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.”
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 ...
