Exclusive: Discipline, discomfort, and the making of U.S. forward Alyssa Thompson
Alyssa Thompson: "I always strive for being the best"
Thompson carries herself with the confidence of someone who knows exactly what they offer on the field. An electric one-versus-one winger, able to create and score goals, she is growing into her abilities game by game.
It hasn’t always been the case, though, as you could expect from someone so young who went from high school into senior football. In her second year in LA specifically, she struggled with her finishing and wasn’t getting on the scoresheet nearly as much as she hoped.
Ready to take Thompson under her wing was former teammate Christen Press. Having recently returned from a long-term injury, the veteran forward offered words of advice and lessons in what was jokingly coined the ‘Christen Press School of Finishing’.
“She is such an amazing person and player; I have looked up to her since I was little,” Thompson said of her sporting idol. “Just the goals that she scored have been amazing and I’ve always loved watching her play.
“She helped me so much with my finishing. I worked a lot with Christen about my first touch and [listening] to everything she knew, which was honestly so special.”
Having such concentrated one-on-one sessions with a player she looked up to is something Thompson remembers fondly, attributing her unwavering confidence of late to those crucial moments in her development.
“She always believed in me when I didn’t,” she added. “It meant the world to me and now being able to call her a friend is crazy. I love our relationship – I support her and she supports me; it’s really nice.”
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