'I love America': Emma Hayes expresses her undying love for America

United States soccer is not afraid to import skilled managers to oversee the pitch for the men and women’s teams. They’ve looked internationally once again with the hire of Emma Hayes to manage the women’s team. Although Hayes grew up in England, it certainly seems like she is just as excited to be a part of the U.S. soccer program as they are to have her on board.

The United States women’s soccer team brought home the gold medal in the 2024 Paris Olympics. Hayes received a lot of credit for her leadership of what had been seen as a fledgling program.

The United States fell well short of expectations in the prior two Olympics. In 2020, the women’s team finished as the bronze medal winner. As called out by the NBC Olympics’ website, they didn’t even medal in 2016. Hayes’ vision and her players’ execution helped bring the team back to the mountain top.

Want to see more like this? Follow us here for daily sports news, profiles and analysis!

After the gold medal victory, Hayes took time to speak to NBC’s broadcast to wrap up the memorable run. She said she “was desperate to do well for this country. I’m so emotional because it’s not every day you win a gold medal.”

NBC’s Mike Tirico followed up with Hayes to ask her why she was so locked in on succeeding with the United States. Hayes replied, “I love America. It made me. And I always say that. It definitely made me.”

Emma Hayes' love for America was a recurring topic even after the Olympics came to an end. She told Essentially Sports, “America means more to me than most people realize.”

Hayes said, “I’ve always found myself to be a little bit lighter when I’m in America. I don’t know why that is. Maybe my formative years working there have such an appreciation for the place.”

Hayes said that the English environment that she grew up in was “a pretty stuffy society.” She also said, “I went to America, and they looked after me, and they nurtured me and they opened doors for me and they gave me opportunities that England never ever gave me. And I’m just so happy, so happy, to repay that faith in me.”

Hayes also told Essentially Sports, “But don’t get me wrong, I’m a proud English woman today winning a gold medal, be it for another country.”

Want to see more like this? Follow us here for daily sports news, profiles and analysis!

Despite bestowing credit onto America for the career she’s had, Hayes still believes there is work to do with regard to gender equality in soccer in the United States and abroad.

Hayes told Essentially Sports that men’s clubs don’t consider female coaches or managers, while male coaches are prevalent in the women’s game.

Hayes isn’t the only United States soccer manager to fall in love with her adopted country.

Former United States men’s soccer manager Jurgen Klinsmann also became smitten with the United States. According to the Daily Record, Klinsmann remembered his first trip to Florida, and was hooked immediately. “They took us on a boat ride and I said ‘my gosh, I didn’t know that this kind of a planet exists.’ And so we had a blast for 10 days.”

Klinsmann would return to the United States shortly thereafter to visit New York, Chicago and California. He would move to California once his playing career ended in 1998.

One of his assistant coaches with the U.S. men’s national team thinks he took quite well to the American way. Andy Herzog told the Daily Record, “He’s more American than a German. Jurgen is always positive. That’s an American way of life.”

Klinsmann once said “I think the longer you are in a place, the deeper you are able to dig in with people, with topics, with whatever methods.”

Want to see more like this? Follow us here for daily sports news, profiles and analysis!