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This is Alyssa Thompson’s moment.
That much was palpable when she received the ball left of the center circle from defender Crystal Dunn during the U.S. women’s national team’s 2-0 win over Brazil on Saturday in front of 32,303 people in her home city of Los Angeles.
For anyone who has watched the 20-year-old attacking player during her three seasons across town with Angel City FC in the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL), her path might as well have been cut into the field at SoFi Stadium with a lawn mower: straight to goal.
One feint sent a Brazilian defender sliding out of the play, and Thompson exploited the space left behind. By the time she reached the top of the 18-yard box, the moment had begun to feel like what could one day be considered vintage Thompson, much like the goal she scored for Angel City before the international break. But rather than aim for the goal, Thompson delivered an assist that beat two more defenders to reach an oncoming Trinity Rodman, who knocked the ball past Brazilian and Kansas City Current goalkeeper Lorena in the sixth minute.
“That was the perfect ball to a perfect finish. I think we read each other’s minds in that moment,” Rodman said after the match.
Direct attacking style aside, Thompson’s short journey from being voted Gatorade Player of the Year in high school to this moment has been anything but linear.
She went from the first overall pick in the 2023 NWSL Draft to the youngest player on the USWNT’s World Cup roster in a matter of months. Her standout rookie season rolled into her first senior call-up, however, things quickly changed.
Thompson made just two appearances off the bench in the United States’ ill-fated run to the round of 16 at the World Cup, playing just 27 minutes in a tournament that saw very little rotation. The World Cup crash led to then-head coach Vlatko Andonovski resigning and the youngest member of the squad getting left out of the roster to regain form with mixed results for her club.
Even as head coach Emma Hayes took the reins midway through 2024, Thompson watched the USWNT’s Olympic gold medal run from home. Instead of a summer in Paris, she worked to hone her skills, and after five goals and two assists in seven NWSL games, Thompson got the call from Hayes in October of last year. And she didn’t waste her shot.
The then-19-year-old scored her first goal for the U.S. 39 minutes into a friendly against Iceland. The joy was apparent on her face as she leaped into the arms of Sophia Wilson on the sideline.
“I feel like last year, and the last couple of years, I put a lot of pressure on myself,” Thompson told reporters last week. “I think just coming in this year, I just wanted to be confident in my abilities and know what I bring as a player, and not compare myself to other people. I think that has helped me a lot, just know that if I’m playing like Alyssa Thompson then I’ll be able to put a good foot forward for my team.”
Each month since, Thompson has been finding and learning ways to sharpen her craft. And, with the marquee front three of Wilson, Rodman and Mallory Swanson, who headlined the Olympics, down to just Rodman for now, Thompson found another moment to make her case on Saturday.
Hayes acknowledged Thompson’s journey ahead of the match as a cautionary tale of how a mistimed moment can obscure a player’s potential, especially from an outsider’s perspective.
“I hope that we can look at someone like Alyssa Thompson’s situation, i.e. a 17-year-old coming into the program probably underprepared for that because the level is so much higher, to then have a journey which is pretty normal for a young player. But I think she’s in the best place she has been in terms of her start to the season,” Hayes said.
But the former Chelsea manager also expressed her intention to continue elevating the characteristics that make Thompson an attacking threat as she progresses through national team camps and racks up minutes on the field.
“Since October we’ve been working so hard positionally with her to get her to have a better understanding of what to do and when, and saying, ‘Listen, at the top level, you’re a great 1v1 specialist, but when you’re playing the top players in the world, they know how to drop off of you in a certain way where they don’t give you a 1v1 opportunity, so how do you link with others?’”
There were glimpses of those areas of growth in the Brazil match, particularly in some of Thompson’s unsuccessful attempts to take on the well-read Brazilian and Olympique Lyonnais central defender Tarciane. Still, she created dangerous scoring opportunities that contributed to the team’s 2.72 expected goals (xG).
Hayes has seen the gap close between where Thompson was six months ago and where she is now, and part of that closure comes through in Thompson’s instinctive thinking.
“When you play for me I will overload you to take a player to another level tactically, but that means for a period of time, there’s a lot of thinking going on, a lot of processing,” Hayes said. “There’s a lot of conscious thinking, whereas I feel like with Alyssa now, she understands that, so she’s able to do it more naturally.”
