Emma Hayes is a few weeks into her official tenure as head coach of the U.S. women's national team and she already has a pivotal decision to make: She must narrow a talented pool down to an 18-player roster for the Paris Olympics, where the Americans hope to win a gold medal for the first time since 2012 and move on from last year's World Cup failure. No pressure, right?
It is much harder to choose an Olympic roster than a World Cup roster -- there are five fewer players for the Olympics and only two rest days between games.