U.S. women’s national team head coach Vlatko Andonovski is not ready to rule out the possibility of bringing Alyssa Thompson to the World Cup.
The 18-year-old is off to a flying start to her pro career, scoring a fantastic goal for Angel City FC in her first pro game after also netting a tremendous solo effort in preseason.
Thompson made her USWNT debut last fall at age 17 in a friendly against England at Wembley, but has not been called up this year and again missed the cut for the USWNT’s roster on Tuesday.
That would appear to leave Thompson on the outside looking in for a World Cup berth, especially in a crowded group of attacking players. But speaking to reporters after naming his roster on Tuesday, Andonovski said he’s expecting the teenager to still push for a spot in Australia and New Zealand.
“If there’s a coach that believes in Alyssa Thompson, it would probably be me,” Andonovski said. “Not long ago when she was 17 years old, her first cap was against one of the best teams in the world in front of 80,000 people, and that was a decision that I made. So that speaks of how much I value Alyssa and how much I believe in her.
“I think that she has a lot of potential and I do believe that she will make a case for a [World Cup] roster spot. Part of the reason why she was in those [fall] camps was that if it happens that she has a good season and earns a roster spot for the World Cup, that it’s not her first camp. She already has experience being in the environment, understands the dynamics in the environment. She has already played in big matches against good opponents, so the transition is not as hard for her.”
Andonovski did sound a note of caution over a player who is only one game into her professional career.
“I do want to point out one thing about Alyssa,” he added. “At this point the most important thing is that she enjoys the game, that she enjoys her club environment because we don’t want to put too much pressure on her. She’s a young player, a talented player, a good player and all she needs to do is just to enjoy the game.”
[lawrence-related id=16231,15332,7826]