Center back Naomi Girma stole the show in Louisville as the U.S. women’s national team wrapped up the international window with its third win. But the real story of that October camp is the sheer amount of evaluation head coach Emma Hayes managed in addition to the celebratory nature of the team’s Olympics gold medal victory tour.
“I got out of it what I wanted to get out of it,” Hayes said Wednesday. “A ton of debutants, managed minutes for everyone that’s still in NWSL play, (and) a chance to develop some things that, for us, we set as targets for ourselves on the training pitch.”
Hayes has backed up everything she has said since taking over the job in May, going back to her first media appearances in New York City this spring — specifically: club form matters. While her hands were tied slightly in this window as Olympics celebrations meant she had to call up every healthy member of the squad that went to the Games in France in the summer, she used her remaining roster spots to the fullest. She also maximized rotation, not just in the starting line-ups and her substitute choices, but the 23-player game-day rosters.
All seven uncapped players on the roster, including a mid-camp addition, earned their first USWNT minutes.
Orlando Pride defender Emily Sams and
