Horan in form on eve of U20 Women’s WC

by Will Parchman

July 16, 2014

SEATTLE — For so many reasons, Paris spread out like a glittering city of promise for Lindsey Horan two years ago.

The Colorado native made national headlines in 2012 when, as an 18-year-old, she signed straight from high school for Paris Saint Germain’s first team. The deal was reportedly six figures, which made it that much more unprecedented. It isn’t often that an American women’s player circumvents the college system and heads directly for the pros, especially one committed to a program like North Carolina that essentially serves as an auxiliary professional development program. But all indications pointed to Horan being both physically and technically ready to earn a starting spot right away in Europe.

Two years later and the lights of Paris gleam as brightly as ever for Horan. And that’s a very good thing for the U.S. U20 Women’s National Team.

“She sets the standard,” said Notre Dame midfielder and U20 captain Cari Roccaro. “She’s what a great U20 player is.”

MORE U.S. U20 WNT COVERAGE: U20 WNT enters camp with high expectations

Horan is fresh off her second season for PSG, and she barrels into this month’s final training camp before next month’s U20 Women’s World Cup in the form of her life. She had 15 goals in 22 games across all competitions, and she logged her first experience in the Women’s Champions League with a pair of appearances. Notably, she started up top in January for PSG’s historic 1-0 upset of Lyon, which hadn’t lost a league game in nearly four years.

But Horan had to struggle to get here. Her shy nature and the harsh realities of adjusting to a foreign culture - and a language she didn’t speak - at just 18 took their toll. After months of arduous adjustments, many of them cultural, she hit her stride with 20 goals in her first season in Europe. Before this season, the signing of star French forward Delie Marie-Laurie forced Horan into a battle for playing time up top.

“I was starting (in my first season), but I think this last year has taught me a lot because I wasn’t in the starting position at first,” Horan said. “We got a new French forward, Marie-Laurie, which has been good for me because I’ve had to work hard to earn my spot, and I haven’t had to be in that position before.”

That ignited something in Horan that she can’t quite quantify. Since she helped the U.S. ease to a CONCACAF championship in January to qualify for August’s U20 Women’s World Cup in Canada, Horan thinks she’s hit a stride that’ll carry her through the coming tournament.

“I think especially this year maybe within the last six months ago, after Cayman Islands qualifying, something clicked for me and my confidence started growing,” Horan said. “I really just started enjoying it again. Playing with those girls, it’s unreal. This last six months has been really great.”

That’s been evident for the U20 staff, as well. While coach Michelle French works to cut her camp roster from 27 to 21 for the tournament, no name seems safer from the ax than Horan. French is more concerned with fitting the rest of the team’s prodigious attacking pieces in around Horan’s planetary skill set than anything else.

“Her maturity over the last two years has been tremendous,” French said. “Her movement off the ball, the little nuances that she plays with with her touches just to drag defenders in to then get in behind with a touch or a combination, her professionalism, the level of seriousness she comes with to every training, taking care of her body - every area you want a soccer player to continue to excel at on and off the field, she’s hit those points since she’s been at PSG.”

This past year, she even got to meet Zlatan Ibrahimovic at a PSG team function. No pressure.

“I was nervous as heck,” Horan said. “I got a picture with him and just said hi and introduced myself.”

Horan readily admits that she was hardly mentally prepared for a jump overseas at just 18, but with her feet under her in Paris and the World Cup just around the corner, there may be no striker at this entire tournament saddled with more robust expectations than Horan. After lighting up Europe over the past two seasons, she’s earned that distinction.

Her French, though, could perhaps still use some polishing. Horan insists it’s come a long way since she arrived in France. But at least one teammate views it differently.

“She stinks at it,” Roccaro said. “When we were in France she was our translator, but she still stinks at it.”

That makes one thing, anyway.