Emma Hayes emotional after coaching Team USA to gold: ‘I was desperate to do well for this country’

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Talk about a comeback story.

The U.S. women’s national soccer team just won their first gold medal at the Olympics since 2012 and their coach Emma Hayes couldn't be prouder.

The USWNST beat Brazil 1-0 on Aug. 10 in the women's soccer final. After the match, Hayes spoke with NBC Sports' Mike Tirico and explained why this win means so much to her.

"I come from a place of wanting players to enjoy themselves and I’ve been at a club for 12 years where I’ve had huge success," she said. "But I was desperate to do well for this country. And I'm so emotional because it's not every day you win a gold medal."

Tirico was curious to know why Hayes, a London native, felt "desperate" to secure the gold for the U.S.

"I love America. It made me. And I always say that. It definitely made me," she said as the crowd's cheers intensified in the background.

Right after the USWNT won the game, Hayes took to Instagram to share a photo of herself posing on the field.

"Gold Babyyyyyy. These women are so worth it 🇺🇸🇺🇸USA," she captioned the post.

Olympian and former USWNT member Abby Wambach congratulated Hayes in the comments, writing, "Thank you Emma!! You are the real deal and made us all very very happy today. Love the way you approach the team and I can tell the players love you. It’s a shame coaches don’t get medals. You deserve one … this I know for sure."

Hayes' followers flooded the post with similar celebratory reactions, with many social media users calling the coach a "legend" and the "goat" (greatest of all time).

"You’re the 🐐 Emma!!!! So grateful for you turning our team around and bringing us home the 🥇 you are an INCREDIBLE coach 🙌🏻," one wrote.

Another Instagram user posted the following comment that many others repeated: "In Emma we trust 😍."

It’s been a long road to victory for the women’s squad. In 2023, the USWNT experienced the earliest World Cup exit in history when they lost in round 16. Hayes and her players were also hungry for a gold medal at the Olympics since the team fell short of their goal in 2021 when they won a bronze medal in Tokyo.

Hayes stopped by the 3rd hour of TODAY in May and said she was ready to "embrace" and "enjoy" the pressure of restoring her team to glory.

“I want to focus on the process. I want to focus on the performance. I want to get to know the players. I want to make sure that in the limited time we have together, we make the most of it," she said.

Calling pressure a "huge privilege," the coach went on to explain her mentality heading into the Summer Games.

“We get the opportunity to go to the Olympics, and my focus is to make sure that everybody is as prepared as possibly can be," she said.

This article was originally published on TODAY.com

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