Back in 1999, Emma Hayes was an up-and-coming coach in the women’s game trying to make a living in England, a country that largely ignored women’s soccer at the time. 

She spent that summer in the U.S. alongside her father to watch the Women’s World Cup, and was at the sold-out Rose Bowl for the iconic final between the USWNT and China.

While watching the final, her father told her the U.S was the place to be for women’s soccer because of the overwhelming support during the tournament, and Hayes agreed. Three years later, she moved to the country as she took a job with the Long Island Rough Riders, becoming by far the youngest head coach in the USL W-League at age 26.

Again in 2012, she was sat with her father watching another final involving the USWNT. This time, it was at the sold-out Wembley Stadium in the London Olympics, and the USWNT defeated Japan.

During that game, her father gave Hayes another advice, telling her to not turn down an opportunity to coach the USWNT if they come calling.

Since that day, Hayes has become one of the best coaches in the women’s game with Chelsea, and caught the attention of the Americans. Before her father passed away last September, he had a dying wish— for Hayes to accept the vacant USWNT coaching job.

And that’s what she did. Two months after he passed away, she took the USWNT job but still finished the season with Chelsea, where she won the league title in a dramatic fashion during the last game of the season.

She took charge of the first USWNT game in June. Two months and 10 games later, she helped the USWNT win an Olympic gold medal in Paris. 

In six games played in the Olympics, Hayes’ USWNT won all six games, scoring 12 goals and only conceding twice. That’s a huge improvement from this time last year, where the USWNT only won one out of four games in the Women’s World Cup and crashed out of the Round of 16.

The scary thing is this USWNT have a pretty young squad, and most aren’t even in their prime yet. 12 players in the squad are 26 and younger. There are also plenty of up-and-coming talented players waiting in the wings. So it’s a very exciting time for the USWNT fans and players. During the medal ceremony, the captain Lindsey Horan turned to Sophia Smith and said she can’t wait for the summer of 2027 in Brazil.

"We were just like, 'Imagine what we can do now in the next two and a half years,'" Horan told ABC News afterwards.

"We sit here knowing there's so much more in us. ... My gosh, the way this team is now, and seeing the potential for 2027 -- it's very exciting.”

This Olympic gold medal win tastes extra sweet for the players, after hearing so much about how the rest of the world has caught up to them. This is also the USWNT’ first Olympic gold medal since 2012, which is surprising given how the Americans have dominated women’s soccer.

To give you context of how long ago that win was, none of the 22 players that went to London were in the squad for Paris. That was a largely aging and experienced squad compared to the current one, with nine players 30 and older.

In the current USWNT squad, there are many players who will probably be around for the Olympics 12 years from now, and many young players not in this Olympic squad are also waiting to break through with the senior team, such as Alyssa Thompson, Gisele Thompson, Eva Gaetino, Hal Hershfelt, Olivia Moultrie, and etc. This is not even including young players like Caterina Macario and Mia Fishel, who would’ve been there if not for injuries.

Hayes has made her late father’s wish come true by taking charge of the USWNT and already brought back an Olympic gold medal. She has all the tools necessary to keep the Americans dominating women’s soccer for many more years, and it will be exciting to follow how the young players progress under her.

The future is bright for the USWNT.