She Kicks a Beat: Mal in a Major Key (Mallory Pugh interview)

Mallory Pugh, eighteen, headed home on her United States debut against Ireland in San Diego and became a regular for Jill Ellis, taking one of eighteen Olympic roster places in Rio. Widely expected to go straight to the NWSL, and specifically to Portland, she chose UCLA instead – the opposite route to fellow Coloradan Lindsey Horan, who bypassed college for Paris Saint-Germain. Music, she says, plays a huge role and sets her mood, with pump-up rap before games. She would cover Drake’s Jumpman with Horan, having spent hours in one camp memorising the lyrics and quizzing each other, and loves to DJ in the locker room because she likes to set the mood.