Ex-Chelsea boss Emma Hayes said being the new manager of the United States women's national team is "the one job I wanted to do more than anything else."
Hayes, 47, jetted off to New York City less than 72 hours after lifting her 14th and final piece of silverware with Chelsea to become the new USWNT manager.
Citing a need for better work-life balance and the exhaustive toll a job such as Chelsea head coach can take, Hayes confirmed she would be taking over the position last year but waited until the end of the Women's Super League season to fully integrate herself into the role.
The former Blues boss walks into the job with heady expectations after the record four-time world champions slumped to a shock round-of-16 exit at the hands of Sweden at last summer's Women's World Cup.
But Hayes' pedigree as a serial winner in England cuts her the ideal candidate to return the USWNT to the sport's apex.
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And in her first week at the helm, Hayes admitted that the job is "the one I wanted to do more than anything else".
"It took a little bit to sink in and maybe only now I am in the job it has sunk in," Hayes told the BBC. "I’ve got to do the one job I wanted to do more than anything else."
She added: "We all know that this a nation that expects to win. But this is a dream. I have to pinch myself that I get to lead the US women's national team at the Paris Olympics and if I'm to get any medal in this tournament, it'd be an unbelievable summer."
Emma Hayes is the new USWNT manager (Photo by USSF/Getty Images for USSF)Hayes has named her first official squad for a friendly double-header against South Korea. She will then name her final squad in July before heading to Paris, where the US are in a group with Australia, Germany and Zambia.
While the US are not the behemoths they once were on the international stage, Hayes maintained that managing the Stars and Stripes is still the biggest job in women's football.
"I don’t care what anyone says, it really is," Hayes said. "For me, it's a little bit like Brazil in the men's game. Historically what this team has stood for, what they have advocated for, what they have represented as women not just in this country but to the women's game worldwide.
"It's fitting for me to be with them and vice versa. I think we are coming together at the right time."
Asked if she'd sing the anthem, Hayes replied: "I'm proud to be British. I love the American national anthem. I'll probably hum it under my breath, but I'll leave the singing to the Americans."
Departing Chelsea after more than a decade of largely unrivalled success bore its own emotional toll on Hayes, though she insists that the timing of the new role could not have been more ideal.
"The uncoupling from Chelsea was a slow process and one that will never leave my heart. That team will never leave my heart. It’s time for this new adventure and time to build a new relationship with US Soccer and the players here."
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