities like Marseille and Nice. Having gone into extra-time in two knockout games, Team USA faced the added challenge of traveling outside Paris and then returning to the French capital.

This saw Hayes urge the Olympic Committee to make an apt schedule for the 2028 edition that will take place in Los Angeles. “It’s important that the players have space to breathe and relax and not have everything so formal. When we work, we work. And when we have joy, we have joy. That’s so important,” said Emma. While underlining that there’s still time to consider the request, the former Blues manager wanted the stakeholders to look at player welfare.

Whether the Olympic Committee considers Hayes’ request or not, one thing from Naomi Girma’s words is certain that USWNT is ready for any challenges that may come to their doorstep.