Megan Rapinoe on what Coach Emma Hayes brings to the USWNT
Megan Rapinoe explains why she’s all in on Coach Emma Hayes and what she brings to the U.S. Women’s National Team.
Sports Seriously
The battle is on for the international future of Ajax midfielder Lily Yohannes.
Yohannes has emerged as one of the biggest prospects in the game at Ajax, where she became a regular starter last season at age 16.
The midfielder then scored on her U.S. women’s national team debut in June, becoming the third-youngest goalscorer in the program’s history.
But per USWNT head coach Emma Hayes, the teenage star is still undecided on whether she will represent the USWNT moving forward, or her adopted nation of the Netherlands.
Yohannes was born in Virginia and moved to the Netherlands with her family when she was 10. In an appearance on ESPN over the weekend, Dutch national team head coach Andries Jonker said the Dutch FA [KNVB] is actively recruiting the 17-year-old.
“She has been on the radar of the KNVB for a number of years for the youth teams. Our coordinator of youth women’s football, Stefan Hoogsteder, has been looking into whether she can become Dutch for some time, because she grew up here,” Jonker said.
“Then Nigel de Jong came in [as KNVB technical director]. He is working on this. We have explicitly agreed that he will take this on. He informs me properly about the state of affairs.”
Yohannes is believed to be close to securing her Dutch citizenship, but Jonker said that process had not yet been completed.
“She is not in the group now because she cannot be invited yet. That is what Nigel told me,” the coach said. “On the other hand, she accepted an invitation from America so she can see how things are there.
“I can’t do anything with that. She is not in the group now because I cannot invite her. So I don’t have to choose whether I think she is good enough. That is simply not an issue.”