The last few days have been disappointing for US soccer fans as the USMNT was knocked out of Copa America 2024. But the nation now has the chance to bounce back with another prestigious competition coming up. This time the USWNT will head to the Olympics 2024 under new coach Emma Hayes with oozing confidence, considering its record in the tournament. But despite entering Paris as the most successful team in the competition with four golds, the coach gives an in-depth insight into how tough the tournament is.

Hayes feels that the Olympics, especially for USWNT, would be a hard challenge because of the grade of opponents in the group. Speaking on the Women’s Game podcast, Hayes was being interviewed by Sam Mewis. The former USWNT asked her, “You have to be a high-quality team in this tournament, it’s so small. Does that make it more challenging or more unpredictable maybe than a World Cup?” to which Hayes replied, “Yes, I would say so. Harder because of those few teams.”

Earlier Mewis also explained the reason for their question saying, “With so few teams at the Olympics, it’s just 12 teams, kind of every group is a group of death, and every single opponent is really high quality,” citing the level of difficulty Group B. USA is placed along with Zambia, Germany and Australia. Nevertheless, that seems to be the norm for all groups in the prestigious tournament.

The USWNT last won gold in 2012 but was unsuccessful in bringing gold in the previous two editions. While Germany earned gold in the 2016 Rio Games, Australia gave USWNT a run for their money for the 2020 bronze medal, despite the USA winning 4-3.

Meanwhile, having their own flair for attack, Zambia also possesses threats, as stated by Hayes.

Emma Hayes thrives on the challenges presented by her rivals

Although the battle is tough, Emma Hayes is up for the task. She further stated, “I like all the fun tactical stuff. I don’t like games that are too easy, so to your point is harder better? Yes, it engages you!” after breaking down how each team can cause USWNT a problem.

Even though Zambia may not be grabbing much news, Hayes said, “Their ability to transition is better than any team I’ve seen in World football,” emphasizing how difficult it is to mark them one by one. In addition, Zambia also has one of the world’s best strikers, Barbara Banda, who took the world by storm, scoring consecutive hat tricks in the Tokyo Olympics.

Meanwhile, the Englishwoman praised Germany’s ability on the wings despite playing old-school 4-4-2 formation. However, Australia will be without their captain, Sam Kerr, who is out due to an ACL injury. Nevertheless, the Matildas are considered to have enough variety in tactics to manage games.

It appears that Hayes has done her homework despite having little time, but whether USWNT can weather the storm has to be seen.