INGLEWOOD — United States women’s national soccer coach Emma Hayes continues to stress growth and development as the process begins for the FIFA 2027 World Cup.
It’s something she’s seeing from Alyssa Thompson.
“In our future, I hope that we can look at someone like Alyssa Thompson’s situation, a 17-year-old coming into the program, probably under-prepared for that because the level is so much higher, to then have a journey, which is pretty normal for a young player,” Hayes said Friday. “I think she’s in her best place she has been in terms of her start to the season. I went to Angel City game (last Sunday) at the weekend, I think she was fantastic.
“Since October, we’ve been working so hard on positionally with her. To get her to have a better understanding of what to do and when and we’ve been working hard with her at listen, at the top level, you’re a great 1-v-1 specialist, but when you play 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 1-v-1 opportunity. So how do you link with others? How do you read the right moments to create a give-and-go or to connect with your 9 (forward) or work on the final product once you get into great areas. Is it an early cross? Is it one that requires recycling? We’ve been working on all the decision-making processes.
“If I think about the development in the last six months, for her, you can see how much she’s closed that gap and I’m looking forward to seeing that in a game.”
That game is Saturday at SoFi Stadium as the USWNT faces Brazil, their Paris Olympic final rival, at 2 p.m. (TNT). The teams will also meet Tuesday at PayPal Park in San Jose.
Thompson has two goals in the first three games with Angel City this season. She scored four in her first season and five all of last season.
“She knows I’m a young player and I think she wants me to continue to grow,” Thompson said of her discussions with Hayes. “I think with more experience comes more confidence and I feel like I’m able to know what the game is giving me and also, being at club, getting that confidence from my teammates and playing well, I think that has helped me a lot.
“Every (national team) camp I learn something new and I add on to that and I think that has been helpful too. I feel like I’m still developing tactically and getting a better understanding of our of defensive principles and attacking principles and now applying that more to the game and getting that into second nature. I’m still working on it, but I think that it’s definitely getting better.”
This is the first game for the USWNT since losing to Japan in the final of the SheBelieves Cup. This is the first meeting with Brazil since the Americans’ 1-0 win in the gold-medal match at the Summer Olympics.
“This is the right time to develop individuals first,” Hayes said. “I’ve been really clear, this camp, the next camp … the next two camps, there is going to be experimentation and that means the connections on the field might not be as strong, but we get a chance to see where the individual development is in that.
“So from the end of July, we’ve got a period of two years (before the World Cup) with this group, maybe a larger (playing) pool to be able to build the connections in a more intentional way. I want to get combinations right in terms of experience on the pitch, less experience because as you that takes a little bit of time, but I think we will see in both games more experimentation, in terms of giving individuals the experience and from what I’ve seen in training, I’m really looking forward to watching the team play this camp.”
For Thompson, she enters a camp where the likes of Mallory Swanson and Sophia (Smith) Wilson are not available and Trinity Rodman has been dealing with a back injury, giving Thompson a good chance to being in the starting XI in front of a large number of friends and family.
“I’m excited to be able to play in L.A.,” she said of Saturday. “I can’t wait, my (Angel City) teammates are coming, my friends, my family. It just means everything to me and I feel so much comfort in having them there.”
USWNT vs. Brazil
When: 2 p.m. Saturday
Where: SoFi Stadium
How to watch: TNT, truTV, KVEA (Spanish)
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