Mallory Swanson was limited to a bench role at the 2019 World Cup. She then didn’t even make the Olympic squad two years later.
This summer, though, Swanson appears poised to not only play a central role for the U.S. as they aim to win a third straight World Cup, but she may be positioning herself as the team’s most important attacking piece.
That’s the kind of form the forward has been in for the better part of a year, which she demonstrated again on Thursday against Canada.
The USWNT defeated Canada 2-0 in their SheBelieves Cup opener, with Swanson scoring both goals. The second was an opportunistic finish after a mistake from Canada but the first was the pick of the night, demonstrating quick thinking and textbook technique to keep the ball down on the volley.
GO ON, @MALPUGH!!!! 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/gPvHwm2lyY
— U.S. Women's National Soccer Team (@USWNT) February 17, 2023
It was the fourth consecutive USWNT appearance with a goal for the 24-year-old, who has six goals over that span. As head coach Vlatko Andonovski said after the game, Swanson is excelling not just on her own, but also in combining with Lindsey Horan and Crystal Dunn on the left to create overloads.
“She plays so well individually but we can see more and more Mal combining with the players around her,” he said. “One of the reasons why I felt like our left [side] subgroup was good was because of her synchronized movement with Lindsey and Crystal.”
Andonovski noted that Swanson is still only 24 and has yet to reach her ceiling but, having made her USWNT debut as a 17-year-old, she is now vastly experienced at the international level.
Swanson has 88 caps already and is older than several of players expected to join her in attack at the World Cup, like Trinity Rodman, Catarina Macario, Sophia Smith and Ashley Sanchez.
The coach is noticing Swanson becoming more of a leader, and demonstrating the USWNT’s ideal patterns of play for some of her less experienced teammates
“A growth that we see in Mal is her leadership qualities,” Andonovski said. “She’s becoming a really good leader on the field. Her understanding of the game is very good and her ability to help the players around [her] is tremendous.
“She doesn’t realize how much she’s helping with her communication, especially some of the younger players that sometimes play around her like Ashley Sanchez or Ashley Hatch or Trinity, so very happy with her and I truly believe we still haven’t seen the best of Mal.”
That is a truly scary prospect for opponents, who will be forced to reckon with Swanson and several other world-class attackers in Australia and New Zealand this summer. Those opponents will hope a couple of them cool off between now and then, but Swanson doesn’t look like she’ll be one of them.
“She’s in the moment,” Andonovski said. “Not just confident and not just playing well but it’s one of those things when you’re just feeling it, and she’s just feeling it. That’s the simplest way I can put it: She’s just feeling it.”
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