There are times on the field in which all Lindsey Horan can do is laugh.
A self-confessed soccer junkie, the U.S. women's national team captain is in disbelief almost every time she picks her head up with the ball at her feet. She looks up at the talent in front of her and the options begin streaming through her mind. Mal, Sophia, Trinity, Jaedyn... no matter where she plays that ball next, she's going to have a front-row seat to something special.
"It's stupid," Horan tells GOAL with a laugh. "It's like, this is so nice."
For Horan, this is what it's like to have your dreams come true. The USWNT captain has always seen the game through a specific lens. She's always believed that soccer doesn't need to just be played - it needs to be played beautifully. And, when you can look up the field and see arguably the best attack in the world unfolding in front of you, beautiful soccer can be on the menu at just about any moment.
And therein lies the problem. Over the past few years, the USWNT - despite an abundance of talent, and with someone as skilled as Horan to orchestrate the attack - has struggled to play beautiful soccer. It's a team loaded with performers, but one that has produced far too little music. That's why this group is rebuilding. That's why this past year has brought so much change. That's why this team is beginning a new era, one that begins this week with the Paris Olympics.
Now 30, Horan knows this is her last USWNT era. She's one of the group's most experienced veterans, one of the few who has been there, and done that. She has admitted in the past that she hasn't always been the perfect leader but, even at this point in her career, she's still learning.
As she prepares for the Olympics - the U.S. open the group stage against Zambia Thursday in Nice - Horan has taken those lessons to heart. She can both lead this young group, and be its conductor.
"So, so, so many different lessons," she says. "So many experiences. I can list so many, but I think one of the biggest things is, with me stepping into this role, there's Lindsey as the footballer and then there's Lindsey as the captain. Part of me has always stuck with just the footballer, and not like thinking of Lindsey first in a sense. But thinking of my game first and how I see football and whatever.
"I've had to transition away where I'm just like, 'I'm the captain and I'm a leader on this team and I represent this team.' What I say, what I do, so many conversations... if I'm representing this team and I'm a voice for this team - not saying my voice isn't the same as every single player - but I am an outlet for this team. That was a really cool lesson to me because I always just thought of football."
With the USWNT seeking to reestablish their elite status on the world's stage - starting with the Olympics - Horan sat down with GOAL to discuss her first year as captain, what it's like under Emma Hayes and what goes through her head when she looks up with the ball at her feet.