ST. PAUL, Minnesota — United States women’s national soccer team coach Emma Hayes is still learning some of the American sports lingo in her first weeks on the job.
On Tuesday, under a steady rain at Allianz Field that reminded the British coach of home, Hayes implored her team to finish off a South Korea team that rarely threatened the Americans but trailed by only one goal at that point.
“‘I want you to put your pedal to the metal,'” Hayes recalled telling the team. “And [assistant coach Denise Reddy] said to me, ‘Don’t you ever say that again!'”
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As awkward as it might have been, it worked. The USWNT scored two more times — including a debut goal for 16-year-old midfielder Lily Yohannes in her first cap — to win 3-0.
Now comes crunch time for Hayes, to borrow another uniquely American sports phrase. After two games in charge and just over a week of training, she must select her 18-player Olympic roster in the coming weeks. Some players’ performances on Tuesday made the job that much harder.
Yohannes shot up that list after making an immediate impact in her much-anticipated debut. Her late goal punctuated a solid 20 minutes of distribution in midfield, including a pass to Trinity Rodman moments earlier that led to Rodman…
