USA make hay under Hayes to set up memorable Olympics meeting with Marta | Karen Carney
Former Chelsea manager is playing to her new team’s strengths in the Olympics and has been rewarded with a final
At the beginning of the Olympics few expected Emma Hayes to take the USA all the way to the final in Paris, months after starting her job as the coach of a struggling women’s national team – but she has made an immediate impact.
My former manager at Chelsea will take on Brazil – and one of my all-time heroes, Marta – in Saturday’s gold-medal match. I am privileged that I will witness in person Hayes’s quest to become an Olympic champion. Some doubted what she could achieve in such a short time but when I booked my seat months ago, in the back of my mind I thought Hayes and the USA would be in the final. I suspected they would come up against Spain, only for Brazil to dispatch the world champions comprehensively in the semi-finals, showing how dangerous the South Americans are.
