Chelsea’s Emma Hayes was formally named the brand new head coach of the U.S. women’s team Tuesday but she won’t take over the four-time Women’s World Cup winners until May, leaving her a short while with the team before it begins play within the Paris Olympics in late July.
Interim coach Twila Kilgore will proceed to steer the team until Hayes’ arrival after the Women’s Super League season ends, after which she is going to turn out to be one in all her assistants.
“This can be a huge honor to be given the chance to educate essentially the most incredible team in world football history,” Hayes said in a prepared statement. “The emotions and connection I even have for this team and for this country run deep. I’ve dreamed about coaching the USA for a very long time so to get this chance is a dream come true. I do know there’s work to do to attain our goals of winning consistently at the best levels.”
Financial terms of her contract weren’t made public, but U.S. Soccer said Hayes is about to turn out to be “the best paid women’s soccer coach on this planet.”
Chelsea had announced this month that the 47-year-old Hayes was leaving the defending league champions at the top of the season to “pursue a latest opportunity outside of the WSL and club football.”
Hayes has won 14 major trophies at Chelsea, including six WSL titles.
Ahead of Chelsea’s 3-0 victory over Everton last weekend, Hayes wouldn’t comment on speculation she had agreed to terms with the U.S.
She said she was stepping all the way down to spend more time along with her 5-year-old son, citing each long hours and a lengthy commute.
She’s going to succeed Vlatko Andonovski, who resigned following the poor showing by the Americans on this summer’s Women’s World Cup in Australia and Latest Zealand.
The UnitedStates, which had won two straight World Cups, fell on penalties after a scoreless draw with Sweden within the Round of 16, the earliest-ever exit for the Americans within the tournament.
The USA had never finished worse than third at previous World Cups.
Andonovski, who was named U.S. coach in October 2019, finished 51-5-9 with the team, and was 3-2-5 in major tournaments.
Last month, he was named coach of the Kansas City Current within the National Women’s Soccer League.
Kilgore, an assistant on Andonovski’s U.S. team staff, took over after his departure.
The USA has just two remaining exhibition matches this season, against China on Dec. 2 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and Dec. 5 within the Dallas area.
Once Hayes takes over, she is going to have just 4 exhibition matches with the U.S. before the Olympics. She is the tenth full-time head coach for the American women.
Other candidates considered for the job included former U.S. assistant Tony Gustavsson, who’s currently coach of Australia’s women’s team, and Laura Harvey, coach of OL Reign within the NWSL. U.S. Soccer Sporting Director Matt Crocker led the worldwide search.
“Emma is a unbelievable leader and world class coach who sets high standards for herself and for everybody round her,” U.S. Soccer President Cindy Parlow Cone said in an announcement. “She has tremendous energy and an insatiable will to win. Her experience within the USA, her understanding of our soccer landscape and her appreciation of what it means to educate this team makes her a natural fit for this role and we couldn’t be more pleased to have her leading our Women’s National Team forward.”
Hayes has led Chelsea to 2 domestic league and cup doubles and one trophy treble since taking on the team in 2012.
She’s going to have the prospect to win a seventh WSL title before she departs Chelsea, which currently sits atop the league with a 5-0-1 record.
Hayes, who grew up in London, previously coached in the US with the Long Island Lady Riders and Iona College.
She joined the Chicago Red Stars within the inaugural 12 months of the Women’s Skilled Soccer league in 2008, choosing Megan Rapinoe with the second pick in the primary draft. She also served as technical director of the Latest York Flash in WPS.
“I fully understand the place this team has in U.S. society. I’ve lived it. I remember being a young coach working my way up through the system within the U.S. and watching all those young girls aspire to play on the U.S. Women’s National Team,” Hayes said within the statement. “For me, the honour in constructing on that legacy is a component of my motivation, absolute confidence.”
