Emma Hayes making strong first impression at USWNT camp: 'She’s a coach you want to play for'

COMMERCE CITY, Colorado — On the eve of her debut match coaching the United States women's national team, Emma Hayes cracked a joke.

She was asked during Friday's press conference what she'd learned about the team in her first few days physically on the job, and Hayes smiled and said, "well, the names."

There's a lot of work to do in order to get the USWNT back on top of the soccer world. This is a team that hasn't won a major tournament since the 2019 World Cup. It hasn't won an Olympic gold medal since 2012. But that doesn't mean Hayes is going to change anything about who she is or her approach. As she playfully told a group of reporters last week in New York City: "Oh, you're never going to get anyone with a personality like me."

That's been delightfully obvious from the start. Hayes has a strong presence and it's felt. During Friday's training session, she was clear in her direction, her voice carrying across the field at Dicks Sporting Goods Park where the team will face Korea Republic in the first of a friendly doubleheader on Saturday. They'll face each other again on Tuesday in St. Paul, Minn.

"Great first touch, Sam," Hayes hollered at Sam Staab, who earned her first senior national team call up this camp.

"Love that first touch!" she boomed again, this time directed at Trinity Rodman.

While U.S. players had some ideas about their new manager based on what they'd heard from friends who have played for her or what they'd observed watching from afar, now they've gotten to experience her in person.

"The on-field aspect is one big difference that you feel and you see," captain Lindsey Horan said. "You finally get your coach out there on the field and the feeling you get [from that], the leadership you get, that's