USWNT captain Lindsey Horan exclusive: It is amazing to think what this team could achieve
Captaining the USA to a major title goes down as one of the 'coolest' things Lindsey Horan has ever done, but she believes there is still so much more to come.
Football
Lindsey Horan is one of the few players who can say she captained the United States Women’s National Soccer Team (USWNT) to a major football title: Olympic gold at Paris 2024.
The 30-year-old maintained the armband despite the arrival of new head coach Emma Hayes and repaid the faith shown in her by leading for example on and off the field.
Mallory Swanson scored the lone goal in a 1-0 victory over Marta’s Brazil in the Paris final earlier this month, as the Americans won a staggering fifth Olympic gold.
Indicative of their togetherness, each player has chalked their success down to the comradery in the squad, fighting for each other and leaving it all on the field.
The same goes for Horan, who credits her teammates with helping her lead this side in the wake of their disappointing 2023 World Cup outing last year.
“My teammates made it very easy for me [to lead],” she told Olympics.com exclusively.
“It was a whole group effort, it wasn’t just me by myself. I have a lot of leaders on the team that helped me with that.
“The responsibility is such an honour. To walk out and play in a gold medal match as captain [was] one of the coolest things of my life.”
Lindsey Horan: This team has so much potential
Before even kicking a ball in Paris, both Hayes and the players were determined not to get ahead of themselves. It was all about one game at a time.
“That [was] one of the constant themes in the group during this Olympics,” Horan revealed.
“We kept the belief, we kept the trust and confidence each game at a time.”
Hayes’s side had to come through extra time twice on their way to the gold medal match, with their perseverance paying off against Japan and Germany in the quarter-final and semi-final respectively.
A similar tale would occur in the final against their South American opponents, showing resilience at the back to see out a hard-fought victory, this time inside 90 minutes.
With the way they played in Paris, you could be forgiven for thinking Hayes had been at the helm for more than three months.
There is no denying that the ceiling is limitless for this side. With age on their side and a track record of winning, Horan is excited by what could come of the USWNT under their new coach.
“We just got our manager [just over] two months ago and the things that we did in this tournament, in the past year… there is just so much more potential,” she said.
“That’s a cool thing to say after [already] winning a gold medal. It’s a young team and one of the first major tournaments for some of these players.
“To think about what this team could do in 2027… amazing.”
USWNT captain Lindsey Horan with head coach Emma Hayes