Why didn’t Emma Hayes pick the England women’s team, given her USWNT triumph? Many in the UK have wondered. And now, Hayes seems to be fueling their frustration. She not-so-subtly hinted that the US is the promised land of women’s soccer, not England. She valued her Olympic win over her serial wins with Chelsea. Yet, not every Brit is unhappy with the 47-year-old boss. Forget unhappiness, English soccer legend David Beckham has been immensely proud of Hayes’ Olympic win. And he put a smile on his fellow Londoner’s face after the Olympic triumph.

Emma Hayes recently sat down to reveal who all joined Emma Hayes to celebrate the USWNT’s fifth Olympic gold medal win. She recalls getting President Joe Biden’s coin from Kamala Harris’ husband Douglas Emhoff. “Being English, I didn’t know what it meant. But all the Americans were like ‘you got a President’s coin?’ And I was like, ‘I did, actually,'” said Hayes during her recent appearance on The Sports Agents podcast.

Then she recalled getting a nod from the legendary David Beckham. “I don’t know, David Beckham sent me a message to congratulate me. So I was over the moon and top with that,” Emma Hayes added. The Inter Miami co-owner has not missed an opportunity to celebrate coach Hayes’s big win with the USWNT. The former Chelsea boss shared on Instagram a picture of her with the gold-winning squad. Beckham immediately took notice of this and said, “Congratulations Emma Hayes. Proud moment.”

Though both Hayes and Beckham hail from England and are two soccer icons, they seem to not have crossed paths before. But the USWNT boss has once revealed how empathetic he was of the Inter Miami owner.

Emma Hayes’s defense of Lauren James showed her empathy towards Beckham

Emma Hayes’s last season in Chelsea, despite being victorious was filled with bumps. One such abysmal episode was when Chelsea superstar Lauren James appeared to stamp on Arsenal star Lia Walti and was immediately substituted after getting booked. Soccer fans online weren’t very kind to James. They subjected her to racial abuse and similar taunts.

Emma Hayes quickly ran to Lauren James’ defense and likened the abuse she was getting to the ones David Beckham got during the 1998 World Cup. As it happened Beckham picked up a red card in the round of 16 game against Argentina for kicking Diego Simeone and England eventually lost in the knockout game. Beckham was sort of a national enemy in England at that time, as every other fan spewed hatred on the former Manchester United star.

Hayes drawing parallels between the suffering of the two players is clear proof that she would have had nothing but empathy when Beckham was going through immense vitriol in 98. What are your thoughts on this? Tell us in the comments.