The Olympics are coming up in Paris this summer and a quarter of the current players on the US Women’s soccer team were trained in the Bay Area. They just kicked off their “friendlies” against other national teams in preparation for the big event next month.
Six of the 23 players came up through Bay Area universities. And they just won their first “friendly” game on Saturday, four - nil against the Republic of Korea.
These games are giving their new head coach - Emma Hayes - a chance to get to know them. She just started a couple of weeks ago, fresh from a winning streak for Chelsea in the UK.
Three time Olympic medalist and one of founders of the new local soccer team Bay FC, Brandi Chastain, recently told KALW her thoughts on the impact Hayes will have on the US team:
“she's not afraid to make big, hard decisions. And I think nobody should be comfortable and everybody should be working tremendously hard because they are going to have to show up and show off all their skills and how they can help the women's national team or you might not find yourself on the roster.”
The US is playing against the Republic of Korea again today - the game starts at 5pm Pacific Time.
