Lindsey Horan, the USWNT’s fiery leader, eager to guide team back to Olympics glory

Lindsey Horan was pissed.

The U.S. women’s national team was playing the Netherlands in its second match of last summer’s World Cup and Horan, who had been named co-captain before the tournament, wasn’t having her best game. Neither was the rest of the team. The Americans were trailing 1-0 and getting outplayed. 

Then, all of a sudden, a fire was lit.

In the 62nd minute, Dutch midfielder Danielle van de Donk made a crunching tackle on Horan that was not called, agitating her. Seconds later, as Rose Lavelle was preparing to take a corner kick, Horan and van de Donk, who are teammates and close friends on French club Lyon, got into it in the penalty box. There was pushing, there was shoving, there was finger pointing — the usual football theatrics. Then Lavelle struck the ball and Horan headed it into the back of the net to level the score.

The game ended in a 1-1 draw, but Horan’s response to the incident lifted the Americans and showcased her ruthless competitive spirit.

“100% it’s true that when I’m mad and I’m angry and I just want to win so badly, I think you see a different Lindsey come out,” Horan recently told FOX Sports, reflecting on that moment.

“But I think on the other hand, I want to get the best out of all of my teammates. And in doing that, I want to be at my best and I want to make it easy for them. I think that gives me motivation to always be on. I think the best players in the world — the true greats — if they can make everyone else around them better, then they’re succeeding. That’s what I’m striving to do.”

Horan is preparing to play in her third Olympics for the USWNT, but first as its captain. She shared the armband with Alex Morgan at the 2023 World Cup, and without Morgan on this summer’s roster, there are other veteran leaders like Lavelle, Crystal Dunn, Alyssa Naeher and Emily Sonnett to share the load. 

But this is an opportunity Horan has dreamed of. She calls the captaincy “a huge honor.” She doesn’t feel like this is her team, per se, but has a deep sense of responsibility to help it succeed. When she was home in Denver after Champions League ended in May — Lyon lost to Barcelona in the final — her mom Linda said she hardly saw her because she spent most of her time talking to younger players and new head coach Emma Hayes in preparation for the Games.

“She just wants to do the best job possible,” Linda Horan said. “And I love that. She’s got that work ethic and genuinely cares about the players.”

The Americans have not won a gold medal since 2012, and the journey back to the top begins Thursday when the USWNT faces Zambia before finishing out the group stage against Germany (July 28) and Australia (July 31).

At the same time, the U.S. has an eye on the 2027 World Cup and building for the future under Hayes’ stewardship. Horan understands all that as the embodiment of the USWNT’s next generation.

“Lindsey is a winner,” Hayes said in June. “She understands what it takes in terms of daily behaviors, the requirements you need against the top teams. She’s highly motivated to lead the team and make sure we put in place the right building blocks.”

***

Horan’s love for soccer began in middle school. She loved Lionel Messi and studied his style of play at Barcelona. She’d see something he did and try to mimic it.

“I remember she called me at work one day and said, ‘Mom, I found a really good deal on Comcast to get these streaming channels,'” Linda said. “So she got every international channel she could and when I got the bill, I was like, ‘Oh my god!’ But I mean, she was glued to the TV and that is still her day. She is really a student of the game.”

It was around that time when Horan started thinking more about her future. She wanted to become the best player possible and decided in order to do that, she needed to play overseas.

So she took an uncharted path, becoming the first American teenage girl to forgo college and play professionally in Europe when she signed a reported six-figure deal with Paris Saint-Germain a few months after graduating from high school in 2012. She could have left home earlier than that — Lyon, where she plays now, invited her for a tryout after her junior year of high school. She was offered a spot, but her parents said no.

Horan was the No. 1 recruit in the country and had plenty of offers from top schools. Linda said going on college tours was “kind of embarrassing” because coaches catered to her but she wasn’t interested.

“She was like, ‘I don’t like their style of play,'” Linda said. “And [I was like], ‘But this is a complete education paid for and you can never get this back.’ She knew it wasn’t right for her.”

