da betobet： Between playing with the boys' teams at an MLS Next side and training with an NWSL team at 17, the young full-back has had quite the journey already

da dobrowin： It's the week before the CONCACAF Women's Under-20 Championship and GOAL is chatting to Gisele Thompson, the United States' promising young full-back, about how she has been preparing for the tournament. While almost all of her team-mates are playing for college teams across the country, Thompson has been training with an NWSL side in Angel City, one that missed out on the play-offs by just four points in its inaugural season last year.

When Thompson explains that participating in practise sessions with seasoned stars, players who have been to multiple World Cups for their countries, has been really "helpful" in preparing her for the trip to the Dominican Republic with the U20s, GOAL can't help but laugh a little and note that very few players across the tournament will have had that same preparation. The teenager lets out a giggle in response, a shy one, almost to deflect the praise insinuated by the point.

Her addition to Angel City's pre-season roster in January was the latest milestone in the exciting yet unorthodox path the 17-year-old has taken to date. Like her sister, Alyssa, who was picked at No.1 in the NWSL Draft earlier this year, Thompson has spent the last few years at Total Futbol Academy, a boys' club that competes in MLS Next.

"They are my first and probably my last girls I'll coach," Mario Gonzalez, their coach at TFA, ponders, with a little laugh. His musing is a good indication of just how rare that path is for girls in the U.S to take. Gisele has been playing with the U17 boys' team and the experience has paid dividends. Gonzalez believes she's ready for the NWSL already. Though there is no rush, it only feels like a matter of time until that step is taken.

With Alyssa shining so brightly in the top league in the U.S. since she herself signed for Angel City this year, of course there is a lot of excitement about her younger sister and whether she can follow in her footsteps. But that excitement should be because Gisele is a huge talent in her own right, not because of anything else.

So, who is this teenage defender and what makes her future so bright?

NikeWhere it all began

Both Gisele and Alyssa, with just 13 months between them, were introduced to all kinds of sports from a young age, with their parents putting them in sessions for basketball, gymnastics and “everything you can think of”, Gisele recalls.

“My parents thought that we weren't going to be that tall, because my parents are pretty short, so they put us in soccer and we were pretty good at it,” she explains. “We also had speed from my dad's side of the family, so they knew that was a big part in how we played and I think just from there, we kept going.”

The pair bounced around a number of different teams in the Los Angeles area before settling at TFA. It made both of them glad to have each other. “It was really hard to keep a friend in those groups because we'd stay at clubs for short amounts of time so having [Alyssa] there was just so much easier and just like a built in friend," Thompson adds.

“You always have her there and we always go through the same experiences, so we always talk about how we feel. We understand each other so well, better than anyone could ever understand.”

AdvertisementGettyThe big break

Last year was a big one for Thompson, who represented her country’s U17s at both the CONCACAF Championship and the World Cup that followed. The U.S. were champions on the continent again but suffered a disappointing quarter-final exit on the world stage, knocked out on penalties by Nigeria.

Still, it was at these tournaments that Thompson really announced herself to a wider audience with her ability to be effective on both sides of the ball in her right-back role.

GettyHow it's going

Fast-forward a few months and the teenage defender is now training with Angel City – when her school hours don’t clash – while still playing for TFA. She’s moved up to the U20 national team, too, representing them at the CONCACAF Championship, where they have reached the semi-finals and are one win away from qualifying for the 2024 U20 World Cup.

“It's definitely very helpful because they're fast-paced and they're grown women, so they expect a lot from me, too,” Thompson says of practicing with an NWSL side. “They're very physical and they're looking for perfection, which is very hard but also, you expect that from yourself, too.”

It’s given her an opportunity to watch and learn from a lot of top pros, with New Zealand captain Ali Riley, a veteran of four World Cup tournaments, a player she picks out as one who has given her a lot of advice.

“She communicates with me very well,” Thompson explains. “She's always bringing me into conversations and just trying to be like an older sister to me, which has been very helpful in making me more comfortable in the situations that I've been in. Whatever I need, she's always there to help me and whenever I'm working on defending or anything in that realm, she's always there to help and give me advice.”

GettyBiggest strengths

In the modern game, it’s hard to find a full-back who has a well-balanced game. There are those who are defensively strong but don’t get forward and support attacks enough, while there are others who excel in the final third but neglect the other side of the game. Thompson, however, is very good at both.

In fact, when she first arrived at TFA, it was her aggression, her fearlessness in a tackle and her will to throw her body on the line to defend that stood out to Gonzalez. “Obviously, after that, I started noticing her speed, her agility, her technical ability,” he remembers. “I was like, 'Wait a minute. There's more'.”

Her attacking contributions have developed well alongside that because of how coachable and willing to learn Thompson is. "I think what makes me, me, is my attacking ability," she says. "My getting up the field and my speed to track back or get forward fast."

“She's really fast, she's super smart, very technical, very aggressive. She’s going to develop into a really good player,” Gonzalez adds. But the coach's favourite aspect of Thompson’s development is in her personality, with him recalling how shy she was upon arrival at TFA.

“She's transitioned into more of a comfortable role talking, coaching, demanding the ball from players,” he says. “I think that transition has been the one that I've kind of enjoyed the most in terms of just her coming out of her shell and being more confident.

“Most of it has been through these national team call-ups. Every time it happens, I get her with all the boys and I make the announcement and they get all happy and give her a high five and it kind of triggers her to see that they're very excited for her and she's one of them. I think that's helped her transition to have more confidence.”