After watching her players complete what she called a « mature performance » in their 4-1 victory over Germany here Sunday night, new United States women’s national team coach Emma Hayes was typically blunt in describing how she felt.
— After watching her players complete what she called a « mature performance » in their 4-1 victory over Germany here Sunday night, new United States women’s national team coach Emma Hayes was typically blunt in describing how she felt.
Her biggest positive? The team’s attack, with Sophia Smith scoring twice, Mallory Swanson adding another for her third in two Olympic matches and substitute Lynn Williams closing the scoring to completely stifle any hope of a German comeback.
« I think we were absolutely devastating when we needed to be », Hayes said, after the U.S. win booked her team a spot in the quarterfinals.
Biggest negative? Some poor decision-making that led to Germany having more chances than they might have deserved, with goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher bailing out her teammates after some critical turnovers.
« I thought that we were our biggest problem », Hayes said, adding that six matches into her tenure, « There’s still things that irritate me about us, but that’s for me to fix.