Horan mulled the decision to stay or go for nearly two years, Linda said. She initially committed to women’s soccer powerhouse North Carolina. “And then one night she woke me up in the middle of the night and was like, ‘Mom, I’ve made my decision. I want to go to France,” Linda said. “Her dad and I really instilled in her, ‘Once you make this decision, it’s irreversible.’ I think she thought, ‘I can just come back.’ And I said, ‘We’ll pay for college for you, but it’s not going to be at that high-end university that you had a full ride at. And you will never play college soccer again.’

“And she was like, ‘I’m willing to take the risk.'”

Linda flew with her daughter to Paris to get her situated. PSG set Horan up to stay with a family and Linda spent 10 days helping her settle in — they went shopping, set up a bank account, and walked around the neighborhood. And when Horan was sure of herself, Linda flew home. 

Of course, as soon as mom landed in Denver, Horan FaceTimed her crying because the club had changed her living arrangements. She had moved into a different apartment and there weren’t any sheets or towels, and all the stores were closed. Linda couldn’t fly back — she had a job. But she encouraged Horan to ask a teammate for help, so she did.

The next six months were tough. Horan was homesick and every day she walked a couple of blocks to McDonalds for WiFi to call her parents. 

“I was really scared for her,” Linda said. “To go to a country where she didn’t speak the language. She was only 17. It’s hard enough to move out of your home for the first time, but to go to another country and fight veterans for a spot on the team? I just kept saying, ‘What if you don’t make the roster? What if you’re on the bench’?

“And she was just so sure she was gonna do it. She put her mind to it and it’s still just amazing to me.”

Horan scored 46 goals in 58 games over four years with PSG before moving back to the U.S. in 2016 to play for the Portland Thorns. She won a NWSL title with the club in 2017, scoring the winning goal, and was named league MVP in 2018. In January 2022, she returned to France and joined Lyon on loan, and a year later signed a permanent contract through 2026.

All the while, Horan was finding her footing with the USWNT, making rosters for the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro and the 2019 World Cup in France. She didn’t play in that epic World Cup final, though, which led to conflicting emotions.

“She was thrilled to death for the team, but she was doubting herself,” Linda said. “‘Why wasn’t I good enough?’ That kind of thing. But that’s part of it.”

***

It was those moments that helped shape Horan. And there were more — like when she didn’t get called in for a USWNT camp in high school, which compelled her to go to four different training sessions with her club, the Colorado Rush, per night. She’d finish practice and then tell her mom, who was waiting in the car, that there was a boys’ team training and she was going to stay for a couple more hours.

The adversity sharpened Horan’s leadership skills, though Linda says her daughter has always been a leader. 

“I think she always had very strong morals and a sense of responsibility,” Linda said. “Like when her friends would drink or smoke, she would stand up for herself and say, I’m not gonna do that. She had strong ethics, but she was very shy. At PSG, she was one of the youngest players from overseas and started playing so well and meeting people from all over the world. Every game she played in she knew somebody. And her sense of self became very strong.”

Horan has remained authentic, while taking inspiration from those she admires, like Sergio Ramos — she watched a documentary about his career at Real Madrid. “When I watched him, that was massive,” Horan said. “He spoke every single day about being able to show up. It’s a really difficult job. It’s the coolest job, but it is very difficult and I do not take it for granted at all.”

And she’s been influenced by Wendie Renard — who captains Lyon and the French national team. “You don’t want to disappoint her,” Horan said of her friend. “She shows up every day, she works her ass off in so many ways — little reminders for me that this is how it should be. This is what a true professional [does].”

As prepared as she was, being captain has been akin to getting thrown into the deep end. At the World Cup last summer, Horan had to take charge of a squad that was playing uninspired soccer and help it through criticism both publicly and privately. Earlier this year, she called out American fans’ soccer knowledge and then took it upon herself to issue an apology.

She has tried to buoy 20-year-old Korbin Albert, pulling her aside during games to give her a boost when she was booed by fans. Such reactions, which started happening after Albert was called out for making anti-LGBTQ+ posts on social media, have impacted her mentally.

