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Sam Borden, ESPN Senior Writer
PARIS — Emma Hayes wants her players on the U.S. women’s national team to train together, prepare together and play together as a unit on the field.
She also very much wants them to sing together.
Hayes, who started as USWNT coach in June, has stressed the importance of having fun to her team and — among other activities — introduced a karaoke machine to the group that has become an essential part of the Americans’ Olympic experience.
At a news conference ahead of Saturday’s gold medal match with Brazil, captain Lindsey Horan and Hayes spent several moments in front of a room of global journalists debating the relative power rankings among karaoke performers on the U.S. roster.
“It’s between Mal and Rose,” Hayes began, referencing Mallory Swanson and Rose Lavelle.
“You think so? There might be some dark horses … like Trin?” Horan replied, offering Trinity Rodman as a contender — an argument which sent Hayes into thoughtful reflection.
“Do you know what? You are right,” Hayes said, noting Rodman’s strong performance on a recent bus ride. “But I think the most extroverted are Rose and Mal — they’ve got the sort of Taylor Swift moves,” she said.
Horan agreed, adding that Lavelle also has the largest catalogue of memorized lyrics among the players.
“She doesn’t even have to look at the screen,” Horan said with legitimate admiration as Hayes said, “She’s got the cat moves.”
Horan also made clear that she doesn’t do karaoke herself — “you need a lot more in me to get me on the mic” — but said that if she did sing, she would do Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You.”
Hayes, with no hesitation, said her go-to song is Vanilla Ice’s classic, “Ice Ice Baby,” which drew a knowing nod from Horan. “I liked that one as a teenager,” Hayes said. “I could do that one quite well.”
Karaoke is only one element of an off-field collection of activities that the U.S. players can do in between their work. While not wanting to paint with a broad brush, Hayes said that she believes there are differences between what teams of female athletes and male athletes might find enjoyable to do during their downtime.
Playing video games, Hayes said, isn’t necessarily appealing to her group.
“We like to have coffees, we like to get our nails done, ideally there is a hairstylist in there,” Hayes said. “We like to have karaoke, we like to play Lego, we like puzzles.”
The mention of puzzles then sent Hayes down a different digression, and she highlighted defender Naomi Girma and reserve goalkeeper Jane Campbell as being among the best at puzzles and Lego.
“They did a really good Statue of Liberty,” Hayes said. “It was a work of art.”
These sorts of off-field activities are important, Hayes said, because the intensity of the players’ schedule during this tournament can be overwhelming. Having ways to separate from soccer is critical, and something Hayes believes is necessary in helping a group gel together.
“It’s important that the players have space to breathe and relax and not have everything so formal,” Hayes said. “When we work, we work. And when we have joy, we have joy. That’s so important.”
To that end, Hayes also suggested that Olympics organizers take a hard look at the scheduling of the soccer tournament ahead of the 2028 Summer Games in Los Angeles.
The U.S. and Brazil will play their sixth match in 17 days on Saturday — including two that went to extra time — and had to travel between cities on several occasions as much of the Olympic tournament was staged in cities outside Paris.
Horan said that the players told each other they had to “embrace the suck” of such a slog, and Hayes said that player safety and wellness should always be a priority.
“There’s plenty of time to maybe adapt the schedule or look at that and give more time,” she said. “Player welfare should always come first.”
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