February brought a huge blow to USWNT. Japan stunned the five-time defending SheBelieves Cup champions 2-1, handing their first loss in almost a year. Yet that night, the Japanese team did more than just defeat reigning Olympic champions. They also snapped Team USA’s undefeated run, with coach Emma Hayes.

Hayes, who took over last May, just 75 days before the Paris Olympics. Fans barely had any faith in the quad, as most people thought it would be an impossible task to create an Olympic winning team in just over 12 months. Additionally, the wounds of USWNT’s Round of 16 crash out at the 2023 World Cup were still fresh. Yet, Hayes pulled off the impossible. And now that shadows of doubt shroud USWNT once again, a veteran has reminded everyone what Hayes was able to accomplish.

“Emma did a very good job of setting the precedent of this is a tournament (Olympics)… We’ve only been together as a group for like a month,” explained defender Tierna Davidson about her experience training under Hayes during the Olympics. The Gotham FC star explained that Emma Hayes had always taken the initiative to shoulder the most distressing burden.

The English coach knew the girls would face questions about their poor 2023 World Cup performance, so she made it her mission to help the players focus on what mattered: Practice. “She was really adamant about her taking pressure from media and press and like outside sources… So that we could continue our little isolated bubble,” Davidson told Sam Mewis.

The Gotham FC defender explained that having a “leader” who gave it her all to help her players focus and improve helped Team USA clinch gold. Emma Hayes also helped the USWNT break a prolonged 12-year Olympic gold medal drought. Maybe that’s why Hayes’ very first loss with the national team has come under such scrutiny.

Emma Hayes’ record speaks for itself

While the SheBelieves Cup title match was the USWNT’s first loss under Hayes, it was a big one. Japan snapped team USA’s five-year win streak at the tournament. When the final whistle rang, Hayes looked disappointed but not worried. “I always go back to what our objectives were in the first place,” Hayes told reporters after the loss.

“That was to deepen our playing pool with opportunities in high-pressure situations against top opponents, and that’s what tonight especially was about,” explained the coach. While the loss hurt, she didn’t see it as the beginning of another slump. That’s because the renowned Emma Hayes is always looking to earn from a loss and improve.

That’s how she won a record seven Women’s Super League titles with Chelsea before taking the reins at USWNT. The fact that the fans and management still expect a lot from the English coach didn’t escape her, either. “We’ve won the gold medal in the summer,” said Hayes. It was a victory that earned her the Ballon d’Or for Coach of the Year 2024.

“We are wanting to compete to win the World Cup, so we have to keep developing, and development isn’t linear,” continued Hayes. So while some raised questions after the narrow loss to Japan, the woman who was #6 on The Telegraph’s Fifty most influential women in sport (2024) list chose to take the positives from the loss. Such as rising star Ally Sentnor’s crucial equalizer under pressure. That’s why players such as Tierna Davidson seem to have their full confidence in Coach Hayes.