Horan said those experiences were challenging, but there hasn’t been anything she’s been incapable of handling. “I think you grow into it and you get more of a voice, but also a voice for the team.”

“When I watch Sergio Ramos and other leaders around the world, they don’t let it show if they are going through a difficult moment, if they’re not having a good game, if things aren’t going their way,” Horan said later. “And I think for me, I could be having a bad game or something as simple as giving a pass away, but I cannot let that show. I want players to look at me and be confident, and for me exude confidence as well. It’s not the easiest, but I’ve learned that it’s a very important thing to do.”

It hasn’t gone unnoticed.

“I think Lindsey has been really good at connecting with every single player — players that have been here and players that are new — and making them know that she’s available to talk,” Lavelle said. “She’s just that person you can rely on when maybe you need a little help or if there’s something you’re unsure about. She’s been great at making a safe space for people to go to and talk to when stuff is tough or when stuff is good.

“She’s doing great in the role and has really embraced it and made it into something of her own in the best way possible.”

***

It’s been 12 years since Horan, now 30, left for France. And as she prepares to play another major tournament there — it’s where the USWNT won the 2019 World Cup — she’s starting to feel a little old.

“It’s been such a long time, holy,” Horan said, cutting off that presumed last word before adding, “I can’t believe I’m back there [with the USWNT]. It’s really cool. It’s really special.”

A lot has changed since her mom dropped her off. For one, she can speak French — taking lessons was part of her contract with PSG. She knows all the good restaurants and how to make reservations. She can find her way through any airport in any country, even places where she doesn’t speak the language.

She’s renowned and respected around the world for her game, too. After the Champions League final, Barcelona captain and two-time Ballon d’Or Feminin winner Alexia Putellas — who scored the second goal in a 2-0 result — approached Horan on the pitch, gave her a hug and complimented her performance.

Horan was a pioneer when she moved to Europe to pursue her passion. While that’s become the norm for talented teenage boys in the U.S., it hasn’t caught on with girls at the same rate yet. It is becoming increasingly common, however, for female players to skip college and go straight to the NWSL, and Olympians Mallory Swanson, Trinity Rodman and Jaedyn Shaw are examples. Albert and Emily Fox play in Europe, though they did not jump straight from high school.

“The way I look at my European career is, I was challenged in a different way,” Horan said. “It’s not for everyone, and I understand that. But I think that’s what I needed. I love being immersed into a different culture and playing with different players all over the world. That’s something I’ve gotten to learn different football styles in a way. Playing with different players that maybe I wouldn’t have gotten the opportunity to play with. 

“And I just want to continue to grow — there’s always room to grow.”

Tobin Heath, who played with Horan at PSG, the Portland Thorns and on the USWNT, took it one step further on an episode of her YouTube Show The Debrief: “The fact that we’ve had an American starting in two Champions League finals is nothing short of extraordinary.

“This is a player that should be celebrated for her dedication and her sacrifice to her game of football. To live overseas, to be far from everything you know, to give everything, is something that has to be celebrated. She’s paving the way, and she needs to be applauded for it because she’s doing something that no American, male or female, has ever done and she’s doing it so well.”

Hayes only just arrived and while the USWNT feels better equipped to contend with the world’s top teams at the Olympics, there’s still work to be done, as Hayes and the players often say.

“We’ve come a long way since the World Cup,” Horan said. “There’s been a lot of hard work and I think so many things have improved. I think this is all a process and especially with a new coach coming in at the start of a new cycle, this is a massive process and everyone is doing such a good job.

“But at the end of the day, there’s a gold medal on the line.”

And Horan would not be true to herself if she didn’t do everything in her power to lead the squad to the top of the podium in France, her home away from home.

Laken Litman covers college football, college basketball and soccer for FOX Sports. She previously wrote for Sports Illustrated, USA Today and The Indianapolis Star. She is the author of “Strong Like a Woman,” published in spring 2022 to mark the 50th anniversary of Title IX. Follow her on Twitter @LakenLitman.

---

---