Emma Hayes: Team USA coach targets gold ahead of 'special' clash with 'extraordinary' Marta’s Brazil at Olympic Games

Emma Hayes was firm that her US women's national team are going for gold in their final against Brazil on Saturday at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. The script has been written perfectly, however, with Hayes coming face-to-face with arguably the greatest player to have graced the women's game, Marta, hunting for gold in her final meaningful game with Brazil.

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Emma Hayes labelled Marta "the most extraordinary female footballer I've ever seen" but is determined to give the Brazilian great an unhappy ending at the Olympics when her USA team come up against Brazil in Saturday's gold medal match.

The former Chelsea manager, who is so far unbeaten as manager of the US women's national team, has swept the competition aside en route to the gold medal game against Brazil on Saturday.

Starting with a 3-0 win over Zambia in Nice before the opening ceremony had even begun to cruise along the River Seine, it has been a long two weeks for Hayes and her side, but the smiles on the USWNT's faces refused to fade.

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But Hayes, one of the greatest coaches to grace the women’s game, comes up against arguably the greatest female player of all time, Marta of Brazil, a transcendental player who has dominated the game with grace and individual brilliance across her two-decade career.

“I mean, first of all, I'm delighted for Marta. What an opportunity for her and her team,” Hayes said. “She deserves it. You could see how much it meant to the players to do that for her.”

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Saturday will be the end of a glittering career for the Brazillian, which includes an incredible six FIFA World Player of the Year awards and stands as Brazil's top goalscorer with 119 goals.

“I was coaching at Arsenal when she was a young player playing for Umea, and we played them in the Women's Cup, which was the Champions League final back then. And she was unbelievable even as such a young player," Hayes reminisced.

“I remember as a coach, this is back in 2006, thinking, ‘oh my God, I think it's the most extraordinary female footballer I've ever seen’.

“And she's done more for the sport in Brazil than anyone. So happy for her, but at the same time, we're here to compete, we're here to win ... Of course, we’re going for gold.”

Hayes has cherished the Olympic journey to Parc de Princes more than she thought she would.

It has taken her from Nice to Lyon to Marseille, and now it ends in Paris with a memorable showdown approaching.

"It's been unbelievable. I mean, other than the fact that they got to travel around France with this incredible team," Hayes said.

"Being here in Paris, the Olympic Village yesterday, it's honestly much better than I thought it would ever be, and I still can't quite believe that we're in a gold medal final, but one that I'm very excited for."

Finals are a language in which Hayes is fluent. Her 12-year stint at Chelsea saw a record-breaking era under her helm as they won five FA Cups and two Women's League Cups, with seven Women's Super Leagues weaved in.

But in her first tournament as US manager, Hayes is already finding that the Olympics, national success, and the emotion and camaraderie it invokes, exist on an entirely different plane from the domestic game.

"Winning's winning to me. I enjoy being in finals. But of course, being in a gold medal final against a brilliant Brazil team is pretty special and one where it can't compare to what I've done in my Chelsea days," the 47-year-old said.

"It's very, very different, but one that has been an adventure of a lifetime.

“And the fact that we're in the position, we're in where we're guaranteed a medal. But of course, we're going for gold.

“I look very much to watching my team perform tomorrow and very much hope we finish in a gold medal position.”

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