Emma Hayes, USWNT send a forceful message with Olympic gold: 'We're just at the beginning'

PARIS — As they stood on the medals podium, shiny Olympic gold medals around their necks, captain Lindsey Horan and Sophia Smith shared a thought that ought to terrify the rest of the world.

The U.S. women’s national team won the Olympic title in Emma Hayes ’ 10th game as coach. If they can make this kind of turnaround, from the lowest of the lows to the top of the podium, in less than three months, imagine what they can do in three years.

Which just so happens to be when the next World Cup is.

“We felt the trust. We felt the confidence. We felt the belief from (Hayes and her staff). I think that’s what made this happen,” Horan said. “And now we sit here and we know there’s so much more in us. There’s so much more potential.

“Today was not an easy game. By any means,” Horan added.  “But my gosh. The way this team is now and seeing the potential for 2027? Yeah. It’s very exciting. “

The USWNT has long been the program by which all others measure themselves. Four World Cup titles. Now five Olympic gold medals. Years spent atop the world rankings. A list of current and former players that could double as a “Who’s Who” in the game.

Which is what made the debacle at the 2023 World Cup, when the USWNT made its earliest exit ever at a major international tournament, so shocking.

It wasn’t so much that they lost, in the round of 16, but the uncertainty and grimness with which they played. The rest of the world has gotten better, yes. But that was as much about the USWNT as it was anyone else.

There was one good thing to come out of the fiasco, however. It led U.S. Soccer to hire Hayes , whose trophy case at Chelsea was filled with more precious metal than some mints.

Hayes is one of the best tacticians in the game. But she’s an even better reader of people and motivator. The USWNT wasn’t in need of a rebuild so much as it needed to regain its joy, and Hayes was just the person to help them do it.

She arrived with a karaoke machine. Brought in a manicurist. Stocked the players’ lounge with puzzles and Legos.

“I understand the weight of this jersey. But I’m not going to let it strangle me. Far from it,” Hayes said.

Hayes got her start in coaching in the United States, moving here when the women’s game was still treated with indifference, at best, in England. Rejuvenating the USWNT wasn’t just another job, it was deeply personal.

With the Olympics fast approaching when Hayes arrived in late May, she had to demand a lot in very little time. Yet she made it fun, and the lightness the USWNT had was evident to anyone who watched them play in this tournament.

“We’ve been having so much fun. But I think we still push each other really hard,” forward Trinity Rodman said. “I think there’s a misconception of, 'Oh, they laugh and dance all the time in training. They’re not serious.’ But we just proved to everyone that we are and we take this very serious.”

No one will ever question that again. At least, no one who doesn’t have an axe to grind.

There is still work to be done, to quote one of Hayes’ favorite mantras, but the USWNT is very much back on the right track.

The trio of Rodman, Mallory Swanson and Sophia Smith is downright diabolical, shredding defenses without mercy and leaving destruction in their wake. A USWNT squad that couldn’t buy a goal last summer scored them in abundance during the Olympics, a tournament-high 12 of them.

Swanson scored the only one the USWNT needed Saturday in the 57th minute. Korbin Albert had pounced on a turnover and sent the ball forward. Smith was in an offside position, so Swanson yelled at her to let the ball go.

“I was like, 'Leave it! Leave it! Leave it!’ And then it was on me to put it away,” Swanson said.

She did, beating Brazilian goalkeeper Lorena for her fourth goal of the Olympics. Rodman and Smith finished with three each.

To put that in finer perspective, Spain is the reigning World Cup champion and world’s No. 1 team. The USWNT’s triple threat outscored Spain on their own, 10 goals to nine.

Alyssa Naeher made the score stand up with several big saves, none bigger than her one-handed rejection of Adriana’s shot in stoppage time of the second half that preserved the win.

The Americans tied Canada with just two goals allowed, but the USWNT played two more games than their neighbors to the north. The USWNT didn’t concede a goal after the final group-stage game, a span of 330 minutes.

“We can grow so much,” Swanson said. “Not only the three of us, but I think this group.”

Since her arrival, Hayes repeatedly cautioned that she wasn’t a miracle worker. That she was a big believer in process and there would be no skipping of steps. But after the game, Hayes and her players said they never doubted they could do this.

“Winning’s in my DNA. I’m used to being in finals, I’m used to competing for trophies. And so is the U.S. women’s national team,” Hayes said.

“We are so excited at our potential. And we are so looking forward to things we can do together,” Hayes added. “Of course we like this gold medal. But it doesn’t mean it ends there. We want so much more for ourselves because we’re competitors.

“We’re just at the beginning.”

The U.S. anthem that played at Parc des Princes wasn’t just part of the medals ceremony. It was a statement the rest of the world should hear loud and clearly.

Follow USA TODAY Sports columnist Nancy Armour on social media @nrarmour.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Emma Hayes, USWNT send a forceful message with Olympic gold: 'We're just at the beginning'