Club: Lyon
Position: Midfielder
The 29-year-old team captain has now scored goals in consecutive World Cups, putting the ball in the net in the squad’s 2023 opener against Vietnam.
“Last World Cup, maybe I didn’t know my place or role as well,” she told Goal.com ahead of the tournament, “so there were a lot more nerves in me with just making the roster and then trying to still fit in and find my place in the team and also impact the team…I’m more of a leader this World Cup, an older player, so I kind of have to be that one that helps the ones with those nerves and I have a little bit more responsibility on my end, so it’s exciting.”
But Horan also arrived in New Zealand with extra spring in her step: Fiancé Tyler Heaps proposed on June 16. “My heart is, and always will be, yours,” she posted a few days later.
Or, it could be the caffeine. Emily Sonnett, who played with BFF Horan on the Portland Thorns for years, told Dirty South Soccer that a day off would usually find the two of them searching for their next great cup of joe. “When we have a day off I usually try to go and see a little bit more of Portland, but usually I would say, it comes to us trying to find the best coffee,” Sonnett shared. “Because we love coffee, so much.”