Emma Hayes Praises Young Star Lily Yohannes, But Asks for Patience
The head coach of the United States women’s national soccer team, Emma Hayes, has expressed her admiration for the young midfielder Lily Yohannes, 17, highlighting her promising future in the program.
Hayes, however, emphasized the need for patience from the public, given Yohannes’ youth and relative inexperience.
“He has incredible maturity and learning ability, and I know he will become an important part of our program,” Hayes commented to reporters. “But I am invested in that development, and we must be patient considering his young age and his lack of international and high-level experience.”
Emma Hayes
Yohannes rejoined the USWNT this week for the upcoming matches against China and Jamaica. Saturday’s match against China will be played at Allianz Field in St. Paul, Minnesota, the same place where Yohannes debuted and scored her first goal almost a year ago.
“It’s incredible to be back here,” Yohannes said in a video posted by U.S. Soccer. “That was a very special moment for me, so being here again is like closing a circle.” Yohannes has six international matches after formally deciding to represent the USWNT last fall.The midfielder born in Virginia and her family have resided in the Netherlands since she was 10 years old. Although the country tried to recruit her, Yohannes ultimately chose her native country.
Currently, Yohannes plays for the prestigious Dutch club Ajax Amsterdam. She signed a professional contract with the club at the age of 15. In 2023, at the age of 16, she became the youngest player to start in a UEFA Women’s Champions League match, in Ajax’s historic victory against Paris Saint-Germain.
Sources indicate that Chelsea, Hayes’ former club, is interested in signing Yohannes via transfer this summer.
“As I keep telling everyone, she’s 17,” Hayes said. “She has a couple of years of experience as a professional. I think the next two years of development will be important for her.” “I think it’s been an incredible development path for her to be at Ajax. That, in my opinion, has advanced her positional game in a way that I think makes her stand out above her age.” “He developed physically in the last 12 months. Tactics in possession, when he plays for his team, they generally have the ball against mid-to-low level blocks. So I think he has developed that side of his game.”Yohannes was almost not included in the USWNT Olympic roster last year. At that time, she had not yet decided whether to represent the United States or the Netherlands.
The United States won a fifth Olympic gold medal, a world record. The Netherlands did not qualify for the tournament.
Recently, Yohannes stood out for the USWNT in the 2-0 victory over Brazil in April, in a rematch for the 2024 Olympic gold medal, coming on as a substitute in the second half and winning a penalty a few minutes later. She started in the following match against Brazil, a 2-1 defeat a few days later.
Yohannes also started as a box-to-box midfielder for the USWNT in the 2-1 loss in February against Japan. She helped create the only goal for the United States that day.
Furthermore, she provided a secondary assist in the SheBelieves Cup in the 2-0 victory over Colombia, by giving a through pass to her teammate Yazmeen Ryan. Hayes tried to moderate immediate expectations after those results. He did it again on Friday.“I think that for us, playing against opponents like Brazil and Japan were very high-level matches that will serve us well in the future,” Hayes said.
“But as I always say, she has a lot of development ahead, and I think there will be ups and downs. And I think we will see really good moments and indifferent moments. I think that’s what you can expect from a 17-year-old.”
