USWNT and Gotham FC forward Lynn Williams had a fairytale ride at the Paris Olympics. She made a style statement by flaunting a red sleeve on one leg. She scored for Team USA to power its 2-1 win over the Netherlands. And she partied so hard that she broke her Olympic gold medallion! A crazy ride, we must say. However, this rollercoaster ride would not have perhaps happened if Williams refused to personally call and speak about her Olympic selection with Emma Hayes.
At least, Williams thinks her call with Hayes has influenced the latter’s decision to call her up as a substitute for injured Catarina Macario. Anyhow, the Gotham FC star had to battle a lot of nervousness and anxiety before taking the plunge to phone the British coach. “I was going back in my mind like should I call her, should I not call her? What would I even say like because it’s scary too. I could call her and she could say like we don’t see you here like we don’t see you in our future all the things,” said Lynn Williams during her appearance on The Women’s Game podcast.
Thereafter, the 31-year-old revealed that calling coach Hayes felt like lifting a huge weight off her shoulders. “I felt like even though I wasn’t able to play I did everything I could have done at the moment in the situation. I was in to give myself a fighting chance so once I called her it was like a weight was lifted off my shoulders. And I was just like okay that was the right decision for me but leading up to that I was obviously like so nervous.” said Williams.
Meanwhile, podcast host and former USWNT icon Sam Mewis asked Williams if her calling Hayes influenced her decision to call her up for the Summer Games. Williams believes that the call influenced Hayes. So what did the Gotham FC striker tell Hayes during the phone call? Here we go.
Lynn Williams confidently promised Emma Hayes she would be ready for the Olympics
Lynn Williams and Alex Morgan got controversially snubbed from Emma Hayes’ initial Olympic team. Williams’ place in the team came in jeopardy because she earlier battled a series of injuries. But Williams just made sure her message about her Olympic hopes got to coach Hayes, just in case she has a plan B. Calling Hayes, the 31-year-old told her, “You haven’t seen me there and you can’t see me now because I am still injured. But don’t write me off because I will be ready come the Olympics.”
The USWNT did not have the best of times upon arriving for the Olympics. Young strikers Catarina Macario and Jaedyn Shaw both contracted injuries, and their Olympic participation looked bleak. However, Hayes did not think twice about whom she would summon to replace Macario. Williams had that honor and she was handed a chance for the Olympic gold after settling for bronze in Tokyo. She scored a goal in the group stage and sweated it out in the final against Brazil, to take home her first gold medal with the US.
The post “It’s Scary” – Lynn Williams Shares Experience of Talking to Emma Hayes After Initial Omission From USWNT’s Olympic Squad appeared first on EssentiallySports.
