USWNT icon Sam Mewis gives verdict on Emma Hayes' first games in charge as ex-midfielder admits she 'badly wishes she could still be part of it'

Mewis announced her retirement from football at the start of the year due to a long-standing knee injury but has admitted she would love to still be involved with the USWNT after seeing Hayes take on the job. Hayes has been appointed after a 12-year stay with Chelsea that brought 14 major honours and has started life with back-to-back friendly wins over South Korea.

Hayes will now be hoping to lift more silverware with the USWNT after the team suffered their worst ever World Cup campaign in 2023. The Stars and Stripes are currently building towards the Paris Olympics where Hayes' team will be among the favourites to claim gold in France.

She told the Counter Pressed podcast: "We've only see two games with Emma really coaching so I can't get carried away but it was good! I think it's really exciting, we do have a ton of really young and exciting and developing players right now who can have a huge impact on the world stage. So to imagine them being coached by this perennial winner, who is really flexible tactically, who can kind of let them do their thing, I think is an exciting new chapter for the US women’s national team and I wish so badly that I could still be part of it but getting to watch from the outside is also really fun. I have a lot of nervous energy and excitement about the potential of Emma coaching the national team because I think it has the potential to be this kind of perfect marriage of a team with a history and a standard of winning and competitiveness and a coach who has kind of created the same thing."

The USWNT will play friendlies against Mexico and Costa Rica before the start of the Olympics and will then take on Germany, Australia and Zambia in the group stages in Paris.