Thompson is still at the beginning of her professional career and it’s important to consider: managing internal pressure, brewing confidence and resisting the urge to compare herself to others. These are all tall orders for most teens (and adults) even when they haven’t faced the challenges she has. But they, too, have led to the moment Thompson is now enjoying, and she credits her teammates with supporting her through it.
“They believe in me so much and I attribute a lot of my success to them because their help and reassurance has really helped me become the player that I am right now,” she said.
Angel City captain and defender Ali Riley has viewed Thompson’s journey from a unique vantage point. The 37-year-old Los Angeles native attended Harvard-Westlake, the same high school as Thompson and her younger sister and Angel City teammate Gisele, and experienced that same World Cup, though Riley plays for New Zealand. Riley was quick to refuse credit for any guidance she’s given the elder Thompson but made clear that her progress is just as promising as her ceiling — as a player and as a face of the sport.
“Even when we look at how much she’s grown, her performances on the field, what’s so special about her is that this is the beginning,” Riley told . “I think she has the personality and the eloquence to be someone who can speak about being a woman in sport, being a woman of color in sport. She’s so good about speaking about her experience growing up, the value of representation.”
Riley, who has missed this season with a nerve injury, added that Thompson was voted into the team’s leadership group this year.
When Thompson went through a bit of a scoring drought last season, Riley said she faced criticism from “keyboard warriors” on social media who picked through her stats and body language with a fine-tooth comb.
Now, Riley said, “when she scores, she doesn’t seem relieved, she’s genuinely happy.” So far, that happiness has shown up as cheeky TikTok goal celebrations with Gisele and fellow Angel City striker Casey Phair on the sidelines. Other times it’s a full-throated rebel yell.
For Thompson to enjoy another stellar performance in her hometown on Saturday only sweetened the moment — topped off with one of those yells after assisting fellow Southern California native Rodman.
“I love playing in LA,” Thompson said in the mixed zone following the match. “Being here is amazing for club, and I’ve never played in LA with the national team, so being able to feel that comfort from my city and my family and friends, I just felt like I could be more like me, and I knew what I could do.”
This article originally appeared in The Athletic.
US Women's national team, Angel City, Soccer, NWSL
2025 The Athletic Media Company
Continue reading...
That much was palpable when she received the ball left of the center circle from defender Crystal Dunn during the U.S. women’s national team’s 2-0 win over Brazil on Saturday in front of 32,303 people in her home city of Los Angeles.
For anyone who has watched the 20-year-old attacking player during her three seasons across town with Angel City FC in the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL), her path might as well have been cut into the field at SoFi Stadium with a lawn mower: straight to goal.
One feint sent a Brazilian defender sliding out of the play, and Thompson exploited the space left behind. By the time she reached the top of the 18-yard box, the moment had begun to feel like what could one day be considered vintage Thompson, much like the goal she scored for Angel City before the international break. But rather than aim for the goal, Thompson delivered an assist that beat two more defenders to reach an oncoming Trinity Rodman, who knocked the ball past Brazilian and Kansas City Current goalkeeper Lorena in the sixth minute.
“That was the perfect ball to a perfect finish. I think we read each other’s minds in that moment,” Rodman said after the match.
Direct attacking style aside, Thompson’s short journey from being voted Gatorade Player of the Year in high school to this moment has been anything but linear.
She went from the first overall pick in the 2023 NWSL Draft to the youngest player on the USWNT’s World Cup roster in a matter of months. Her standout rookie season rolled into her first senior call-up, however, things quickly changed.
Thompson made just two appearances off the bench in the United States’ ill-fated run to the round of 16 at the World Cup, playing just 27 minutes in a tournament that saw very little rotation. The World Cup crash led to then-head coach Vlatko Andonovski resigning and the youngest member of the squad getting left out of the roster to regain form with mixed results for her club.
Even as head coach Emma Hayes took the reins midway through 2024, Thompson watched the USWNT’s Olympic gold medal run from home. Instead of a summer in Paris, she worked to hone her skills, and after five goals and two assists in seven NWSL games, Thompson got the call from Hayes in October of last year. And she didn’t waste her shot.
The then-19-year-old scored her first goal for the U.S. 39 minutes into a friendly against Iceland. The joy was apparent on her face as she leaped into the arms of Sophia Wilson on the sideline.
“I feel like last year, and the last couple of years, I put a lot of pressure on myself,” Thompson told reporters last week. “I think just coming in this year, I just wanted to be confident in my abilities and know what I bring as a player, and not compare myself to other people. I think that has helped me a lot, just know that if I’m playing like Alyssa Thompson then I’ll be able to put a good foot forward for my team.”
