America Ladies’s Nationwide group was in hassle one yr in the past. It had crashed out of the 2023 World Cup early following a disappointing group-stage efficiency. Its legends have been retiring, its coach was on the verge of dismissal, and its gamers confronted near-constant scrutiny from the media that used to deify them.
What a distinction twelve months could make. The group has discovered new life and is getting ready for an completely deserved gold medal closing on the 2024 Paris Olympics. It is the USWNT’s first look in a gold medal recreation for the reason that 2012 London Video games.
What’s behind that change? Funding in key USWNT personnel. Listed here are the three largest distinction makers for this new-look Olympic USWNT:
The distinctive method of coach Emma Hayes: The USWNT at all times felt barely stifled beneath the earlier coach, Vlatko Andonovski. It struggled beneath the load of its large expectations, and Andonovski did little to assist his group handle the burden.
New coach Emma Hayes, although, is a real revolutionary. She’s introduced a wildly completely different power to the USWNT. She’s a giant proponent of off-field silliness and has inspired her gamers to let unfastened to assist ease the stress they face.
