Captain Horan units the tone for United States on the Women’s World Cup

WELLINGTON, New Zealand — Lindsey Horan is setting a feisty tone for the United States on the Women’s World Cup.

Horan, the U.S. co-captain, steadied herself after an indignant alternate with Dutch midfielder Danielle van de Donk and scored to provide the United States a 1-1 draw with the Netherlands on Thursday.

Frustrated by the Netherlands’ first half lead, Horan went from exasperation with van de Donk to elation for her tying objective in a span of simply two minutes within the second half.

“To come from a goal down and have that momentum shift in the second half was incredible. I think no one was happy with our first-half performance, letting them have the ball a little bit too much, but we changed things, and how we responded,” she stated.

The tie retains the United States atop the Group E standings, in entrance of the Netherlands with a greater objective distinction, and in good place to advance to the knockout spherical. The Americans wrap up group play on Tuesday towards Portugal.

The United States is in search of its third straight World Cup title however this time the squad is youthful and fewer skilled than in earlier tournaments. Fourteen gamers on the roster are making their World Cup debuts.

That’s why Horan’s management, and the instance she units on the sphere, are necessary.

Horan, enjoying in her second World Cup, was named co-captain together with Alex Morgan by coach Vlatko Andonovski earlier than the match. When she and Morgan are on the sphere collectively, Horan will get the captain’s armband.

In addition to the equalizer towards the Dutch, she additionally scored within the workforce’s 3-0 victory over Vietnam within the match opener.

“I think the captain’s band has elevated what she already does,” defender Julie Ertz stated about Horan. “I don’t think she needed to change or be anything, because we looked at her as a leader.”

Horan, 26, has all the time been a aggressive participant. But the battle with van de Donk – her teammate on French membership Lyon – typifies her feistiness.

Horan seethed and cursed after getting knocked down by van de Donk and the 2 exchanged phrases, prompting the referee to step in and separate the pair.

Minutes later – after a chilled reminder from Ertz that she was already carrying a yellow card from a earlier match – Horan coolly scored on a header off Rose Lavelle’s nook kick.

“Instead of crying about it, she just goes and makes a statement and basically shows everyone the direction the game was going to take,” Andonovski stated.

Horan shared amusing and a hug with van de Donk following the match. The two even snapped a selfie.

“I don’t think you ever want to get me mad because I don’t react in a good way. I just want something more. I want to win more, I want to score more and I want more for my team,” Horan stated.

Horan grew up in Colorado and eschewed a scholarship to North Carolina to move abroad and play for Paris Saint-Germain for 4 seasons. In 2016 and vying for a spot on the U.S. Olympic workforce, she returned to the United States to play for the Portland Thorns of the National Women’s Soccer League and was named the league’s Most Valuable Player in 2018.

The Thorns loaned her to Lyon in 2022, and allowed her everlasting switch to the workforce in France’s prime division in June.

She’s been a fixture on the U.S. nationwide workforce for the reason that 2016 Olympics in Brazil.

At the 2019 World Cup in France, Horan got here off the bench for the workforce’s first two knockout spherical victories towards Spain and the hosts. In the semifinal towards England, she began and served Morgan the go-ahead objective.

She has made 131 appearances in all for the United States, scoring 29 targets. She and ahead Sophia Smith every have two targets at this World Cup.

Horan is conscious that these younger gamers – together with Smith – look to her in navigating soccer’s greatest stage for the primary time.

“It’s great for us to have this in the group stage and to feel that kind of pressure,” Horan stated. “So now we move forward. We learned a few lessons from this game and now focus on Portugal.”