19-year-old Alyssa Thompson scores a banger for her first USWNT goal
Watch USA vs. Iceland live on TBS and Max pic.twitter.com/yaxbVoDN8L
— B/R Football (@brfootball) October 25, 2024
Each month since, Thompson has been finding and learning ways to sharpen her craft. And, with the marquee front three of Wilson, Rodman and Mallory Swanson, who headlined the Olympics, down to just Rodman for now, Thompson found another moment to make her case on Saturday.
Hayes acknowledged Thompson’s journey ahead of the match as a cautionary tale of how a mistimed moment can obscure a player’s potential, especially from an outsider’s perspective.
“I hope that we can look at someone like Alyssa Thompson’s situation, i.e. a 17-year-old coming into the program probably underprepared for that because the level is so much higher, to then have a journey which is pretty normal for a young player. But I think she’s in the best place she has been in terms of her start to the season,” Hayes said.
But the former Chelsea manager also expressed her intention to continue elevating the characteristics that make Thompson an attacking threat as she progresses through national team camps and racks up minutes on the field.
“Since October we’ve been working so hard positionally with her to get her to have a better understanding of what to do and when, and saying, ‘Listen, at the top level, you’re a great 1v1 specialist, but when you’re playing the top players in the world, they know how to drop off of you in a certain way where they don’t give you a 1v1 opportunity, so how do you link with others?’”
There were glimpses of those areas of growth in the Brazil match, particularly in some of Thompson’s unsuccessful attempts to take on the well-read Brazilian and Olympique Lyonnais central defender Tarciane. Still, she created dangerous scoring opportunities that contributed to the team’s 2.72 expected goals (xG).
Hayes has seen the gap close between where Thompson was six months ago and where she is now, and part of that closure comes through in Thompson’s instinctive thinking.
“When you play for me I will overload you to take a player to another level tactically, but that means for a period of time, there’s a lot of thinking going on, a lot of processing,” Hayes said. “There’s a lot of conscious thinking, whereas I feel like with Alyssa now, she understands that, so she’s able to do it more naturally.”
Thompson is still at the beginning of her professional career and it’s important to consider: managing internal pressure, brewing confidence and resisting the urge to compare herself to others. These are all tall orders for most teens (and adults) even when they haven’t faced the challenges she has. But they, too, have led to the moment Thompson is now enjoying, and she credits her teammates with supporting her through it.
“They believe in me so much and I attribute a lot of my success to them because their help and reassurance has really helped me become the player that I am right now,” she said.
Angel City captain and defender Ali Riley has viewed Thompson’s journey from a unique vantage point. The 37-year-old Los Angeles native attended Harvard-Westlake, the same high school as Thompson and her younger sister and Angel City teammate Gisele, and experienced that same World Cup, though Riley plays for New Zealand. Riley was quick to refuse credit for any guidance she’s given the elder Thompson but made clear that her progress is just as promising as her ceiling — as a player and as a face of the sport.
“Even when we look at how much she’s grown, her performances on the field, what’s so special about her is that this is the beginning,” Riley told . “I think she has the personality and the eloquence to be someone who can speak about being a woman in sport, being a woman of color in sport. She’s so good about speaking about her experience growing up, the value of representation.”
Riley, who has missed this season with a nerve injury, added that Thompson was voted into the team’s leadership group this year.
When Thompson went through a bit of a scoring drought last season, Riley said she faced criticism from “keyboard warriors” on social media who picked through her stats and body language with a fine-tooth comb.
Now, Riley said, “when she scores, she doesn’t seem relieved, she’s genuinely happy.” So far, that happiness has shown up as cheeky TikTok goal celebrations with Gisele and fellow Angel City striker Casey Phair on the sidelines. Other times it’s a full-throated rebel yell.
For Thompson to enjoy another stellar performance in her hometown on Saturday only sweetened the moment — topped off with one of those yells after assisting fellow Southern California native Rodman.
“I love playing in LA,” Thompson said in the mixed zone following the match. “Being here is amazing for club, and I’ve never played in LA with the national team, so being able to feel that comfort from my city and my family and friends, I just felt like I could be more like me, and I knew what I could do.”
This article originally appeared in The Athletic.
US Women's national team, Angel City, Soccer, NWSL
2025 The Athletic Media Company
Continue reading...
