© Peter van den Berg-Imagn Images
‘Tis the season for reflection, and it’s OK to be blunt: The past 18 months have felt like whiplash for fans of the United States women’s national team.
The entire future of the program was ostensibly in an existential crisis following a Round-of-16 exit at the 2023 FIFA World Cup, the Americans’ worst finish at a major tournament.
A great hope followed the nadir, however. U.S. Soccer convinced Emma Hayes, one of the best coaches in the world, to take the head coaching job and lead the team back to the top of the world. That plan was (and still is) about the 2027 World Cup – but success came far sooner.
The Americans won the gold medal at the 2024 Olympics, defeating Brazil in just the 10th game in charge for Hayes. An all-world forward line stole headlines while a generational centerback anchored the team’s defense and — most enlightening of all after the preceding years — there was both a tactical flexibility and grittiness about the team. This, in many ways, was the…
