Lily Yohannes marks one year with USWNT: Emma Hayes praises teen’s ‘unbelievable maturity and coachability’

The youngest player of the American women’s national team, the 17-year-old midfielder Lily Yohannes, returned With the team to the place where she made her national debut and scored her first USWNT goal almost a year ago.

Yohannes earned the start against China for a friendly at Allianz Field in Minnesota, and the Stars and stripes defeated the steel roses 3-0With goals from Catarina Macario, Sam Coffey and Lindsey Heaps. She was often a double exhaust valve for the team to continue the ball and was crucial when retaining possession.

She became second in the team in total recovery (seven) during the victory. Both Coffey and Yohannes quickly shifted the pace for the team in midfield and sniffed over all the same urgent moments of China. It is just another step forward for the young defensive midfielder.

Head coach Emma Hayes has arrived in work in a year, and the Yohannes process in addition to Hayes can be considered a perfect timing or event, but anyway, the teenage talent has just started.

“I thought Sam [Coffey] Was fantastic. I thought Lily [Yohannes] Growed out to the game, and their roles to be what we call low support players when the ball has gone wide. I thought they were really well connected [those] Wide players and their rotations to get on the ball at the lowest places was really good. But I think the team chemistry, the team cohesion has improved much [in] This camp, “Hayes told the media after the game.

She has emerged as one of the most exciting, upcoming talents in women’s football. She showed Elite playing power and adulthood after her years for both the USWNT and the Dutch club Ajax. Yohannes, a technically gifted midfielder, quickly became a mainstay on schedules in 2025 as part of the construction of the USWNT to the international cycle of 2027-28.

“I keep saying to everyone that she is 17. She still has a few years of experience as a professional. I think that the next two years of development will be important to her. I think it has been an incredible development route for her to be at Ajax. For me, I think, I think, her positional game in a way that her year is,” Hayes Twoeds long.

Although she is not a consistent starter, Yohannes has made the headlines in Europe with her vision, calmness and tactical intelligence. At the age of only 16 she became the youngest player to start a UEFA Women’s Champions League Group-phase match and became the eighth player of all time to make debut for the USWNT and the third youngest player to score with the Senior National Team

Part of the buzz around Yohannes last year was her potential suitability to play for the United States or the Netherlands. Lily was born in Virginia, but moved to Europe with her family in 2017. It was where she participated in Ajax Academies and later came to the first team with a full contract in 2023.

She received her first USWNT -Callup during the first official Hayes’ head coach matches in June 2024, and that after November the teenager midfielder officially declared her loyalty to the American national team.

“I want to express my deepest thanks to the United States and Dutch football federations for their relentless support and patient guidance when I have made my decision about my international future. Their dedication and encouragement have been of invaluable and I am expanding my heartily thanks to both federations,” Yohannes said in one Social Media Post last year.

“After a lot of attention, I decided to bind myself to represent my country, the United States. The US is my home country, my birthplace, and where my extensive family lives. These strong connections have encouraged me to honor my roots and proudly use our football. I am enthusiastic and enthusiastic to continue working and earning my place in the National Women.”

Since the beginning of 2025, Yohannes has been appointed as every senior grid from January -camps, Shebelieves CupAnd now the first friendly competitions to kick off the summer. She now has six performances for the national team, and her only goal of her debut, but Hayes’ approach of Yohannes is not in a hurry. The manager still ensures that the young player continues her development at an international level, even if Yohannes’ profile increases.

“She has been physically developed in the last 12 months, tactically, in possession. When she plays for her club team, they generally have the ball against a kind of middle to low blocks. So I think she has developed that side of her game. I think it is for us, it is playing against the development. They will see really good moments, and I think we’ll see several moments. I think.”

“She has incredible adulthood and coachability, and someone I know will become an important part of our program, but I have been invested in that development, and we must be patient with that, given her tender age and her lack of international and high level experience.”

While Yohanes keeps getting different experiences in yourcl and with the USWNT, she absorbs as much as possible from the environments around her. She credits all her USWNT teammates to have an impact on her and points to USWNT captain Lindsey Heaps and Forward Catarina Macario as examples of influence.

“Everyone is very helpful and made so much easier for me with the team. I would say from Lindsey [Heaps]to cat [Macario]. Literally I can call so many players, all experienced players, they have been here for so long, so they know how it comes in like a first-timer. Now that I’ve been to the camp for a while, I think I’m my comfortable, I would say, and I just try to keep growing, “said Yohannes.

What distinguishes her is her maturity. Despite her age, she plays with the balance of an experienced veteran, rarely hurried and consistently makes smart decisions. This characteristic has earned her trust in both club and international level. The game of Yohannes is determined by her elite passing range and the ability to dictate the pace. It is comfortable in both in -depth and advanced midfield rolls, and excels in the breaking of lines with accurate through balls and maintaining possession under pressure.

During Ajax’s UEFA Women’s Champions League campaign from 2023-24, she demonstrated her fearlessness against the European top competition, she showed a talent for finding bags of space and linking play between defense and attack. Her assist in Ajax’s victory over Roma, where she forced a turnover and generated an attacking orderemphasized her ability to unlock defenses with a single pass.

“I think it’s one thing to do what she does in clubs at Ajax and play in Champions League, but to get to an international level, I think it is always like a different environment, a different step up, but I think she’s seamlessly in the area. And I think they are all years old, so we have a lot [more] To come, “said Heaps.

Team Vice-Captain Naomi Girma is back for the first time with the national team this year and is no stranger to a rapidly rising profile. Shortly after she was set up in San Diego in the NWSL design of 2022, her striking versions such as Centerback quickly earned her Rookie of the Year and Defender of the Year Honors, and her consistent game led her to the 2023 USWNT World Cup roster.

The parallels are only somewhat similar, because the next World Cup is still a full two years away, but the presence of Yohannes can undoubtedly evolve at that time, and it is not a far-fetched theory that she could crack that selection as a 20-year-old if her development continues.

“I think she has grown so much in the past year. She came in like a young player, but she seemed as if she had played with us for a while, and you could see that she just has that calmness and that feeling of trust in the ball. So I think that is such a good feature to have in a midfielder,” Gurma said.

“She is just sober. And I still have the feeling that, as much as she comes up, she is still very much herself. It is really great to see that someone is doing so well and really settles herself in the team.”